Coltibuono's vineyards are in the southern reaches of the Gaiole commune, planted with a massal selection from the estate's oldest vines. Only indigenous grapes - Canaiolo, Ciliegiolo and Colorino - are blended with Sangiovese in this traditionally crafted Riserva. It's an elegant, unpretentious wine made with a gentle touch. The tannins are finely sculpted around tangy red currant and pomegranate, with accents of orange pekoe tea-leaf, garden herbs and forest floor throughout. This is light on its feet, mellow and accessible now. Drink 2019-2027. Rated 93. - Michaela Morris, decanter.com February, 2019. Regularly $35.00 the bottle, on sale while supplies last at:

The 2016 Bolgheri Superiore Ornellaia is a wine of extreme complexity and precision. It offers monumental depth with profound layers of black fruit, coffee, licorice and baking chocolate. I tasted this 2016 vintage beside the less-impactful 2015 vintage (which was reviewed last year). These two editions are very different when compared side to side, and this 2016 release is clearly superior in terms of the quality, clarity and intensity of its offerings. This Ornellaia delivers glossy shine and a polished texture that segues to important richness, concentration and textural fiber. It wraps thickly over the palate, imparting waves of sweet dark fruit and dark spice that linger for many long minutes. This beautiful wine is hitting the market now, but collectors will want to put it straight into their cellars for safekeeping. Drink 2021-2045. Rated 98. - Monica Larner, The Wine Advocate April, 2019

Just bottled, the 2016 Ornellaia is a dense, powerful wine. Naturally, the 2016 is just at the beginning of its life, but I am struck by how polished the tannins are for such a young wine. Ornellaia is at its best starting around age ten, but there is little doubt the 2016 is a hugely promising wine. Black cherry, chocolate, plum, new leather and a range of spice notes all build into a veritable crescendo of aromas, flavors and textures. Drink 2026-2041. Rated 96+. - Antonio Galloni, vinous.com March, 2019

The 2016 Tignanello is flat out stunning. Dark, dense and resonant, the 2016 is a wonderfully complete wine that will provide readers with decades of pure drinking pleasure. The 2016 is especially dark and brooding, and yet the tannins are incredibly polished to the point of being perceptible. In the glass, the 2016 is complete and regal, perhaps because of the super-classic blend of 80% Sangiovese, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc. The pedigree of the vintage comes through in the wine's extraordinary balance and total sense of finesse. I don't think there is another wine anywhere in the world made entirely from estate fruit that can match Tignanello for quality, consistency and value within its peer group of top-flight reds. Drink 2022-2046. Rated 98. - Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com August, 2019

The 2016 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigna del Sorbo is a wine of tremendous aromatic intensity, freshness and nuance. Sweet floral and spice notes meld into a core of blue/purplish fruit, lavender, licorice and leather, with veins of bright acids that perk things up nicely. Readers need to be patient with the 2016, as it is going to need at least a few years to come into its own. But I have seen this before with Vigna del Sorbo. Sometimes the more reticent vintages turn out the be the most complete and thrilling wines with cellaring. I imagine that will be the case here as well. Drink 2022-2041. Rated 97+. - Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com August, 2019 $112.50 the bottle $1,147.56 the case

The 2015 Flaccianello della Pieve is even more stratospheric than it was last year. Rich and ample on the palate, Flaccianello captures all of the best qualities of this radiant vintage. The blend of sites, all in higher altitude spots near the center of town, yields a gorgeous, riveting wine of the very highest level. Dense and brooding, with magnificent energy as well as nuance, the 2015 Flaccianello is positively stunning. Drink: 2025-2040. Rated 99. - Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com August, 2019

The 2015 Flaccianello della Pieve is truly remarkable. An exotic mélange of black cherry jam, chocolate, grilled herbs and spice melds together in a huge, beautifully layered wine of exceptional class and pedigree. The 2015 manages to be dense and rich, but never overdone. The 2015 spent 20 months in French oak, 80%, followed by 6 months in cask. It is the final phase of aging in large wood that seems to help integrating the smaller oak influence. The 2015 is shaping up to be a modern-day icon. There's not much more to it than that. Drink 2022-2045. Rated 98. - Antonio  Galloni, www.vinous.com February, 2019

Vivid dark red. Ripe aromas of red cherry, blood orange and stone fruit. Smooth, dense and juicy, with flavors similar to the aromas but complicated by notes of fresh herbs, sweet spices and hints of flint. Long and suave, with noble but youthfully chewy tannins providing support. Knockout classic Brunello, in fact, one of the year’s best. Drink 2024-2034. Rated 94+. - Ian d'Agata, vinous.com March, 2017

Good full red. Complex, penetrating aromas and flavors of red cherry, strawberry, minerals and violet, plus a complicating hint of cinnamon. Rich and dense but with a strong mineral underpinning giving this a very precise, lifted mouthfeel. Long and very clean on the vibrant finish. Outstanding, classic, refined Brunello. Drink 2024-2040. Rated 93+. - Ian d'Agata, vinous.com March, 2017

