“The nose is nostalgic and lightly sweet, with aromas of vanilla, cloves, cardamom and cherry, along with faint undertones of dried tomatoes and balsamic. On the palate, the cherries star, while fighting back ferocious tannins and piercing acid.”

The nose starts floral, with aromas of roses, vanilla and cherry, then turns earthy, before spiced undertones of cloves and bergamot float to the surface. The cherries return on the palate, with more bitter citrus and earth tones, while finely grained tannins tickle the back of your tongue.

The nose is warm yet refreshing, like a summer morning that's not too hot yet, with aromas of lemon curd, orange, grass and hazelnuts, along with just a touch of biting pineapple. The nuttiness is more prominent on the palate, but more citrus and rivers of acid maintain a fresh, cooling feeling.

“The Campo del Drago vineyard is the very highest in elevation in the Capanna area and is Castiglion del Bosco’s coolest vineyard site, so this wine comes in at a touch less octane than the Normale in 2019, at 14.5 percent alcohol. The 2019 Campo del Drago is outstanding on the nose, with the bouquet wafting from the glass in a refined blend of red plums, cherries, Cuban cigars, bonfire, a lovely base of soil tones, a touch of brown spices, just a wisp of fresh oregano and a judicious framing of cedary oak. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, focused and structured out of the blocks, with a good core of fruit, firm, chewy tannins and fine length and grip on the well balanced and youthfully complex finish. This has plenty of tannin that will need to be resolved before this wine starts to drink with generosity, but it should absorb its oak nicely over the long haul and eventually drink very well indeed. 2035-2075+.”

Despite the higher elevation of the vineyards used for the Castiglion del Bosco Brunellos, this wine comes in listed at a full fifteen percent octane in 2019. Readers may recall that this wine is fermented with native yeasts and raised in barriques, with twenty percent new oak used each vintage. The 2019 version offers up a deep and impressively pure bouquet, revealing scents of red and black cherries, red plums, cigar wrapper, a lovely base of soil, brown spices, woodsmoke and a gentle touch of new oak. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, focused and complex, with a beautiful core of fruit, fine soil undertow and grip, firm tannins and a long, impressively well balanced and complex finish. This wine is impressively cool on the backend, with perhaps only a touch of heat on the finish. One feels the ripeness of 2019 most noticeably in the texture of the oak tannins on the finish, as the higher octane of the juice will leach out a bit more wood tannin from the new barrels, so this is a bit chewier out of the blocks than previous examples I have tasted. It should resolve nicely with extended cellaring, but will take a bit longer in this vintage. 2035- 2075+.