Falstaff | 95–100 Points

Romano Dal Forno started out in 1983 with a proposition that he has proven every vintage since: a Valpolicella can compete with the greatest wines in the world. He learnt this from Giuseppe Quintarelli. He internalised it in the Val d'Illasi, where his vines grow on alluvial gravel and clay, at up to 450 metres, with a planting density that makes every yield a rarity. Valpolicella Superiore does not begin fermentation – it begins with six weeks of appassimento. Corvina, Corvinone, Croatina, Oseleta and Rondinella dry slowly in the air of the lodoletta, losing water and gaining soul. Then: controlled fermentation in steel tanks, 36 months in new French and American oak barriques, years of ageing in the bottle.

Mazzei's top wine Siepi is not only an outstanding Tuscan wine every year, but also a 6-hectare vineyard in the middle of dense oak forests with an ideal altitude and a unique climate. The sunshine is optimal throughout the day and a constant breeze from the west prevents excessive heat and creates a mild, Mediterranean climate. The oak forests also provide an ideal protective barrier against extreme weather conditions. Rocky soils of marl, limestone and clay from the Pliocene period ensure a special balance of elements in this geological complex.

La Poja from the vineyard of the same name is a great terroir wine in which Allegrini does not dry the grapes. Made from the indigenous Corvina grape variety, this red wine opens with inviting aromas of ripe black-skinned berries, cedar wood and spices. The elegantly structured, full-bodied palate offers spiced blackberries, liquorice and black pepper alongside fine-grained tannins. Dynamic, precise and very elegant in all its components, it offers maximum enjoyment and promises a terrific development. SUPERIORE.DE

The Ciabot Mentin vineyard is located in the Ginestra area and represents the uppermost part of the hill, whose fruit is planted at 410 metres above sea level. This vineyard was planted in 1978. Like the other Clerico Baroli, it matures both in barriques (eight months) and in the bottle (one year). Ciabot Mentin opens with fleshy, floral aromas of lilac and dried lavender that give way to wild berries, cherries and candied orange peel. There is virtually none of the tar or asphalt-like tones often found in Nebbiolo here. Instead, the wine reveals bright primary fruits and a delicate, ethereal complexity. It is gentle, refined, silky and very long. SUPERIORE.DE

The roots of this story go deeper than any memory: the vines are over 80 years old and have been bearing silent witness in the warm alluvial soils of Gries for generations. Here, where thirty visionary winegrowers laid the foundations for a legend in 1908, the masterpiece that has long since become the undisputed icon of South Tyrolean winemaking is produced year after year: Taber Lagrein Riserva. It is a wine that epitomises time. Time in the old vines, which at an altitude of just 250 metres transform the extreme temperature fluctuations between hot days and cool nights into pure concentration. Time in the patient manual labour that selects only the finest grapes for this exceptional Riserva. And time for ageing, where after traditional wooden barrel fermentation, a whole year of ageing in French barriques awaits completion.

Barolo Cerretta Vigna Bricco Riserva 2018 comes from an exposed, high-altitude parcel in Serralunga d'Alba. The soils here are characterised by calcareous marl with iron- and manganese-rich inclusions, which give the wine an unmistakable, cool radiance and distinctive tannin structure. The south-east orientation ensures even sunshine, while cool night winds preserve the aromatic precision of the grapes. The 2018 vintage was characterised by a mild spring, followed by a warm but not extremely hot summer, which allowed the Nebbiolo to ripen gently and evenly. The harvest was not carried out until October, selectively and by hand, in order to bring in only perfectly ripe harvest. The wine was matured for 30 months in barriques, a small proportion of which were new, followed by several years of ageing in the bottle, as required by the Riserva status.

The St. Michael-Eppan winery began crowning selected varietal wines for the first time with the 2015 vintage. Only just over 3,000 bottles of these top selections are sold worldwide each year. In 2019, the choice again fell on a single-varietal Sauvignon Bianco from the best grapes from selected micro-locations. Gentle pressing with 3 days of skin contact, followed by 12 months of fermentation in tonneau and a further 15 months on the fine lees in stainless steel tanks give it a unique depth and finesse. After a further 9 months in the bottle, it is released for sale.

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

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

Il Bricco rises above Treiso to an altitude of around 400 metres. The vines are on average around four decades old. Selective hand-picking, parcel-by-parcel fermentation in stainless steel, patient malolactic fermentation. Maturation takes place predominantly in large oak barrels, accompanied by a smaller proportion of French oak for additional polish. 2019 is considered a textbook year in Barbaresco: a moderate summer, large day-night amplitudes and a long, dry autumn led to a late harvest and fully mature phenolics. The wines show density and vertical tension with excellent freshness – a profile with staying power.

