Falstaff

Sparkling, medium-dense ruby-garnet colour. The Rancia Riserva from the single vineyard of the same name is powerful and energetic, expressive and dense and has been elevated to "Gran Selezione" status for the first time. The aroma is characterised by ripe, full-bodied fruit and mineral notes. The flavour is earthy, tannic and terroir-influenced, beautifully articulated, fine and with an enjoyable length. A wine that requires sensitivity and/or a few years of rest. SUPERIORE.DE

In the 12th century, a man named Ugolforte led the rebellion of the citizens of Montalcino against the superior power of Siena. A bandit for some, a freedom fighter for others – his name has survived the centuries in the stories told in the hills. Today it is on the label of a Brunello that carries this indomitable spirit. Tenuta San Giorgio is located in Castelnuovo dell'Abate, in the south-east of Montalcino, just a few kilometres from the thousand-year-old Abbey of Sant'Antimo. Founded in 1982 – in the same year that Grattamacco bottled its first vintage – the winery joined the ColleMassari group of the Tipa-Bertarelli family in 2016. Since then, it has shared the terroir with the legendary Poggio di Sotto: the same slopes, the same winds, the same philosophy. 28 hectares of Sangiovese on south-eastern slopes between 300 and 450 metres, embedded in 110 hectares of forest, which protects biodiversity and shapes the microclimate. The soils read like a geological poem: clay, galestro, tuff, red earth, white biancane, the proud Calanchi – and Monte Amiata, the extinct volcano, watches over everything.

This immensely popular and elegant classic Amarone from Zenato hails from Sant'Ambrogio, the heart of the Valpolicella Classico region, where the family has been based since 1960. Corvina makes up eighty per cent of the blend, complemented by Rondinella, Oseleta and Croatina – all grown on the slopes of the Costalunga vineyard. Following the hand-harvest in October, the appassimento process begins: the grapes rest in shallow crates for four months, losing water whilst concentrating their sugar and aromas. Pressing does not take place until January, followed by slow fermentation in contact with the skins. The wine then matures for thirty-six months in large Slavonian oak barrels before being released following further bottle ageing.

One of the really great Chardonnays from South Tyrol: bright, intense light golden yellow in colour. In the powerful yet harmonious Chardonnay Baron Salvadori, the aromas of fine vanilla cream and ripe fruit change in quick succession. Fresh and round on the palate, the accentuated fruit is accompanied by balanced acidity, a fine salty vein and well-integrated wood spice. SUPERIORE.DE

A rich, deep ruby colour with a subtle violet sheen. A compact and appealing nose, revealing crisp fruit – particularly blackcurrants and mulberries – underpinned by subtle chocolate notes. Extremely precise on the palate too: ripe, fresh fruit opens up with firm, tightly woven tannins, developing rich depth, before becoming juicy and long-lasting in final vibrant final.   SUPERIORE.DE

Avvoltore is a blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. Powerful and explosive in the glass, it possesses remarkable intensity in all its dimensions, with great fruit and equally impressive tannins. Dark cherry, leather, smoke, tobacco, liquorice and grilled herbs form a virile, imposing Maremma red wine that will need at least a few years to develop its full expressive power. Once again, Morisfarms has done a great job with its flagship wine. SUPERIORE.DE,

In school philosophy, A quo denotes the starting point of an argument – the place from which everything else begins. Fabio Chiarelotto has dedicated a wine to this Latin thought. And what he meant was: Montepeloso begins here. The Swiss national with a Tuscan mother bought the estate in Suvereto, near Bolgheri – one of the hottest wine-growing regions in Tuscany. What others drown in heat, he wanted to translate into elegance. He replanted, pruned, worked biodynamically and bet that it was possible to make wines that glow instead of sweat on these limestone-rich, fossilised clay and silex soils. 2024 shows that he was right. The blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malvasia Nera and other varieties is fermented in steel, then matured for twelve months in used barriques – no wood to cover the fruit, just one that polishes delicately. Bottled unfiltered.

