Doctor Wine

A story of renaissance in the truest sense of the word: after more than twenty years of silence, Le Caggiole recently shone in new splendour. What Federico Carletti describes as an "importante lavoro di recupero" is akin to oenological archaeology – the systematic rediscovery of a 14-hectare site that had once been forgotten. At an altitude of 350 metres, on the road from Montepulciano to Gracciano, intensive research revealed the true potential of this east-facing slope: soils of marine origin, decidedly sandy, of a completely different geological character to the famous Asinone just one kilometre away. Through meticulous selection of Sangiovese rootstocks and clones, precise planting and a deep understanding of the soil and microclimate, this 100 per cent Prugnolo Gentile emerged from its decades-long hiatus.

Querciabella's Riserva, with an annual production of 10,000 bottles, is a selection of the best lots. It blends fruit from Greve, where the vineyards lie between 350 and 550 metres above sea level, with grapes from the stony high altitudes of Radda and the chalky soils of Gaiole. Tantalising aromas of spring flowers, cranberries and potting soil are accompanied by vanilla and smoke. On the palate, it is polished and pure, with a delicious, tangy acidity and sinewy tannins. As every year, one of the most refined wines of the appellation. SUPERIORE.DE

Vernaccia di Oristano Antico Gregori Riserva was not only named dessert wine of the year in Gambero Rosso 2021 (1976 vintage), but was also bottled in this 1979 vintage edition. As it was possible to bottle a little more this year than in other years, the usual assemblage of the best vintages of the last century was dispensed with this year. Nonetheless, or perhaps precisely because of this, it is, as always, a breathtaking wine that leaves nothing to be desired in terms of intensity, maturity and depth! SUPERIORE.DE

Hardly any Brunello is as authentic as the wines from Le Potazzine - they reveal the whole truth of the Sangiovese grape. The result is neither completely polished, nor is it boring or predictable. The 2020 Brunello di Montalcino achieves a degree of extreme authenticity and originality that you don't find on every corner in the appellation. It is a wine full of understatement and equally great personality, for which one must take time and leisure to discover every last nuance. On the nose, it reveals a subtle and well-composed bouquet of red roses, spices, earth and wild mushrooms. As always with Le Potazzine, there is also a wild hint of rusticity. On the palate, this Brunello reveals its powerful fruit and perfectly integrated tannins. Like a friend you can rely on, this Brunello is both a role model and a lovable buddy. SUPERIORE.DE

Crosara Breganze 2017 is a textbook Merlot: full of ripe dark fruits, blackberry pie, liquorice, chocolate, toasted oak and grilled herbs. Offering superb inner sweetness, it is both powerful and elegant, with a lush, super-soft mouthfeel. Pleasingly, a wonderfully focused mineral component saves the wine from ever being overdone. SUPERIORE.DE

Troy is no ordinary Chardonnay. Rather, it is the archetype of a Chardonnay, as Wolfgang Klotz, managing director of what is probably the most successful winegrowers' cooperative in South Tyrol, sees it. The grapes come from two selected vineyards in Söll, near Tramin. The climate there is not only Mediterranean, but the vegetation is also characterised by rather cold downdraughts at night. Both factors guarantee optimal development of the plants and fruit. The berries are hand-picked one by one, so it is clear to any wine connoisseur that this is an absolutely prestigious project for the co-operative. It is therefore not surprising that only 3,000 bottles of this grape variety are sold in selected specialist shops and top restaurants.

In 1969, Rino Sottimano acquired a vineyard that was to become the foundation of his winery: The Cru Cottà, 2.8 hectares located between the municipalities of Neive and Barbaresco, where south-westerly exposures and sandy soils give the Nebbiolo the fullness and structure that make this Barbaresco so special. The vines, now 80 years old, are spaced unusually far apart, a relic from times when vegetables and artichokes were still cultivated between the rows of vines. A historical planting method that gives the roots room to penetrate deep into the calcareous clay soil. Cottà has always been the most fruit-orientated of the five Sottimano crus, a wine of concentrated power that combines the fleshy polyphenols of the Neive vineyards with the distinctive tannin structure of Barbaresco.

