Here's a terrific wine to serve at informal dinners, like a meal served outdoors under patio lights on a warm summer night. The Sottimano 2019 Langhe Nebbiolo delivers chiseled and focused aromas with a leading mineral component of crushed limestone or calcium, backed by delicate forest berry, tar and fresh licorice root. Don't underestimate the wine's simplicity. It comes off as slender and streamlined, but those fluid aromas grow and shift with time in the glass.

The 2022 Langhe Nebbiolo is Barbaresco in all but name because of its slightly earlier release. Crushed flowers, spice, tobacco, cedar and bright Nebbiolo acids are nicely delineated. In 2022, the Langhe Nebbiolo has a bit more mid-palate richness than in most years, but that is not a bad thing for a wine meant to be enjoyed over the near and medium term.