Justerini & Brooks have made it a tradition to show their Iberian and Italian portfolio in June, before the holidays, instead of in September, when their rival Berry Bros pulls out all the stops with their Italian offerings. Completely untraditional this year, however, was the fact that producers and wines were not arranged geographically from north to south, but stylistically, from lighter styles to more full-bodied reds. Therefore Etna reds were shown at the beginning and Roero and Barolo at the end.
Some of the wines were identical to those shown at last year’s tasting, notably Gini’s 2011 Salvarenza, suggesting...