This is a beautiful wine from Elvio Cogno and, not surprisingly, the best from this batch of samples. The much-anticipated 2013 Barolo Riserva Ravera Vigna Elena is aged in large Slavonian oak casks and only made in select vintages. It breathes delicate truffle notes and forest berry flavors with just a touch of exotic spice. The wine is soft, lush and well textured, and it makes your mouth salivate. Showing the power and inner structure of the Ravera cru, this Barolo should age beautifully over the course of the next two decades.- ML

Perfumed and structured, this wine opens with alluring scents of rose, tobacco, mint, underbrush and woodland berry. The vibrant, focused palate offers intriguing tension and intensity while at the same time showing finesse, delivering red cherry, raspberry, licorice and baking spice tones framed by firm tannins. Drink 2023–2043. KERIN O’KEEFE

The silky texture and graceful profile provide a setting for strawberry, cherry, rose, iron and tobacco flavors in this red. No pushover, this features a solid structure that emerges on the long, earth-, leather-, mineral- and tobacco-tinged aftertaste. Once fully integrated, this should be a beauty. Best from 2022 through 2042. 400 cases made, 150 cases imported. — BS