Decanter

A beautiful, very sensual, feminine wine that is only vinified in the best vintages. Exquisitely flavoured with dark fruit, elegant and fine on the palate with plenty of fruit and length. It was named after the nickname once given to the young wild Clerico by his father: Aeroplan Servaj - wild aeroplane. And the labelling is just as wild and creative - there are six different labels! SUPERIORE.DE

In the Montebuoni vineyard, high above the hills between Gaiole and Radda, a wine is produced whose name embodies a poetic philosophy. Haiku – the traditional Japanese verse form in three lines, whose power lies in its allusion to nature and which requires clear thinking and imagination. Marco Pallanti and Lorenza Sebasti did not choose this name by chance: like a perfect haiku, their wine combines three elements into a harmonious whole that captures the essence of Tuscan nature in its conciseness. The story of Haiku begins in 2009 with the acquisition of the Montebuoni vineyard, the replanting of which had already been completed in 2001. Three noble grape varieties found their ideal expression on these calcareous soils at an altitude of around 500 metres: 50 percent Sangiovese as Tuscan soul, 25 percent Cabernet Franc as Burgundian elegance and 25 percent Merlot as Bordeaux opulence. This tripartite division not only reflects the classic Haiku structure, but also Marco Pallanti's vision of a perfect balance between regional authenticity and international flair.

When Sergio Rossi took over Podere Colombaio from the Biondi-Santi family in 1976, nobody could have guessed that the Milanese advertising expert would become one of the architects of modern Montalcino. He was one of the 24 founders of the Consorzio, one of the first 35 Brunello bottlers of an appellation that will number over 250 by 2024. What he brought with him: the legendary Sangiovese clones of Biondi-Santi, planted on marl and limestone in Canalicchio – vines that are now over forty years old. Brunello 2020 unites two souls: the cool elegance of the north from the historic Canalicchio parcels and the sun-kissed vigour of Castelnuovo dell'Abate in the south. The wine rests for three years in large Slavonian barrels and a further eight months in the bottle – time that you can taste.

The 1.6-hectare Loreto vineyard is located on a slope right next to the winery and has an ideal south-east exposure. Vigna Loreto is only vinified in the best vintages and is an even more intense interpretation of the Sangiovese grape. On the palate, the texture is both creamy and robust, with a depth and fullness that make it very rich and exceptional. With further aeration, beautiful notes of black fruits, tobacco and spices. Aristocratic, powerful and very long. SUPERIORE.DE

The Romanesque Pieve di San Marcellino was built in the year 1000. It still stands today – in the middle of the vineyards of Rocca di Montegrossi, seven kilometres south of Gaiole, at the southern tip of the Chianti Classico. The vineyard bears its name. And the vines that surround it are older than most of the appellations that appear on labels today. Marco Ricasoli-Firidolfi is a descendant of Baron Bettino Ricasoli – the "Iron Baron" who defined the formula for Chianti Classico in the 19th century. Not as a marketing idea, but as a genetic link to this soil. The vineyard has been certified organic since 2010 and has been planted with Pugnitello alongside Sangiovese since 2006 – an autochthonous Tuscan grape variety that was almost extinct in the 1980s. Pugnitello deepens the colour, thickens the structure and sharpens the profile of the Sangiovese grape. Hand-picked, separate fermentation of both varieties on wild yeasts in upright wooden tanks, 24 months in Allier barriques and tonneau, bottled unfiltered. Only produced in outstanding vintages – the 2020 is one of them.

"The wine must be nurtured until it is ready to face the world on its own." Mateja Gravner, Josko's daughter, describes the estate's philosophy more precisely than any technical specification ever could: every wine is a child that is raised until it can embody its own soul and character. For his 2016 Ribolla Gialla, this meant hand harvesting in the Dedno vineyard and Alberello training. After gentle pressing, the grapes are transferred to deeply buried Georgian qvevris, sealed with solid granite lids. There, in the darkness of the earth, spontaneous fermentation begins – without temperature control, without selected yeasts, on the skins for seven months. After the amphora comes six years in large Slavonian botti, followed by half a year of bottle ageing. No fining, no filtration.

Serralunga d'Alba. Anyone who hears this name knows that this is where the masculine, powerful side of Barolo is born. Not the Burgundian elegance of La Morra, not the finesse of Barolo – but structure, tannin and longevity. The Cerretta vineyard is located on the south side of Serralunga, surrounded by legendary crus such as Lazzarito and Vigna Rionda. Sandstone, limestone, chalk – a terroir that gives Nebbiolo strength and depth. Elio Altare has been cultivating 20-year-old vines with a southern, south-eastern and south-western exposure here for decades. The "Vigna Bricco" – the highest point of the vineyard, where the sun shines the longest, where the grapes reach perfect ripeness.

