The nose opens with floral, saline aromas of peonies and violets, then turns savory with hot tar and herbs, then finishes sweet with citrus and cherries. Cherries and berries headline the palate, alongside a strong blood orange element and soil strewn with crushed flower petals and herbs. Tannins are very firm.

This was the first time I’ve tasted the 2020 Turpino cuvée from Maremma. (The first vintage was 2010.) A blend of Syrah and Cabernet Franc, with a small amount of Merlot from a vineyard four kilometers from the ocean, in the glass it pours a deep purple/magenta color and leads with layered sappy herbs followed by notes of crushed rosemary, lavender oil, blackberries, dark chocolate, and plum. Full-bodied, it saturates the palate with ripe, chalky tannins, even acidity, and a lovely, savory, ripe feel through the finish. It has the most depth and richness of these 2020s but also has fantastic savory notes of scrubby herbs throughout. It’s only going to improve over the next several years. Drink 2027-2050.

Pouring a youthful jeweled ruby color, the 2022 Chianti Classico is entirely Sangiovese from Greve, Lamole, and Radda. (The producers have stopped using fruit from Gaiole in the blend, as they are concentrated on vines closer to home, including the higher elevation site in Lamole for freshness.) The nose is very pretty and fruity, with aromas of mixed berries, crushed flowers, and sweet earth. Medium to full-bodied, it’s elegant on the palate, with a fresh feel, fine tannins, and a refined texture. It is elegant all the way through and is going to offer a lot of pleasure over the next 10-12 years.

Mid yellowish straw. Waxy and herbal on the nose with good structure and rich palate entry but with density counterbalanced by suitable acidity. A hint of lime on the end. Broad-beamed and long but I'd love to see this with a little more bottle age and development. I have based my suggested drinking dates on the results of this tasting. This is a white to accompany all sorts of savoury dishes – with creamy sauces perhaps.

The 2018 vintage of Gran Selezione from Querciabella is a touch lower in octane than the 2019 version, as this wine comes in at an even fourteen percent alcohol. It was handled identically to the 2019 in the cellars, with its malo in barrels and its aging done in large oak botti. The 2018 Gran Selezione delivers a superb bouquet of red and black cherries, spit-roasted gamebird, coffee bean, campfire, a very complex foundation of galestro minerality, fresh oregano, incipient notes of hazelnut and a very discreet framing of cedary oak. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, precise and very pure, with outstanding depth of fruit at the core, great mineral undertow, ripe, seamless tannins and a long, bouncy and very complex, impeccably balanced finish. This too needs a good decade in the cellar to really start to hit its stride, but it is going to be another brilliant wine. 2034-2075.