Troy – in the language of the South Tyrolean ancestors it means "path", the path that Cantina Tramin has travelled for decades to create one of the most extraordinary Chardonnays in Italy. A path of research, experimentation and patience. Because complex Chardonnays from Alpine altitudes are a rarity – that's where the appeal lies, that's where the challenge begins. At an altitude of 500 to 550 metres, where Mediterranean daytime heat and cold downdraughts from the mountains meet in extreme contrast, 25-year-old Chardonnay vines are rooted in calcareous gravel and clay over porphyry. South-east exposure, Guyot and pergola training, only 38 hectolitres per hectare – each berry is individually inspected during the hand harvest in October. This is followed by whole bunch pressing: the grapes are gently pressed together with stems and stalks, an archaic process that lends structure and depth. Both alcoholic and malolactic fermentation take place in French barriques. The wine rests for eleven months on the fine lees in wood before being transferred to small stainless steel tanks, where it spends a further 22 months on the lees – the wine is matured for a total of 33 months before being bottled for four months.

Some wines carry the history of an entire movement within them. Camartina belongs to the handful of Tuscan icons who changed everything in the early 1980s – those rebellious Super Tuscans who did not care about the narrow rules of Chianti Classico and instead pursued their own vision of greatness. 1981 was the birth year of Camartina, and with this wine Querciabella not only laid the foundations for its own success, but also wrote Italian wine history. The name itself is the programme: a fusion of "Casaocci" – the first office on the first hectare of vineyard – and "Martina", the younger daughter of Giuseppe Castiglioni, the visionary founder. What originally began as a Sangiovese-dominated cuvée has undergone a fascinating evolution over the decades. Today, Cabernet Sauvignon is the clear protagonist with seventy per cent, while Sangiovese contributes thirty per cent, the elegant Tuscan linearity that distinguishes Camartina from other Super Tuscans. The reason for this lies in the Ruffoli vineyards near Greve in Chianti, where Cabernet has found a home on the arid sandstone soils, giving it an unusual finesse – lighter, more sophisticated, more refined than elsewhere.

The grapes for this remarkably Burgundian Gran Selezione come from the single vineyard of the same name in a 2.25-hectare Chianti Classico vineyard, which was planted in 1971 with a density of 3,400 vines per hectare and is south-facing on old terraces. Riecine has leased these plots since the 1980s, and in the 2019 debut vintage, the winery succeeded in acquiring this site, which is one of the best terroirs in the Chianti Classico region. The bottles are numbered and around 4,000 bottles and 50 magnums are bottled each year.

Pajana - most modern wine of the entire Clerico range - presents itself closed, compressed and with great potential. Rich ruby with a light garnet rim. Compact nose, showing rich notes of blackberry, dark cherries, a little cinchona bark in the background. Explodes literally on the palate, lots of ripe, present fruit, then opens up with lots of fine-meshed tannin, salty depth, rich pressure. SUPERIORE.DE

Tasca got involved in Etna early on and the latest result of these years of experience are four new single vineyard wines from the Tascante estate: Contrada Rampante, Pianodario, Sciaranuova and Sciaranuova Vigna Vecchia (V.V.). The wines are delicate and profound, and despite their power, acidity and taut tannin, very elegant, finesse-rich and light-footed on the palate. Each of the four plots brings a slightly different style and personality to the wine - due to the altitude, soil composition and morphology of the historic lava flows. A high annual rainfall ensures that the soil has all the water it needs, and the temperature fluctuations between day and night support the aromatic diversity of the grapes and ultimately the ripening potential.

Elena Fucci's exceptional Titolo wine is already built for the long haul in its "basic version". It will continue its steady development for at least the next 20 years, which is why it is particularly enjoyable when aged in magnum format. Dark ruby red in colour, the bouquet has aromas of ripe red fruit and a fine woody spice. The wine is assembled with enormous precision, offering a balanced intensity and a beautiful degree of fruit purity that speaks both in favour of the Aglianico grape and the extreme region that produces it. Titolo impresses with its fine texture and elegantly integrated tannins. This is the kind of masterful Aglianico performance we love. SUPERIORE.DE

Ginestra is a large and beautiful vineyard site in Monforte d'Alba, bathed in morning light and offering a panoramic view of the castle of Serralunga d'Alba. The flagship wine of the house with great personality and balance. The bouquet is multi-layered and multi-dimensional with dark purple, balsamic fruit on the one hand and impressive notes of spices, tar and tobacco on the other. In the glass, the Sori Ginestra is characterised by a pronounced, strong backbone of taut tannins and an acidity that leaves nothing to be desired for this cru in terms of structure, completeness and longevity. SUPERIORE.DE