Lisini's vineyards are located between Sant'Angelo in Colle and Castelnuovo dell'Abate on the inner edge of the Sesta area and are cleansed by the constant breeze from the Tuscan coast. The stony soils with a significant proportion of limestone and the altitude of over 300 metres help to maintain the freshness of the wines. The 2018 is wonderfully fragrant, almost exotic. Plump red fruits and sweet summer herbs fill the mouth, but instead of being heavy, it is balanced and transparent. The powdery tannins are fine and lead to a long, maritime finish. SUPERIORE.DE

Vigna San Marcellino Gran Selezione is both youthfully fresh and ripe and complexly muscular. It contains a healthy dose of the deeply coloured Pugnitello grape, and on the nose liquorice, tarragon and broom mingle with lush plum and subtle roasted aromas that are highly seductive in their complexity. Deep, taut and lively on the palate, loaded with black cherry and rich, velvety tannins. The texture is silky, while subtle chalky notes and a salty minerality give it plenty of energy and lead it into a juicy, refreshing finish. Vigna San Marcellino is a convincing wine with enormous ageing potential every year. SUPERIORE.DE

Ornato, Serralunga d'Alba, that is: stony limestone marl, warm vats with good aeration, the south/south-west exposure ensures deep ripeness, the altitude ensures balance. Hand-picked, separate vinification in stainless steel, extended maceration time. Maturation in large barrels is supplemented by a small proportion of barriques/tonneaux – more for texture than flavour. 2020 offered a stable summer and clear nights for the harvest: ripe harvest, supple phenolics, brilliant fruit.

Silky, open and graceful, it is characterised by outstanding elegance and the finesse typical of the northern sector of Montalcino. Rose petals, sweet red berries and graceful, minty notes adorn the palate in a sensual, silky Brunello that exudes its class and pedigree from the very first sip. The traditional Marroneto style with fine-grained tannins and subtle salty notes contrasts excitingly with the classic structure and extract sweetness. A great wine! SUPERIORE.DE

As the Tuscan sun rises over the San Lorenzo Valley, it casts its golden light on the eighteen-year-old Pianigiani and Ricucci villas – the historic walls that gave this extraordinary Gran Selezione its name. It is a moment of silence before the story of a wine begins, which carries the quintessence of four legendary vineyards: Bellavista, Casuccia, San Lorenzo and Montebuoni. The 2021 vintage was a gift from nature to the winemakers of Chianti Classico. A rainy spring, which gave the vines the moisture they needed, was followed by a warm but not scorching summer. These climatic conditions gave the grapes a fullness and fleshiness that would later reveal itself in the glass as velvety opulence. Marco Pallanti, the driving force behind Castello di Ama since 1982 and former president of the Chianti Classico consortium, immediately recognised the extraordinary potential of this vintage.

In the year 994, the son of the Lombard king Berengario gave what is now Gagliole to his bride – a token of love whose legacy lives on in the vineyards to this day. The Pecchia, named after the Old Tuscan word for "bee", embodies the essence of this legendary terroir in Panzano's Conca d'Oro. Here, at an altitude of 500 metres on the north-western edge of the golden valley, the purest Sangiovese thrives on that rare Pietraforte limestone which lends Gagliole's wines their unmistakable minerality. "Vinificazione integrale" – a process developed in 2002 by Baron, France's oldest cooperage – is what makes this wine so special. Whole bunches of grapes ferment in specially designed barriques with enlarged openings, allowing every hint of aroma from the hand-picked berries to infuse the wine. Eighteen months in French oak, followed by a further eight months in concrete tanks and at least one year's bottle ageing, create a depth and complexity that is only possible in the very best vintages.

In just a few years, Alessandro Mori's wines have made Il Marroneto one of Montalcino's most famous wineries. Today, he runs the company together with his son Jacopo. The wines reflect their passionate, simple and outspoken character, which appears reserved and austere at first glance, but slowly opens up to reveal a harmonious synthesis of elegance and power. In 2019, he decided to produce a selection from some of his best grapes - named after his son Jacopo - and in such small quantities that we are the only ones on the German market to be allocated a few boxes. SUPERIORE.DE

Just 500 bottles come onto the market, if Luca even decides to present this single-varietal Cabernet Franc to the public. And if he does, this red is certainly one of the world's best Cabernet Francs. Deep dark, almost black ruby. In the bouquet a large aroma spectrum of black and red berries, intense and beguiling, rounded off by a fine spicy note with white pepper and some sandalwood. On the palate, very fine tannin, complex red-fruity notes and again this terroir-influenced mineral-salty note in the seemingly endless finish. Cabernet lovers will be delighted with this impressive masterpiece. SUPERIORE.DE

The 2020 Barbaresco Bernadot comes from one of the coolest and highest cru sites in the municipality of Treiso, whose sandy, chalky soils and exposed south-east exposure give the Nebbiolo particular precision and aromatic clarity. The year was characterised by a warm spring, followed by a stable summer with cool nights, which ensured slow, even ripening and preserved the freshness of the wine.