First-class, ruby-red Pinot Noir with a garnet-red shimmer. Fine fruity bouquet of wild berries and cherries. An elegant red, well-proportioned and never overloaded, but with a clear identity and elegant character. SUPERIORE.DE

A white wine with Mediterranean lightness and a Friulian signature: Shàris is the charming combination of Chardonnay and Ribolla Gialla – two varieties that show their finest profile here on the marl and sandstone soils of the Collio. Pale straw yellow in the glass with a greenish tinge. The nose is fresh and expressive at the same time: white flowers, ripe pear, citrus fruit, a little honeydew melon and a hint of almond. Smooth and clear on the palate, with well-balanced acidity, fine minerality and a pleasantly dry finish. A cleverly composed bianco with character that is not overwhelming, but at no stage is it banal – it is a true flagship for the modern white wine culture of Friuli and the estate's bestseller. SUPERIORE.DE

Anadûron – this is the Celtic name for Naturns. Translated, it means "settlement on the marsh". A strange name for a village that lies on dry primary rock, criss-crossed by porphyry, granite and slate, on steep south-facing slopes between 600 and 900 metres. Not a trace of the swamp. Instead, thousands of years of geology speak through every glass of this wine. Franz Pratzner has created Anadûron as a tribute to Naturns and the entire Adige Valley – a selection of the estate's best Riesling parcels, which differs from regular Riesling not only in the selection, but in every step of the vinification process. Grapes of hand-picked quality, spontaneous fermentation in French tonneaux – not in large acacia wood barrels – followed by twelve months of ageing in tonneaux, five months in steel and finally 31 months in the bottle. Around four years from harvestto glass. No other wine from the estate is given more time.

The world-famous Valpolicella Superiore from Zenato, produced using the Ripasso method, is a rich wine with the best value. It is peppery, with earthy tones and gravel giving way to black cherries and savoury herbs. It reveals deep, silky textures balanced by vibrant acids, while ripe red and black fruits resonate under a hint of lavender. Zenato's Ripassa is concentrated and intense, but at the same time conveys elegance and leaves a fresh note of violet candy on the palate that lingers for a long time. SUPERIORE.DE

On the Colli Berici near Lonigo, where the clay-limestone soils give the international grape varieties a Venetian home, the harvest always starts last. At the end of September, beginning of October – when most other vineyards have long since harvested. For Celestino Gaspari, this is no coincidence: "Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc need their time on these soils. Merlot even more so – although it leaves the vineyard at the same time, it then spends 20 to 30 days in shallow crates in the Fruttaio. Appassimento for a Bordeaux blend: a decidedly Venetian decision. After a cool, unsettled spring, 2021 brought a summer of distinct elegance in the Veneto – moderate warmth, good temperature fluctuations, healthy grapes. The manual harvest yielded aromatically clear, structured fruit. 40 days of fermentation in cement with indigenous yeasts, at least 24 months in new French barriques, one year in the bottle.

2022 was a vintage of concentration: dry winter, hot summer – small yields, but outstanding quality. The Tiefenbrunner family demonstrates this intensity in the Linticlarus cuvée in an impressive way. The classic Bordeaux assemblage of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in equal parts grows on the south-southeast-facing slopes of Entiklar, at an altitude of 260 to 300 metres. The broodingmoraine soil – loamy sand with a high lime content – stores the heat of the day and slowly releases it at night. The result: perfect phenolic ripeness with preserved freshness. Mash fermentation in concrete is followed by 12 months in barriques, 6 months in large wooden barrels and a further year of bottle ageing.

