Ripe and fruity with notes of mulberries, spiced cherries, nut shell and flinty soil. Medium-bodied, racy and flashy, with chalky but fine tannins, and crunchy acidity. Hints of bitter spices at the end. Drink now.

Light in color and extraction, the Agostina Pieri 2018 Rosso di Montalcino is a food-friendly, versatile and good-value wine that opens to a slightly tart and acidic flavor profile. It covers the basics of Sangiovese typicity. Cassis, white cherry and cranberry emerge from the bouquet, pulling along some aromas of chopped mint, licorice and crushed flowers along the way. This is exactly the wine you want next to a plate of cheesy ricotta-stuffed ravioli.

Packed with sweet plum, cherry, loam and leather aromas and flavors, this red is balanced and yet still well-structured. Approachable now, this lingers on the finish. Drink now through 2023. 1,700 cases made.??–BS??Region: Italy / Rosso di Montalcino Select to Add

The 2010 Rosso di Montalcino is striking. Dark red berries, flowers, licorice and mint are some of the many notes that flow from this structured, tightly wound Rosso. I very much like the energy and verticality of the 2010. This is a serious wine that will require some time and patience. Readers who enjoy firm, structured Sangioveses will flip out over the 2010. The 2010 was aged 60% in neutral barriques and 40% in cask. Anticipated maturity: 2013-2020. Proprietor Francesco Monaci and consulting oenologist Fabrizio Moltard showed me a wide range of wines during my recent visit. Monaci describes 2007 as a year with no winter. Overall temperatures were warmer than normal, but without heat spikes. The harvest took place in the early part of September, about ten days earlier than normal. The estate is gradually moving to a greater use of cask for its Brunello, a change that is allowing much more nuance to come through in the wines. As always, fermentations are done with indigenous yeasts and the malos take place in oak. All of the estate’s vineyards are Brunello-designated, including those used for the Rosso. Importer: The Rare Wine Co., Sonoma, CA; tel. (707) 996-4484

The 2009 Rosso di Montalcino boasts a gorgeous, exotic nose redolent of sweet pipe tobacco, sweet red berries, smoke and licorice. This is a ripe, flashy Rosso that captures the essence of the warm vintage in its sheer glycerin and body. It is a pretty, racy wine to drink over the next few years. The Rosso was aged 60% in neutral barriques and 40% in cask. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2017. Proprietor Francesco Monaci and consulting oenologist Fabrizio Moltard showed me a wide range of wines during my recent visit. Monaci describes 2007 as a year with no winter. Overall temperatures were warmer than normal, but without heat spikes. The harvest took place in the early part of September, about ten days earlier than normal. The estate is gradually moving to a greater use of cask for its Brunello, a change that is allowing much more nuance to come through in the wines. As always, fermentations are done with indigenous yeasts and the malos take place in oak. All of the estate’s vineyards are Brunello-designated, including those used for the Rosso. Importer: The Rare Wine Co., Sonoma, CA; tel. (707) 996-4484