Here's a nice Sangiovese to serve with an appetizer of wild mushroom paté spread over slices of freshly baked whole wheat bread. The Poggio Scalette 2017 Il Carbonaione is a sultry and rich wine from a hot vintage. Fruit in 2017 is dark and ripe, but more importantly, the vintage delivers extra concentration and textural fiber because of the lack of rain and moisture for most of the summer. This wine shows lots of rich and concentrated fruit at its core, with lighter touches of baked terracotta, toasted spice and iron ore. You might be surprised by a floral tone of violet and dried lavender that pops up on the close.

Vittorio Fiore's 2016 Il Carbonaione is a robust expression of Sangiovese from a classic vintage. The wine is carefully balanced but also powerful at the same time, with bright cherry and wild berry aromas followed by tilled earth and garden herb. You also get lighter tones of licorice and tar at the back. Despite the opulence and generosity of the bouquet, the wine ultimately proves lean and elegantly streamlined in terms of mouthfeel.

The 2015 Il Carbonaione presents a thick and darkly saturated side of Sangiovese. This expression opens to a dark garnet color with ripe aromas of black cherry, prune and blackberry. This edition delivers extra thickness and richness, yet that mid-weight approach is never compromised. This wine should spread out and gain in volume as it evolves in the bottle. Some 26,000 bottles were made (whereas only 2,000 bottles of the 2015 Capogatto were produced).

How enologist Vittorio Fiore gets this Sangiovese to show so much darkness and extraction is a real mystery. The 2014 Il Carbonaione is a delicious and syrupy wine that defies the appearance of this mighty Tuscan grape variety as expressed in the region's major appellations. Instead, this IGT interpretation opens to an inky black color and impenetrable richness. The bouquet delivers black cherry, plum and lots of tobacco. In the mouth, however, you taste that fresh and almost thorny acidity that is so distinctive of Sangiovese. This difficult vintage offers moderate length and a short finish. The wine's balance is slightly off center.

Vittorio Fiore's 2013 Il Carbonaione is a softly integrated and well-composed expression of Sangiovese. It shows enormous richness and makes a lasting impression on all the senses, from eyes to nose to palate. The appearance is inky dark, and the bouquet offers a balanced medley of ripe fruit, backing spice, leather, chocolate and tart berry aromas. It needs a few more years to unwind and lose some of its nervous energy. This is a beautiful and unique expression of the grape that will show its best in about five years.