The 2020 Perricone Core wafts up with a woodland-inspired bouquet, mixing savory herbs with flowery underbrush, crushed wild berries and camphor. It opens with a pretty inner sweetness that gives way to violet-infused red and blue fruits accentuated by lavender. Saline minerals add a lovely grip toward the close. This finishes structured yet surprisingly fresh and perfumed, leaving a licorice tinge and exotic spice hints. This zesty Perricone will win many hearts.

Hints of firewood and camphor light up behind black cherries, vanilla, cedar and spices are on the nose of this Sicilian red from the Perricone grape, before fresher notes of tomatoes and herbs come out on the palate. An undercurrent of stony brininess and more berries come through at the back, with the tension held by mellowing tannins but vibrant acid.

A dark and brambly, light- to medium-bodied red, with fresh earth and a touch of smoky bacon fat serving as a savory entry point, with fig cake and crème de cassis flavors showing on the subtle, lightly chewy finish. Dark and juicy. Drink now.