Here’s a perfect Chianti Classico Riserva for the cold weather dishes you’re probably cooking now, I mean beef or lamb stew, braised short ribs or veal shanks, pasta Bolognese, that sort of thing. The Ruffino Riserva Ducale 2008, Chianti Classico Riserva, is slightly nontraditional in that its 80 percent sangiovese grapes is supplemented by mixed 20 percent caberbet sauvignon and merlot, and yet thoroughly traditional in that it sees no new oak or aging in small, that is 59-gallon, French barriques. No, this CCR ages 24 months half in stainless steel and concrete vats and half in oak casks that range from 40 to 80 hectoliters, about 1,000 to 2,000 gallons. So while the polished and faintly dusty character of the wine’s tannins are evident from entry to finish, there’s no taint of the vanilla or toasty wood that new oak can impart. This is, instead, a spicy and savory CCR, subtle with notes of dried cherries and black and red currants and hints of sour cherry, black tea and leather. The color is moderate ruby, and in fact everything about this CCR testifies to its not being deeply extracted or heavily manipulated; nothing ruffles its pleasing balance and integration. Lipsmacking acidity enlivens the wine through and through, while elements of graphite-like minerality and supple tannins provide the necessary support for flavors of loamy black and red fruit. A touch of woody allspice and sandalwood and bracing bitterness on the finish imply that this is a CCR for grown-ups. 13 percent alcohol. Now through 2015 or ’16. Excellent. About $25.

Ruffino Import Co., Rutherford, Ca. A sample for review.

Stop. Drop everything. Run out and buy a case of Piccini Chianti 2011, from, of course, Tuscany. You’ll pay less than $100 for those 12 bottles, with the standard 10 percent case discount. The estate was founded in 1882 by Angiolo Piccini and is now operated by the family’s fourth generation. Antonella Conti has been winemaker since 2006. The Piccini Chianti 2011, which the company calls “Chianti Orange” — let’s hope this device stirs no memories in the USA of the notorious Agent Orange — because of the label, is a blend of 95 percent sangiovese grapes and 5 percent ciliegiolo. Conti ( pictured here) employs the traditional but now little used governo technique of inducing a second fermentation by adding to the wine pressed dried grapes from the same harvest. The result is a slight tempering of the acidity of the sangiovese grape and a slight increase in carbon dioxide, making for an agreeable and quaffable wine. The Piccini Chianti 2011, however, is better than agreeable and quaffable. The color is deep ruby; aromas of fresh and dried black currants and cherries are permeated by notes of woody spices like cloves and sandalwood with a background of violets, leather and black tea. The wine offers tasty, spicy and macerated black and red fruit flavors — there’s an undertow of pomegranate — nestled in a firm supple structure of finely meshed but not self-important tannins. There’s satisfying balance between richness, the natural spareness of the sangiovese grape and a touch of graphite-like minerality. 12.5 percent alcohol. This was a great pizza wine for us and would serve well with hearty pasta dishes, burgers and braised short ribs. Drink through 2013. Very Good+, and a Raving Bargain at about $9.

Imported by Aveníu Brands, Baltimore. A sample for review.

Sorry that I did not produce a Weekend Wine Sips this week. You know how it is, the world is too much with us, late and soon, getting and spending we lay waste our powers blah blah blah.

