The new release of Scharffenberger’s non-vintage Brut Rosé is crafted from a cépages of fifty-five percent chardonnay and forty-five percent pinot noir, with five percent of the pinot being still red wine to produce the cuvée’s delicate salmon color. The wine’s nose is bright and complex, wafting from the glass in a mix of strawberries, quince, rye bread, a lovely base of soil, dried flowers and a lovely, delicate savory topnote. On the palate the wine is crisp, full-bodied, focused and well-balanced, with frothy mousse, a good spine of acidity and fine balance on the long and complex finish. Good juice. 2025-2040.

The current release of the Scharffenberger non-vintage “Brut Excellence” is from the base year of 2021 and was composed from its customary cépages of sixty percent chardonnay and forty percent pinot noir. It offers up a bright and classy bouquet of apple, nectarine, dried flowers, bread dough, a lovely base of soil and a nice topnote of smokiness. On the palate the wine is crisp, fullbodied, focused and complex, with a lovely core of fruit, good mineral undertow, frothy mousse and a long, crisp and very nicely balanced finish. This is really quite stylish. 2025-2040.

The Castiglion del Bosco 2020 Brunello di Montalcino Campo del Drago (with 10,000 bottles made) comes from a panoramic plateau of vineyards. The rich bouquet is shaped by dark fruit, tobacco, sauna cedar and campfire ember. The oak imparts spice, but it also lends a soft and fleshy quality to the wine. Despite the aromatic intensity on hand, the wine is leaner than expected in terms of mouthfeel. This is a trait I find across many of these new releases from 2020, although I expect we can count on these wines to put on more volume with bottle age.

The Castiglion del Bosco 2020 Brunello di Montalcino is a softly enriched and contemporary interpretation of Sangiovese in which ripeness and oak aging play big roles in shaping the final product. The wine is plush and soft and definitely feels like it is geared to an international palate that is less interested in the acidic sharpness and rigidity of traditional Brunello. Blackberry and dried cherry cede to cured tobacco and barbecue ash. The finish is on the dry side. This is an ample 100,000-bottle release.