San Leonardo is the flagship of the winery of the same name and one of the best red wines in Trentino every year. Opulent bouquet with nuances of dark fruit such as blackberry and sour cherry. Delicate spice, leather and tobacco notes give it a terrific complexity, which is then extended on the palate by a harmonious interplay of dark berries and plums, all flanked by clearly contoured tannins. A masterful red with a strong personality that will reach its true greatness after a few more years of bottle ageing and live up to its reputation. SUPERIORE.DE

Dark, bright ruby with garnet colour. Pure power of aromas, dense and complex with notes of black cherries, smoked ham, savoury herbs, tobacco, liquorice and many other nuances. Equally fascinating on the palate, firm tannins, impressive complexity and depth with noticeable potential for ageing. SUPERIORE.DE

Just 2,100 bottles of this 1.5 ha single vineyard Cabernet Franc "Campo di Magnacosta" (a former riverbed with mainly clay, gravel and crushed stone soil) reach the specialised trade and the menus of the best restaurants worldwide. The vines were planted in the mid-1990s and come from Pomerol. In terms of aromatic intensity, Magnacosta is probably the most sensually elegant representative of the house's three great site cabernets. It has great straightness, but somewhat less power and intensity. It subtly combines black fruit aromas with spicy notes, tar and antique leather. It is already silky and elegant and will certainly gain in finesse over the years. SUPERIORE.DE

Barely 4,000 bottles are produced each year from the magical Anfiteatro, named after the historic vineyard of the same name, which was planted back in 1975. 100% Sangiovese, from high Galestro soils, make up this masterpiece, which impresses every year and which, along with Flaccianello and Cepparello, can place itself in the first rank of the super-Sangiovese of central Tuscany.

Only 1,650 bottles of this 1.5 ha Cabernet Franc single vineyard "Campo di Camagi" (mainly quartz and limestone) reach the specialised trade and the menus of the best restaurants worldwide. Campo di Camagi is a very precise and focused wine. The high quality of the Cabernet Franc grape is noticeable here with every sip. Black fruits and spices are in elegant unity here and the full, racy body of this exceptional wine will only fully reveal itself in many years. Please be sure to put this bottle far away! SUPERIORE.DE

Currá is an archaic long-distance runner and presents itself very aristocratic when young with increasing bottle maturity or also good aeration. Then it reveals dark berries and a fine chocolate note in the bouquet. In its style, it is edgy at first, but then at no point denies its greatness and harmony. Tobacco, plums, smoke and tobacco: with every glass, this exceptional wine reveals new facets and a firework of impressions. This is Nebbiolo from 65-year-old vines at the highest level! SUPERIORE.DE

When you hear the story of the effort that went into the Colonia vineyard, you have to wonder if the fine people of Fèlsina are absolutely crazy. It took them two years to remove the imposing rock that had forced previous generations of the Poggiali family to virtually abandon this noble site. But it is thanks to the ambitious Giovanni Poggiali that this spectacular vineyard (Vigneto Colonia) became what it is today. It has reddish-brown soils, is rich in magnesium and iron, and is thus quite different from all other Fèlsina sites.

Just 2,100 bottles of this 1.5-hectare single-vineyard Cabernet Franc "Campo di Magnacosta" (a former riverbed with mainly clay, gravel and crushed stone soil) are sold worldwide in specialised shops and on the menus of the best restaurants. The vines were planted in the mid-1990s and come from the Pomerol region. In terms of aromatic intensity, Magnacosta is probably the most sensual and elegant of the estate's three great Cabernets. It is very straightforward, but somewhat less powerful and intense. It subtly combines black fruit flavours with spicy notes, tar and antique leather. It is already silky and elegant and will certainly become even more refined over the years. SUPERIORE.DE

Ruby red, with a fine cherry scent, in which there are also hints of nuts and wild berries, vanilla, cinnamon, sage and tobacco. Concentrated, rich flavour with harmonious tannins and a long, velvety final. SUPERIORE.DE

Do you know the Basarin vineyard near Neive? You can expect a bright ruby-garnet colour and a wine from a particularly fine vintage: the bouquet is a cornucopia of wild sour cherry aromas, herbs, a little liquorice and tobacco. Firm and very clearly structured on the palate, muscular and yet with an elegance that never loses control due to its power. Basarin is a highly energetic and precise Nebbiolo that only reveals its complexity with a little patience and aeration. The neighbouring Neive terroir reveals itself with distinguished elegance and blends harmoniously with the volume and weight typical of the site - and with a depth that only vines over 50 years old can produce. SUPERIORE.DE