All right, after consulting with my board of directors and executive committee and conducting a straw pool among undecided voters in swinging states, I decided to change the name of the “Friday Wine Sips” project to “Weekend Wine Sips,” mainly because I more often post this entry on Saturday or even Sunday than on Friday. At least I don’t have to feel guilty, which for me is a blessing since I would confess to the assassination of the Queen of Romania if pressed to do so; whew, don’t have to worry about that for a while. Anyway, today we have red wines that range from lighthearted to impressive, from drink-right-now to wait-a-few-years. We touch Argentina, Italy, France and California; we have organic wines; we have blends and 100 percent varietal. What we don’t have are reams of technical and historical information, the purpose of these Friday Wine Sips, oops, Weekend Wine Sips being to provide lightning quick appraisals designed to strike to the heart of the wine. These were samples for review or tasted at trade events. Ratings vary from a sad “Good Only” to “Excellent.”
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Cavicchioli Lambrusco Dolce, nv, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. 7.5% alc. Startling bright cherry-mulberry color; mildly effervescent; pure cherry and raspberry, sweet and quite ripe initially but vibrant acidity dries the wine from mid-palate back, without subtracting from its dark juiciness; intriguing contrast and balance between the ripeness of the red fruit and the hints of spice and slightly earthy minerality; avoids the Kool-Aid® aspects of so many lambruscos. Quite charming and you’d be surprised how well it goes with savory food. Very Good. About $9, a Great Price.
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Cecchi Chianti Classico 2009, Tuscany, Italy. 13% alc. 90% sangiovese, 10% colorino Toscano. Rough and rustic, shaggy tannins, leans toward the anonymous, generic side of sangiovese. Should be better. Good only. About $13.
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Bonterra Merlot 2010, Mendocino County. 13.6% alc. Certified organic. “With added touches of petite sirah, syrah and carignane.” Dark purple with a lighter ruby-magenta rim; smoke, black currants and blueberries; quite dense and chewy with dusty tannins; barest hint of black olives and cedar; bright acidity, earthy finish where you feel the oak. Very Good. About $16.
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Bonterra Zinfandel 2010, Mendocino County. 14.5% alc. Certified organic. With “a little petite sirah.” Beautiful ruby-magenta color; nice mouthful of wine but could be cabernet or merlot; what are the distinguishing characteristics, except for a bit of ripe, berryish vitality? Good+. About $16.
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Wild Horse Merlot 2010, Central Coast. 13.5% alc. With 5% malbec, 2% cabernet sauvignon and 4% “other red.” Dark ruby color; black currants and plums, lavender and roasted fennel, cedar, black tea and loam; firm yet supple structure, sustaining acidity, almost succulent but balanced by slightly grainy tannins; no great depth but an attractive individual rendition. Now through 2014. Very Good+. About $19.
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Wild Horse Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, Central Coast. 13.5% alc. With 1% syrah. Dark purple shading to medium ruby rim; cedar and tobacco, mint and eucalyptus, spicy black currants and plums; smooth, velvety, slightly dense and chewy; backnotes of oak and dusty tannins; clean, lively finish. Now through 2014. Very Good+. About $20.
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Chakona Estate Selection Malbec 2010, Mendoza, Argentina. 14% alc. Dark ruby-purple, close to opaque at the center; a strapping wine, deep and broad; formidable structure balances grainy tannins, spicy oak and vibrant acidity for a complete package — purposeful and dynamic — that doesn’t entirely conceal lovely character and breeding. Now (with grilled meat) or from 2014 to 2018. Excellent. About $25.
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Artezin Petite Sirah 2010, Mendocino County. 14.3% alc. With 3% zinfandel. Deep ruby-purple color; fresh, bright and fruit, spicy and savory; not a blockbuster but immediately drinkable; black currants, plums and blueberries with hints of briers and brambles, tar and graphite; pulls up squinchy, mouth-coating tannins and adds some mineral-fueled power through the finish. Now through 2014. Production was 212 cases. Very Good+. About $25.
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Artezin Zinfandel 2010, Dry Creek Valley. 14.8% alc. With 3% petite sirah and 1% syrah. Dark ruby-purple; deep, rich and spicy; blackberries and plums with a hint of boysenberry and blueberry tart; a few moments in the glass bring up touches of fig paste, tapenade and soy sauce; very dry, with well-knit tannins and integrated, spicy oak; black and blue fruit a little fleshy; a strain of earthy, graphite-laden minerality dominates the vibrant and slightly austere finish. Now through 2014 or ’15. Production was 360 cases. Excellent.
About $25, representing Great Value.
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Piocho 2009, Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara. 14.1% alc. 58% merlot, 22% cabernet sauvignon, 18% cabernet franc, 2% petit verdot. From Margerum Wine Company. Consumed at a restaurant, later tasted at a trade event. Dark ruby color; seductive bouquet of black cherries and currants, touch of plums and black mulberries, deeply spicy and savory; lavender, violets, graphite; black olive and thyme; deep foundation of dusty, lithic tannins and smoky oak, coats the mouth and laves the palate with ripe and velvety black and blue fruit flavors that never get blatant or slushy; firm, gripping hand of vital acidity cuts a swath. Frankly delicious. Now through 2014 or ’15. Production was 570 cases. Excellent. About $25.
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Hecht & Bannier Côtes du Roussillon-Villages 2009, Languedoc, France. 14.5% alc. 55% grenache, 25% syrah, 15% mourvèdre, 5% carignan. Dark ruby with a lighter ruby rim; meaty and fleshy red and black currants, wildly spiced and macerated, over hints of roses and violets; vibrant, lively, engaging yet deeply imbued with dense dusty tannins and a powerful earthy, graphite-like mineral character; smoke, brambles, touch of moss through the finish. Now through 2014 or ’15. Excellent. About $26.
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Marziano Abbona Barbera d’Alba Rinaldi 2010, Piedmont, Italy. 14.5% alc. 100% barbera grapes. Dark ruby color; dried spices and flowers, lavender and potpourri, hint of pomander, red and black fruit scents and flavors; deeply foresty and earthy, brushy and briery tannins, precisely balances succulence with a strict regimen of acidity and granitic minerality. Now through 2016 or ’17. Excellent. About $30.
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With Saturday night’s pizza, I opened a bottle of the Castello di Volpaia Chianti Classico 2009, a wine drinking beautifully at not quite three years old.

