Coming in hot with a 15% alcohol content, the Masciarelli 2017 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Riserva Villa Gemma is super rich and compact with thick layers of dark fruit, blackberry preserves, baked plum, spice, baking chocolate and toasted cinnamon. The wine sits heavy on the palate with substantial fruit weight. The style is very bold, especially in a vintage like this that brings on so much extra power due to the hot growing conditions.

The Masciarelli 2014 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Riserva Villa Gemma is a rich and opulent wine that strikes a delicate balance between winemaking technique and territorial personality. You taste the Montepulciano grape in full, thanks to pronounced plum and black cherry and more dark fruit that later cedes to exotic spice and mahogany wood. This vintage is slightly thinner in terms of mouthfeel, but you'd hardly notice, thanks to the robust and lasting nature of its aromatic profile. This Riserva ages in oak for 18 months. Some 7,620 bottles were released.

I was lucky to taste two Riservas, side by side, from the 2013 and 2014 vintages. The Masciarelli 2013 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Riserva Villa Gemma is a gorgeous wine with a real sense of precision and balance. Next to the slightly thinner 2014 vintage, this expression from 2013 is more austere and closed, giving you good reason to hope that it will continue a slow and careful bottle evolution. You get dark fruit and plum, with tar, smoke and spice. There is a lot to admire here between the bounty of the mouthfeel and the aromas, resulting in a Montepulciano worthy of a grilled steak. Some 12,000 bottles were made.