The 2007 Chianti Classico Riserva comes across as quite dark and brooding in its black fruits, spices and oak. It shows good length but the open personality of the vintage is nowhere to be found. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2017. Castello di Querceto is a fascinating property. The estate produces a number of single-vineyard wines. At their best, the wines can be fabulous, but the estate’s Achilles heel is consistency. Frankly, in top vintages such as 2006 and 2007 all of the wines should be of a certain level.Importer (all wines except Cignale): Prestige Wine Imports, New York, NY; tel. (212) 229-0080. Importer (Cignale only): Empson, USA, Alexandria, VA; tel. (703) 684-0900

The 2006 Chianti Classico Riserva is generous yet sturdy in its firm, dark fruit. Black cherries, tobacco, leather and French oak come together nicely in this relatively approachable mid-weight 2006 Riserva. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2016. Proprietor Alessandro Francois makes a wide range of wines, but the stars are his single-vineyard bottlings. This year, the wines are more variable than in the past, but to be fair, some of the less interesting bottles are from the challenging 2005 harvest.Importer (all wines except Cignale): Prestige Wine Imports, New York, NY; tel. (212) 229-0080. Importer (Cignale only): Empson, USA, Alexandria, VA; tel. (703) 684-0900