The winemaking team at Batzella shows some of their best work in this value wine in what was a challenging vintage. The 2017 Bolgheri Rosso Peàn is a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Cabernet Franc aged in French barrique for one year. From a hot vintage that produced a good 18,000 bottles, this wine is especially dark and concentrated with blackberry, black currant, sweet spice and tobacco. Considering the heat of the growing season, you get more balance, lightness and freshness than expected, something you might serve with an encrusted beef with horseradish sauce.

The 2016 Bolgheri Rosso Peàn pours from the bottle with an inky-black appearance. This 75/25 blend of Cabernets Sauvignon and Franc is beautifully saturated and dark. Dried blackberry and Morello cherry underline the quality of fruit. This wine is tightly knit in terms of texture, but it is also generous and round, making for an accessible and easy approach. I found it to be rich, concentrated and beautifully balanced. It's a great value proposition, with 20,000 bottles made.

Made with Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, the 2015 Bolgheri Rosso Peàn is a thick and darkly saturated wine. It shows extra volume and texture in the mouth, thanks to its creamy and thickly concentrated texture. The alcohol is recorded at 14.9%, and you do feel its warm effects on the finish.

The Batzella 2013 Bolgheri Rosso Peàn is darker, thicker and more concentrated than many of its peers from the same vintage. The wine opens to a deeply saturated appearance and a dark garnet hue. Wood influences have played an important role in shaping these results, as have the excellent and sunny vintage conditions of Coastal Tuscany. This blend of 70/30 Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc presents a thickly textured inner fiber that wraps thickly over the palate. This Bolgheri Rosso feels and tastes more like a Bolgheri Superiore, given its more elaborate style and approach. It ages in French barrique and tonneaux for 14 months.

The 2012 Bolgheri Rosso Peàn is a bit edgy and rough in places although it shows big fruit intensity overall. This Bolgheri Rosso is a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Cabernet Franc that is aged in French wood (both barrique and tonneaux) for one year. Batzella works with six different clones of Cabernet Sauvignon. Among its various products, Peàn is best positioned as a value wine.