The grapes come from the historic single vineyard Ornato in Serralunga d'Alba: steep, windy slopes on calcareous marl with ferruginous inclusions, at an altitude of around 350-400 metres, predominantly south/south-west facing. Each parcel is harvested separately and fermented in stainless steel; long maceration with gentle extraction. Maturation takes place classically in large Slavonian barrels, with a finely dosed proportion of French oak for texture and lustre. The typically long autumn of 2019 brought fully ripe, aromatically dense grapes with a cool acidity.

Luce Brunello is dark and impenetrable, as always in its more international style. On the palate, it delivers ripe and round fruit flavours of blackberries and plums with plenty of opulence, power and race. The comparatively warm year of 2017 has been superbly parried and we have here once again a wonderful Sangiovese interpretation very much in the style of the Frescobaldi family with wonderful melting, impressive length and suppleness. SUPERIORE.DE

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 cases. SUPERIORE.DE

The essence of chance. There are wines that are only created when the stars are right – and Essenza from Fattoria Kappa is one of them. In the language of physics, Kappa means the constant, but at this extraordinary winery on the border between Bolgheri and Maremma, chance reigns supreme. Only in exceptional years, when the Cabernet Franc grapes reach their fullest maturity and complexity, is this rare cru produced – a gamble that only a few winegrowers in Tuscany dare to take. 2016 was one such year of perfection. After a cool, damp winter and spring, July finally brought the longed-for heat and dryness. A welcome rain shower in mid-August cooled things down and paved the way for a textbook September: warm days, cool nights and the dramatic temperature fluctuations that allow Cabernet Franc to reach its peak. While other producers opted for tried and tested Bordeaux blends, Andrea Di Maio – the agronomist from Livorno and one of the three souls of Fattoria Kappa – went it alone with this capricious grape variety.

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

Luce is the iconic wine of the estate of the same name and symbolises the harmonious balance between the elegant structure of Sangiovese and the richness of Merlot. The wine marries the tradition and terroir of the Montalcino region with a personal interpretation of this extraordinary land.

After almost thirty years of experience in the vinification of the famous Etna Rosso "Rovittello", the Benanti family decided in 2015 to extend the vinification, ageing and refinement of the wine to 60 months. The result is an exclusive Riserva, produced in small quantities from vines over 100 years old from plot no. 341, which is rightly considered one of the best red wines in the region. The Nerello grapes (85% Mascalese/15% Cappuccio) come from a terraced vineyard (pre-phylloxera) in the Contrada Dafara Galluzzo in the upper area of Rovittello, part of the municipality of Castiglione di Sicilia.

Masari only brings its famous Merlot to the cellar and bottle in the best years. Dark, deep garnet red in colour. Aromas of black, ripe fruit with spices, balsamic herbs, aniseed and liquorice on the nose. Well and firmly structured on the palate with silky tannins and a wonderful mouthfeel. Despite its maturity, it appears much younger as it has a harmonious acid wire on the finish. 100% Merlot - 100% terroir. SUPERIORE.DE

Not every year gets a name. 2016 has earned it – and Montalcino does not award such honours lightly. A mild winter, a spring with heavy rainfall that got the growing season back on track. Then, from the second decade of June, a gradual, gentle rise in temperatures throughout July. And finally an August that brought everything together: large daily temperature fluctuations, no rain, perfect ripening conditions. The Consorzio called 2016 one of its best vintages in decades. And Col d'Orcia turned the best site into a Riserva. The Poggio al Vento vineyard is located in the heart of the Tenuta, halfway up the hill above the Orcia Valley, at 350 metres. Planted since 1974. The name – "hill in the wind" – is the programme: constantly ventilated, south-facing, on calcareous, skeleton-rich soils. Grapes are grown here that Col d'Orcia reserves for the most demanding category in the cellar, and even then only when the vintage poses the question: Is this more than a Brunello annata? Can this wine last for decades? In 2016, the answer was yes.

Cepparello – named after the small stream that rises at the highest point of the Isole e Olena vineyards. This name has borne the revolutionary vision of Paolo De Marchi since 1980, when 100 per cent Sangiovese was still a taboo in Chianti Classico. With this wine, the Piedmontese visionary not only created one of the first Supertuscans, but also probably the most authentic portrait of the Sangiovese grape – pure, uncompromising, unadulterated. The Sangiovese vines grow on the characteristic Galestro soils from the estate's best sites, exposed to the south-west at an altitude of 400 to 480 metres. These slatey clay soils give the wine its unmistakable minerality and elegance. The 2020 embodies De Marchi's signature style in its purest form. A mild, dry winter and a drop in temperature in March, which required extreme vigilance against frost damage, was followed by a classic Tuscan summer. Dry and mild until the end of August, then scattered rainfall before the weather calmed down in September – ideal conditions for grapes of exceptional quality and quantity.