Gaja's 2014 Barbaresco is rich, super-dense, and inviting, with serious underpinnings of structure and the same classicism that made the 2013 so compelling. Dense and powerful in the glass, with explosive energy and tons of tannin, the 2014 is built for extended cellaring. Expressive floral and savory notes hover out of the glass in this super-expressive Barbaresco. This is one of the most tightly wound, intense versions of Gaja's Barbaresco I can remember tasting. Don't miss it. Drink 2024-2044. Rated 96. - Antonio Galloni, vinous.com October, 2017

Seghesio's 2013 Barolo is absolutely gorgeous. An exquisite bouquet laced with orange peel, Christmas cake, rosewater and kirsch makes a strong opening statement. Deceptively medium in body and light on its feet, the 2013 offers a lovely interplay of aromas, flavors and textures. Because of its light to mid-weight structure, the 2013 can be enjoyed with minimal cellaring, although naturally there is some tannic grip to the wine. This is a very strong vintage for Seghesio's straight Barolo. Drink 2018-2025. Rated 91. - Antonio Galloni, vinous.com October, 2017

"Dogliani" is a new(ish) DOCG which denotes highest quality wines produced from Dolcetto grapes in this cooler, higher elevation growing area in this southern part of Piemonte. Vigna Tecc «pronounced tetch» is produced from 100% Dolcetto fruit from vines planted to the marl/calcareous and clay soils from 2 hectares of favored south facing old hillside vineyards on the estate near the village of Dogliani. Deep ruby in color with fermentive aromas of grape pomace and pencil shavings, bitter almond and a waft of liquirizia; at once, ample grapey and firm on the palate, with an almost crunchy fruit character and that telltale hint of bitter almond on the mouthwatering finish.

A lovely if modestly modern claret-inspired Tuscan red wine from La California, as it is called there on the Tuscan coast near Bolgheri and Magliano. Produce of 60% Merlot along with an admixture of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, the wine undergoes a temperature-controlled fermentation, manual punch-downs and pump-overs. It is aged one year in barrique and a minimum of six months in bottle before release. Lovely ruby red in color with typical claret aromas suggesting ripe cherries, wild berries, a hint of spice, a scent of vanilla from barrel aging, but with a telltale and toothsome seaside saline quality; medium-bodied on the palate with a gentle richness and structure and long, smooth finish. Superb value, too!

"Unquestionably the number one small estate of Orvieto" according to Stephen Tanzer, Palazzone produces delicious white wines from indigenous grape varietals of Umbria, balancing irresistable fruit aromas and flavors with an oh-so stony backdrop and nerve; 50% Procanico, 30% Grechetto and 20% of Verdello, Drupeggio and Malvasia, vinified in stainless steel to keep things fresh; medium-bodied, supremely-balanced white wine with aromas that speak clearly of cool of the morning harvest fresh grapes and notions of floral honey, beeswax and something like hazelnut and elderflower and, yet again, stone; at once, just ample and round, crisp and dusty, citrusy dry and alive with fresh grapey flavor; our Italian wine-loving pal Jerry Reid sez "slap and tickle." C'mon downtown 'n get yourself some of this delicious wine!

Straddling Toscana and Liguria, one might reasonably observe that these folks have it pretty good from the get go, location-wise, at least. The estate was established in 1993 when Roberto Petacchi started managing the vineyards of his grandfather Pietro Giacomelli. The vineyards stand within the area of Castelnuovo Magra, the southern zone of Liguria, in the heart of the Colli di Luni appellation. The combination of the mild climate, given the nearby Ligurian and Tyrrhenian seas, the cool mountain air off the Appennines and the mineral-rich soils results in a wine with a distinctive and special character, a sense of place, brilliantly translated by the Vermentino grape variety. Luminous yellow gold in color; decidedly mineral and Mediterranean, with a sense of the salt sea tempered with an airy sense of the Appennino settentrionale; levitatingly light and fresh on the tongue with penetrating and formidable mineral intensity and length of flavor that does both refresh and persuasively beg another pull.

Produce of 100% Chardonnay from deep sandy soils on gravelly deposits in the otherworldly gorgeous SüdTirol-Alto Adige of northeastern Italia. Temperature-controlled (read cool) fermentation in stainless-steel tanks (read unoaked), the new wine subsequently matures for several months on the fine lees. The result is a brilliant, shimmering lemon yellow gold with glints of green in color; ultra-fresh aromas suggestive of vines in flower, flesh and skin of fresh green apple, melon and mango; supple and nicely rounded on the tongue with just a hint of citrus and saline mineral tang; both satisfying and refreshing, and all for a price so gulpably easy on the pocketbook.