Pieve Santo Stefano, Colline Lucchesi e Montecarlo (Tuscany, Italy) “Lippo” 2016 ($22)

This wine is certainly the result of a great vintage in Tuscany (and several other important regions in Italy), and though it seems somewhere close to its apex of maturity, what is really impressive is that it still hasn’t reached that apex after 8.5 years since harvesting. Of course, its developmental status is partially a matter of personal judgment, but this continues to show an appealing streak of sweet fruit while also displaying tertiary (balsamic and mushroom) notes from bottle bouquet. The acidity remains bright but not overly tart thanks to interplay with that streak of sweetness, and the fine-grained tannins have softened to the point at which they provide just a gentle grip in the finish that supports the dark fruit flavors and underlying accents.
91 Michael Franz