The fruit for Tenuta Nuova is harvested from a south and south-east facing slope at 250 to 300 metres above sea level. The soils are loose and mixed with gravel, which allows access to air and moisture.

Sometimes it takes a single vineyard to understand what a vintage really means. 2021: "fragrante, definite e verticale" – is the official verdict of some Masters of Wine. Fragrant, precise, vertical. For Le Lucére, this east-facing parcel on Galestro and slate, this sounds like a description of the wine's characteristics. No vintage in recent years fits the DNA of this site as well as 2021. The late frost in April decimated the quantities – what remained was more concentrated, healthier, more focussed. No heat stress in summer. A relaxed harvest at the end of September, in which the vines gave the last of what the season had to offer: clear fruit, lively acidity, fine-grained tannins. Caciorgna let the vintage speak for itself.

Vigna Loreto from the sun-drenched single vineyard of the same name right next to the winery is only vinified in the best vintages and delivers an even more intense interpretation of the Sangiovese grape every year. If you are looking for a soft and contemporary expression of Sangiovese, this is the wine for you. It offers a deep richness and texture infused with black fruits, spice and tobacco. This wine goes a step beyond the normal boundaries of Brunello in terms of richness and extraction. For all its undoubtedly beguiling opulence, it is nevertheless a straightforward and altogether superb wine that will gain in finesse and elegance with age. SUPERIORE.DE

A wine that made history. When Francesco Ricasoli presented Casalferro for the first time in 1993, it marked the beginning of a new era for the venerable Castello di Brolio and cemented Ricasoli's membership in the elite of Italian oenology. Today, almost three decades later, Casalferro 2019 is a prime example of how a French grape variety matures to exceptional perfection on Tuscan terroir. Casalferro is the essence of three exceptional individual vineyards: Vigna Casalferro, Vigna Pecchierino and Vigna Sodacci. These 13 hectares of Merlot vineyards between 400 and 500 metres above sea level are the result of decades of meticulous terroir studies. Each site has its own personality: Vigna Casalferro with its sandstone and limestone soils, Vigna Pecchierino on pure Alberese limestone and Vigna Sodacci on iron-rich sandstone soils. They all share the characteristic altitude, which gives the grapes the crystalline freshness and lively acidity that characterise the DNA of the Brolio terroir.

The Riserva embodies the roots of Fattoria Le Pupille – it is the very first wine the estate produced and marketed. Originally launched in 1978 as "Rosso di Pereta", it became the cornerstone of a terroir – following the establishment of the Morellino di Scansano appellation regulations – which Elisabetta Geppetti guided to international recognition with passion and vision. As the first woman to head the Consorzio Morellino di Scansano, she shaped not only the appellation but the entire wine culture of the Maremma. Sangiovese (90%) blended with Cabernet Sauvignon (10%) from the vineyards of La Carla, Maiano, Bozzino and Vecchie Pupille, at altitudes of 50 to 250 metres. The soils vary from clay-silt to sandy loam with a significant limestone-marl component. After 25 to 30 days' maceration at 26 degrees, the wine is aged for twelve months in Slavonian oak barrels with a capacity of 20 to 40 hectolitres.

The Vigna Loreto covers one and a half hectares. Steep, stony and east-facing – the slope faces the morning sun, not the midday sun. The soil is rich in tuff and pebbles, poor in nutrients, and unforgiving. The vines are the result of a mass selection from eight of the estate's own Sangiovese clones, which Mastrojanni has selected over decades: the estate's genetic memory is embodied in every vine. It was Gabriele Mastrojanni himself who recognised Vigna Loreto as a distinct plot – the ability to demonstrate finesse where Castelnuovo dell'Abate would otherwise impress with power. Today, every vintage confirms what the founder saw: Loreto speaks more softly than the great Brunello, but with greater precision. The east-facing aspect gives the wine freshness; the tuff lends it mineral tension; and the lean soils force concentration without overripeness. 36 months' ageing in Allier barrels ranging from 16 to 33 hectolitres – the small sizes that allow the wood to be close to the wine without dominating it.

This coveted Riserva is only vinified in top vintages and comes from the highest vineyards of the winery. On the nose, the essence of dark cherries, blackberries, flowers, violets, liquorice and spices, which are then carried away on the palate by firm, structured tannins. The Brunello Riserva 2016 impresses with its remarkable fruit and a big, explosive finish. It presents itself fresh and surprisingly lively, yet very focused and balanced. A great wine that is already a real joy to drink. SUPERIORE.DE