Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona, Toscana Rosso IGT (Tuscany, Italy) 2010

Relatively light in color, this nevertheless offers impressive complexity for the money, as well as depth and persistence of flavor that belies its appearance. Fresh aromas and flavors of pie cherries work very nicely with lightly earthy undertones and just a whiff of oak. I taste a lot of wines in this category of “Baby Super Tuscans,” and almost all of them have been juked up with artificial additions of tannin and highly pigmented blending components that make them look impressive but which compromise their purity and performance at the table. This is a highly admirable case in counterpoint.