The 2005 Barbaresco Vigneto Starderi offers up an attractive core of bright, candied red fruit, roses and spices. Today it comes across as quite vibrant and fresh, suggesting a minimum of several years of cellaring are needed before the wine starts drinking at its finest. The tannins build on the long finish, but they are also beautifully balanced. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2025. Giorgio Rivetti has another set of very solid wines on his hands with his 2005 Barbarescos. The wines have always shown terrific balance and are just a notch or two below his 2004s.Importer: Indigenous Selections, Fort Lauderdale FL; tel. (954) 530-4021

Plum and berry aromas, with hints of fresh herbs. Full, round and smooth, showing lots of berry, toasty oak and cappuccino, with a long finish. Best after 2012. 1,200 cases made. -JS

Here’s a soft, generous interpretation of the Nebbiolo grape with plush aromas of milk chocolate, cherry, blackberry, Indian spice and anise seed. This is a linear and elegant wine with a floral-herbaceous finish that works beautifully with the wine’s natural acidity and firmness.——M.L.(4/1/2009)—— 91