The Mazzei 2020 Chianti Classico Riserva Ser Lapo shows blackberry, blackcurrant and a savory note of toasted spice. This is a more elaborate, hot-vintage expression with extra heft and pulp. Sangiovese is blended with 10% Merlot and aged in barrel for 12 months. You can up the food-pairing possibilities with this bottle to include wild boar or stewed rabbit, thanks to the wine's generous, mid-weight texture. Production is 260,000 bottles.

The Mazzei 2019 Chianti Classico Riserva Ser Lapo shows a soft and nicely textured approach to Sangiovese with plenty of dark fruit ripeness, blackcurrant and wild plum. This balanced vintage tends to show a little more richness and concentration than you normally get with Sangiovese, and the wine spreads evenly and smoothly over the palate as a result. There are no rough edges here, and this classic bottle would pair with a simple steak and fries.

The Mazzei 2018 Chianti Classico Riserva Ser Lapo is a plump and fruit-forward wine from a vintage that saw alternating moments of cool and hot that caressed the fruit into a slightly more ripened and softened overall state. This is a mid-weight wine with plenty of dark fruit and blackberry. On second nose, the wine offers savory tones of leather, spice and tar. This darker and heavier approach might do well if paired with game meat or a Tuscan stew of wild boar.

The Mazzei 2017 Chianti Classico Riserva Ser Lapo is Sangiovese with a tiny part Merlot and other complementary varieties. Compared to the other releases in this portfolio, Ser Lapo comes across as slightly flashier and more contemporary. It opens to dark and concentrated fruit, with soft spice and tobacco backed by cherry and sun-ripened blackberry. Subtle notes of campfire ash and scorched earth also appear. Like some of the other 2017 wines presented by the Mazzei family, the mouthfeel is thinner and more streamlined than anticipated.

Here's a terrific wine, at a reasonable price point, that gives you an authentic albeit contemporary taste of Tuscany. The 2016 Chianti Classico Riserva Ser Lapo (made with 90% Sangiovese and 10% other red varieties including Merlot) reflects the best qualities of this classic vintage with sharp lines, good freshness and delineated contours. The wine shows a tight core of black fruit surrounded by softer layers of spice and smoke at the edges. Some 175,000 bottles were made.