The 2018 Bolgheri Superiore Tam is 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Cabernet Franc. The wine ferments in steel and ages in French oak for 24 months. Judging from its inky and almost impenetrable appearance, you know that you are in for a richly concentrated Tuscan red. In fact, this full-bodied wine reveals thick layers of black fruit, baked cherry and mature black plum. The nose is quite integrated, with background tones of spice and tobacco. Slightly chalky tannins are part of a generally fleshed-out and soft mouthfeel that concludes with a hint of 2018 menthol-like freshness. Production is about 5,900 bottles.

While still a great red to uncork with a grilled steak a few winters from now, like many of the other best wines from this hot and dry vintage, the tannins are admittedly a bit too aggressive in its youth. Batzella's 2017 Bolgheri Superiore Tam is a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon and 35% Cabernet Franc, aged in French oak for two years. This wine takes a classic approach to the promise of the appellation, showing rich and concentrated fruit with dried blackberry, plum, some tar and sweet spice. It shows a dark and inky appearance, and those flavors are packed tight together and condensed. Some 12,000 bottles were produced along with some larger formats.

The 2016 Bolgheri Superiore Tam (60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Cabernet Franc) shows nice balance and harmony with a steady delivery of black fruit, spice, leather, tobacco and tilled earth. The wine is expansive and large, despite its young age, and it already shows a very accessible and loosely knit texture, which means you can drink it straight out of the gate—or wait a little longer for its bottle evolution to start. Some 12,000 bottles were made.

A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, the 2015 Bolgheri Superiore Tam is Batzella's top-shelf wine. This is a brooding and thick red blend that has absorbed all the warm sunshine of the beautiful and long 2015 growing season. Dried blackberry, plum and black currant emerge from the bouquet followed by spice, tar, tobacco and tilled earth. This wine should continue its happy evolution over the next ten years.

The 2013 Bolgheri Superiore Tam is a wine that exudes serious brawn and might. This thickly concentrated red is kitted tightly together with dark fruit, blackberry preserves, spice, leather, tobacco, cola and balsam herb. The list of aromas does not stop there either. All of that concentrated dark fruit is followed by a touch of cherry sweetness and more softness that is derived from oak-driven tones of exotic spice and cinnamon. This is a lovely wine for those who appreciate a bold and opulent approach. The blend is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon with 35% Cabernet Franc and the wines goes into oak barrels of various sizes for two years. Some 12,000 bottles are made.