Santadi's 2004 Carignano Riserva Rocca Rubia is a terrific effort. It reveals a beguiling array of black pepper, spices, herbs, juniper berries and ripe dark fruit on a full-bodied, structured frame. This incredibly pure wine is bursting with personality and character. It is not to be missed. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2012. Santadi is yet another of the Sardinian properties making compelling wines of notable personality. The estate is located in Sulcis, which lies in the southwest corner of the island. Amazingly, many of the vineyards date from pre-phylloxera times. Winemaking is overseen by Giacomo Tachis. In addition to its top bottlings, Santadi also makes a group of terrific value-priced wines which I recently reviewed in my article on Best Buys from Italy available at www.erobertparker.com.Importer: Empson, USA, Alexandria, VA; tel. (703) 684-0900

Visually, this is a stunning wine: It’s extracted and dense with purple-ruby streaks and leaves thick trails of glycerin on the glass. The nose is not as intense as you’d expect but it does dole out good portions of sweet, luscious fruit, mulberries, plums, blackberries and a touch of cookie dough. It ages 12 months in barrique.——M.L.(2/1/2008)—— 90