The estate’s 2003 Taurasi is an excellent choice for readers looking for a wine that is ready to drink. It offers an intriguing array of sweet dark fruit, smoke and dried, cured meats with an attractive, plump personality. This is a fairly approachable style of Taurasi with outstanding length and fine overall balance. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2020. Mastroberardino is one of the most famous properties in Campania. The estate’s legendary Taurasi Riservas of the 1960s set an early benchmark for quality in the region. Amazingly, those early wines are still in great shape.Importer: Wilson Daniels Ltd, St. Helena, CA; tel. (707) 963-9661

Despite its age, you still get intact nuances of fruit and berry preserves. This hearty Taurasi does not seem to have suffered too much from the hot vintage and offers thick dense black fruit and firm tannins. Radici is a flagship wine for southern Italy.——M.L.(10/1/2008)—— 90