Tenuta di Ghizzano

Lots of blueberry character with tangy fruits and spices. Medium body, firm tannins and a fresh finish. Drink now.

Irresistible wine with a lot more personality than you'd expect from an entry-level red. The estate does make flashier wines, but you can't beat this for sheer drinking pleasure. Floral and berry aromas, soft but full of energy.

Dry, fungal and earthy aromas with plum and cranberry fruit with some red currant and mineral salinity. Tart and refreshing with drying tannins and expressive fruit, raspberry and red currant notes, light cherry and a touch of spice, this is clean and light - a good complement to food with good minerality and acidity without overpowering. Very lovely, easy drinking blend.

Ghizzano's 2013 Nambrot is another gorgeous wine from Ghizzano. Black cherry, blackberry, menthol, licorice, lavender and cloves are some of the many notes that develop. There is lovely succulence to the fruit, yet the 2013 remains mid-weight, gracious and highly expressive. The blend is 60% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Petit Verdot.

Nambrot offers enticing aromas of violet and anise, its flavors of blackberry and plum showing a ripeness characteristic of this estate’s sun-drenched slopes near the Tuscan coast. Predominantly merlot with 20 percent each of cabernet franc and petit verdot, the wine aged for 18 months in French oak barriques, where it picked up notes of baking spices as the tannins mellowed. It feels balanced and pliant, finishing on a pleasant smoky note.

Raspy tannins rein in flavors of blackberry and plum, layered with notes of leather, tobacco and spice. Comprised of merlot with 20 percent cabernet franc and the remainder petit verdot, the wine reminded one of our tasters of a Bordeaux, “but with more Italian happiness.” Its fruit will catch up with the tannins in another year or two, when it will make a good partner for wild boar ragù.

A firm and silky red with blackberry and dark chocolate notes. Medium to full body, velvety tannins and a savory finish. Drink now.

Notes of nutmeg and spice nod to the 18 months this wine spent in a mix of new and used barriques, but the wood influence is subtle: You can feel the presence of merlot (60 percent) in the wine’s supple tannins and vibrant flavors of plum and raspberry; cabernet franc and petit verdot complete the blend in equal parts, firming up the structure and adding delicate violet scents.

Flavors of black plum surround this wine’s red cherry core, hinting at the influence of 30 percent cabernet sauvignon in this predominantly sangiovese blend. The wine rested in tonneaux for 16 months, picking up notes of vanilla and spice that swirl through the juicy fruit flavors. It gains volume with time in the glass as its raspy tannins begin to soften. Decant it for veal Bolognese.

The 2013 Veneroso is one of the most compelling wines I have tasted from Tenuta di Ghizzano. Powerful yet weightless, the 2013 presents a beguiling interplay between the aromatic lift of Sangiovese and the darker flavors the Cabernet Sauvignon adds. Sweet tobacco, licorice, dried herbs, tobacco and menthol wrap around the striking, delineated finish. The 2013 is 70% Sangiovese and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon. The Sangiovese is so expressive here, I can only wonder what it might be like on its own.