The small hill town of Volpaia — “fox’s lair” — dates to the 11th Century, established as a frontier outpost by Florence against Siena. The village retains much of its medieval appearance today, thanks, in large part, to the restoration efforts of the Stianti Mascheroni family that owns about two-thirds of the town and has converted many of the old buildings to winery facilities and homes for their workers. Volpaia’s Chianti Classico is a combination of modern and traditional. For modernity, it’s a blend of 90 percent sangiovese with 10 percent “international” grapes — merlot and syrah; the vineyards are certified organic, and the age of the vines varies from about 10 to about 40 years old. For traditional, the wine was aged 12 months in large oak casks, not small French barriques, though the Chianti Classico Riserva (one level higher, theoretically) gets about 20 percent barrique treatment.

Anyway, Volpaia Chianti Classico 2009 sports an intense medium ruby color; aromas of dried cherries and currants are woven with spiced tea, violets, orange zest, a hint of briers and brambles and a bit of graphite. It’s quite alluring but in a subdued manner; there’s nothing flamboyant or opulent here. While this Chianti Classico’s structure is firm and a little dense with finely-milled and open-knit tannins, it also exhibits lovely lightness, delicacy and balance, along with vibrant acidity and juicy but spare flavors of red and black cherries and currants with a sprightly touch of mulberry, potpourri and sandalwood. The finish is of moderate length, sleek and elegant with a bit of woody spice and earthy minerality. 13.5 percent alcohol. Drink now through 2014 or ’15. Excellent. About $24.

Imported by Wilson Daniels, St. Helena, Ca. A sample for review.

I didn’t produce a Friday Wine Sips post this week, and I’m not going to do it today, so why not be forward-looking with the Wine of the Week?

I made the Bindi Sergardi Chianti Colli Senesi 2008, Toscana, one of my “Great Bargains of 2011.” I missed the rendition of 2009, but recently tasted the 2010, and it’s even better than its cousin from ’08. Chianti Colli Senesi means “Chianti from the hills of Siena,” a designation that gives you an idea where the D.O.C. fits within the geography of Tuscany, that is to say, Siena is about 32 miles south of Florence. The rivalry between Siena and Florence, the latter long considered the center of the Tuscan wine trade, goes back a thousand years, and at sporting events today, some Sienese may taunt their Florentine counterparts with “Remember Montaperti” — all in good fun! — a great battle the Sienese won on September 4, 1260. They have long memories in Europe.

Made entirely in stainless steel from 100 percent sangiovese grapes, Bindi Sergardi Chianti Colli Senesi 2010 offers a beautiful limpid cerise color and incredibly attractive aromas of red and black cherries, red currants, orange rind, black tea and cloves. The wine is quite dry yet juicy with black and red fruit flavors, touched with something slightly exotic like sandalwood and pomegranate, and enlivened by bright acidity, hints of mulberries, potpourri and pomander, and a persistent graphite quality. The texture is soft, almost velvety, but the tannins that burgeon from mid-palate through the finish bring in elements of briers, underbrush and dried porcini. Drink now through 2013 or ’14 with pizza, pasta dishes with tomato sauces and grilled beef, veal or lamb. Charming but with sufficient heft to be taken seriously. 13.5 percent alcohol. Very Good+. About $15, a Terrific Value.

Imported by Le Vignole Fine Wines, Memphis, Tenn. A sample for review.