The Castello Romitorio 2019 RomiTòro is a generous Tuscan blend of Petit Verdot and Syrah (with exactly 72,868 bottles produced). This is a terrific value from a vintage that delivers excellent balance, intensity and richness. That beautiful concentration is what drives this wine, imparting dark fruit flavors, plum, spice and sweet tobacco along the way. This was a terrific vintage in both Maremma and Montalcino, the two areas where Filippo Chia makes wine. - ML

Deep, ashy blackberries, wet leaves and graphite on the nose follow through to a properly structured palate with a full body. Tannins are nicely chewy here, delivering a fresh and firm backbone to the fruit. Good length to close. Drink or hold.

The 2019 Romitorio (Petit Verdot, Syrah) is purple-tinged, perfumed and offers a display of musky wild berries that keeps you at the edge of the glass. It’s silky on the palate and quite elegant, as a mix of red and black fruits flesh out, leaving a staining of minerality under an air of violet florals. Remnants of blackberry, currants and a fine coating of tannin linger, presenting a classically dry and truly enjoyable finale. A year or two of cellaring may bring about further depths, yet this is already so easy to like. (Drink between 2022-2026) - Eric Guido