The 250-case cuvee of 100% Merlot, the 1999 Redigaffi has an astonishing 36 grams per liter of dry extract, which exceeds most top Pomerols in a great vintage! Unfined and unfiltered, it is as close to perfection as a wine can get. The color is a deep saturated blue/purple. The powerful, pure nose offers smoke, licorice, black cherry, and blackberries. It boasts awesome concentration, a fabulously dense, viscous mid-section, and a finish that lasts for nearly a minute. This is riveting juice. Anticipated maturity: now-2015.A Leonardo Locascio Selection, Winebow, Hohokus, NJ; tel. (201) 445-0620

This is another one of my top picks from among these older vintages. The 1999 Redigaffi marks the first full year that Consulting Enologist Stefano Chioccioli led winemaking efforts here in Suvereto, Tuscany (he would leave in 2009). This growing season saw a hot summer, and the fruit came off the vines on August 21st, making it one of the earliest harvests ever. I loved the gentle complexity of the bouquet that shows dark fruit, dried rose, wild flower, toasted aniseed, cedar and Indian spice. I am intrigued by the clarity of those rose-like aromas and the freshness of the finish. Robert Parker originally scored this wine 99 points.