The estate’s 2005 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is an accessible, easygoing wine. The wine offers an attractive perfumed quality to its fruit, with excellent length and poise. It should drink well over the next few years. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2012. Avignonesi remains a solid producer in the Montepulciano and Cortona appelations, yet it is with their Vin Santos that the estate truly excels. These are some of the most unique and intense sweet wines being made anywhere, even if the 1996s don’t seem to possess the complexity of the very finest vintages. Importer: Dalla Terra, Napa, CA; tel. (707) 259-5405

This is a dense, thickly extracted Vino Nobile with aromas that recall new fruit—fresh, red cherry and ripe blueberry—and new wood, such as vanilla and carpentry shavings. It tastes very new, almost too new for a 2005, and lacks the deep penetrating complexity you should otherwise expect from this beautiful part of Tuscany. It’s easy and very fruity in the mouth.——M.L.(6/1/2008)—— 85