Forsoni “Poderi Sanguineto I e II” 2009 Rosso di Montepulciano (Tuscany) – This wine continues to encapsulate a “lost” Tuscany for me, though to be fair I have been so cynical, for so long, about the region that for all I know I’m missing a viticultural counterrevolution and quality without excessive artifice is once more ascendant. But probably not.

What I mean by the preceding is that there’s a culinary succulence to the region’s reds in their envisioned form, especially the simpler ones, and that more than anything else it’s the loss of that appeal (in favor of spectacle) that has damaged so many wines. That succulence is in display here, though the wine isn’t really that simple. If the fruit’s purple, it’s a very light purple, and what’s red is a very dark red, so meet somewhere in the middle and call it magenta-tinted – we are still talking about the fruit quality here, not the color of the wine – with nice acidity, brittle but balanced tannin that breaks quickly down into a suppler particulate form, and a fine, poised finished. A wine to buy and drink in quantity. Cellaring? I’ve only ever stashed one bottle deep enough to find out, but I suspect most will – like me – find the immediacy too tempting. (12/11)

Forsoni “Sanguineto I e II” 2004 Rosso di Montepulciano (Tuscany) – Earthen strawberries, dark and dusty, though this is either in an odd transitional stage or showing signs of wear, as structurally it’s a little disjointed and rough. I don’t have sufficient years of experience with the wine to know which it is. Still, despite the inconsistencies, it’s as appealing and food-adoring as it always is. (4/10)