Le Focaie is a great value wine with easy but one-dimensional fruit characteristics of cherry, blackberry and cinnamon spice. The wine’s natural thickness and consistency recalls the sunniest vineyards of southern Tuscany. ——M.L.(4/1/2011)—— 87

Why reach for a lean, tart Chianti when you could have this varietally correct but friendlier Sangiovese? Aged half in stainless steel and half in large Slavonian oak casks, this wine’s black cherry and plum fruit flavors are carried by soft tannins, but still show hints of tobacco leaf on the finish.——W.E.(11/15/2007)—— 88