The Masi Serego Alighieri 2017 Valpolicella Classico Superiore MontePiazzo (packaged in a heavy glass bottle) is aged in Slavonian oak and cherrywood. The blend of grapes is 70% Covina, 20% Rondinella and 10% Molinara (a special proprietary clone is used). This is a dark and almost impenetrable wine from a hot and dry vintage. You taste some of the dry sweetness of the cherrywood and the fruit power and concentration that is characteristic of 2017. Despite that aromatic power, the wine is shorter lived on the palate. - Monica Larner

A dark and savory, medium-bodied Valpolicella, with a flash of mesquite smoke and loamy earth notes leading to the sun-dried black cherry and dried fig flavors that pick up steam on the midpalate, accented by a fine, aromatic layer of cherry blossom, dried tobacco and spice box. Lingering and chewy on the smoky finish. Drink now through 2026. - AN