Count Giuseppe Tasca d'Almerita created the first expression of the highest quality and longevity in Sicilian viticulture in 1970 with the Rosso del Conte – a wine that changed the oenological future of the island forever. The grapes come from the Vigna San Lucio, Regaleali's first large vineyard, born in 1959 at an altitude of 480 metres with a south-south-easterly exposure, where Nero d'Avola and Perricone have thrived in harmonious symbiosis for generations. The vines grow in the Alberello system, the oldest form of cultivation in the Mediterranean, on yellow-brown, loamy-sandy soils with calcareous inclusions. A philosophy of perfection that has developed over five decades through various ageing methods: from the original chestnut barrels to Slavonian oak and today's French barriques.

"In 2012, I bought the small vineyard Le Gonnare and began to cultivate it. It represents the excellence of the Bolgheri terroir. The soil is clayey and rich in skeleton, which allows for very gradual ripening, a particularly important aspect for Merlot. The character of the wine is therefore Mediterranean, but balanced." Fabio Motta

It was 1959 when Count Giuseppe Tasca d'Almerita set his sights on a hill on his Regaleali estate, which the farmers simply called San Lucio – after the small chapel that stood at the top. He planted Perricone and Nero d'Avola on this hill, in the heart of Sicily, far from any seashore, on clayey soil at an altitude of around 500 metres. Both ripened late, both deeply rooted in the island. What followed was no ordinary wine, but an assertion: that Sicily needs no apology. The first Rosso del Conte was produced from the 1970 harvest and was the island's first single-vineyard cru – at a time when Sicily was primarily known for mass-produced wines and the rest of Italy hardly looked at it. Count Giuseppe wanted to create a red wine that could compete with the world's great reds – without Cabernet, without Merlot, without a foreign language. Only the island itself.

The South Tyrolean Pinot Noir Riserva Anrar is fresh and light on the palate with wild berries and cassis, followed by dried mint and lavender flavours. This red wine fermented in steel and matured in barriques is silky and smooth, almost without rough edges. Cantina Andriano Kellerei Andrian works with a skilful hand when it comes to Pinot Noir, preserving the nuanced elegance of the grape variety's aromas. SUPERIORE.DE

Terra di Monteverro is the estate's finely composed second wine, but in terms of expression, fidelity to its origins and depth, it is far more than that. It comes from the stony, coastal slopes near Capalbio in the southern Maremma - a region that was characterised by a long, warm summer in 2021 with moderate peaks and cool nights in September. The climatic balance allowed the Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot grape varieties, which were harvested and vinified parcel by parcel, to ripen perfectly.

This is where it all began. In Viagrande, on the south-eastern slope of Mount Etna, where Giuseppe Benanti's grandfather planted the first vines at the end of the 19th century, lies the heart of the estate. The Contrada Monte Serra is no ordinary vineyard – it rises on an extinct volcanic cone that once erupted independently of the main crater, and whose pyroclastic deposits created a unique soil: light, rich in mineral matter, with exceptional drainage. At an altitude of just 450 metres, closer to the Ionian Sea than the other Contrade, the grapes ripen earlier here and develop a softer, more approachable elegance. The vines – some over 100 years old – are trained in the traditional "alberello" style on small terraces with dry stone walls made of lava rock, at an extremely high density of 9,000 vines per hectare. The sandy volcanic soils are rich in "Ripiddu", the characteristic small pumice fragments found on Mount Etna.

Masari's flagship presents itself in a deep, dense garnet red colour. Ripe blackberry and cassis on the nose, underpinned by bitter cocoa and ripe cherries, light leather spice and liquorice. Full and balanced on the palate, slowly but complexly spreads over the tongue, then convinces with beautiful and lasting pressure, long, salty and simply wonderful. SUPERIORE.DE

It was 1991 when Michele Satta planted his first Syrah vine in Bolgheri – an act of rebellion in a still young appellation that was just beginning to find its identity. The visionary winemaker from Varese followed a clear conviction: The Syrah should maximise the aromatic complexity of the Mediterranean terroir and at the same time express his personal identification with the great wines of the Rhône. Thirty years later, this exotic wine has matured into one of Bolgheri's most fascinating single-vineyard wines.