0.75 liter

1993 – marco Caprai stood in his vineyards and looked back on a quarter of a century that his father Arnaldo had begun in 1971 with a dream: to create a world wine from a forgotten Umbrian vine. Ten years of research lay behind him: collaboration with the University of Milan, clone selection, the risk of vinifying the Sagrantino dry instead of sweet. For the 25th anniversary, he wanted to make a statement: the ultimate Sagrantino, the essence of everything he and his father had learnt. The 25 Anni was born – and the wine world held its breath. What followed is legend. In 2000, Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones chose this wine for their wedding. Luigi Veronelli proclaimed Sagrantino as one of Italy's greatest red wines. Montefalco was transformed from a sleepy village into a Mecca for wine tourism. And the 25 Anni remained – year after year, vintage after vintage – the flagship of this Umbrian revolution. It comes from the best vineyards in the Val di Maggio, a meticulous clone selection of pure Sagrantino from vines rooted with six to eight thousand plants per hectare.

San Leolino was already considered a cru site 200 years ago. Above the thousand-year-old Pieve, the Romanesque chapel that has been documented since 982, terraces run through the upper part of the Conca d'Oro. In the 15th century, Giovanni Manetti found drawings in the University of Florence that proved that this slope was once completely planted with vines. What followed was a rebirth: the terraces were renewed, 4.5 hectares at an altitude of 450 to 500 metres, on Alberese limestone. These soils are fundamentally different from the slatey Galestro of the Vigna del Sorbo – here, hard limestone dominates, giving freshness, brightness and mineral precision. The pandemic years gave Giovanni the leisure to walk through his vineyards, to reflect. He realised that this parcel has its own identity, a terroir that calls for separate vinification. The first vintage was 2019, the fourth now 2022. Production remains small: only 5,000 bottles.

Here is another outstanding 2020 Brunello from a winery that is still considered an insider tip given its small size and limited annual production. Medium, bright ruby red colour. Exotic aromas of minerals and citrus fruits reminiscent of red cherries, blood oranges and Asian spices, with a floral nuance that gains strength with air. The palate is supple and expansive, with sweet flavours of red cherries and dark plums carried by a powerful acidity. Densely packed, at once fleshy and broad, but also lively and precise. On the strikingly long finish, it shows excellent power and cut, characterised by youthful, dusty tannins and a hint of candied violets. As is so often the case, this is one of the best Brunellos of the vintage and still completely under the radar of many Sangiovese lovers. SUPERIORE.DE

High above the district of Perno in Monforte d'Alba lies the cru parcel Vigna Pressenda – part of the traditional MGA Castelletto, which is one of the easternmost top vineyards in Barolo. Early Piedmontese wine chroniclers already mentioned these steep slopes, which lean towards the morning sun and are characterised by a complex soil mosaic of calcareous marl, sandy inclusions and ferrous veins. The elevated position of around 370 metres and the constant breeze from the Tanaro Valley give the grapes a remarkable freshness and aromatic precision, even in warm years. The 2021 vintage, widely celebrated as an exceptional vintage in Barolo, brought ideal ripening conditions: A balanced vegetation cycle with warm, sunny days and cool nights allowed the Nebbiolo berries to ripen slowly and completely. The grapes were harvested by hand in mid-October, with strict selection to ensure that only perfectly ripe harvestwere brought to the cellar. Ageing in French oak for around 24 months brings depth and aromatic complexity without masking the clear fruit centre.

A Sicilian Cabernet Franc that can only be produced by Planeta – inspired by the elegance of great Bordeaux, yet deeply rooted in the terroir of the Menfi Hills. Didacus is a tribute to the family, named after Diego Planeta, the visionary founder of the winery. The grapes come from carefully tended plots on chalky soils, where they develop their aromatic ripeness and structure under the Mediterranean sun and fresh winds from the nearby coast. After fermentation, the wine matured for 21 months in French barriques before being left to rest for two years in the bottle.

Didacus Chardonnay comes from the first vines planted on the shores of Lake Ulmo in 1985. It is dedicated to the founder of the winery, Diego Planeta, and represents the history of the winery as well as elegance, tradition, family and the future. It also embodies Planeta's vision of Sicilian viticulture at the highest level.

In 1985, Chardonnay was a provocation in Sicily. The lemon trees around Menfi were worth so little that it was hardly worth harvesting them. Diego Planeta had them uprooted – and planted Chardonnay on four hectares on the shores of Lago Arancio. What many thought was escapism was method: Diego knew that the island was capable of more than its reputation at the time suggested. Four years later, Carlo Corino from Piedmont, one of Italy's best Chardonnay specialists, arrived and helped to sharpen the wine's identity. The first vines from those years are still standing. Today, they are the starting point for Didacus – a tribute by the next generation to the patriarch whose Latin name it bears. Hand-picked from the best grapes from the historic vineyard, they are fermented and matured in barriques from the forests of Nevers, Vosges and Allier. Ten months – not a day more than necessary.

An icon of Friuli: "Vigna Dominin" Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso comes from a single vineyard with old vines that are deeply rooted in the typical Ponca soil. Paolo Meroi brings out the best in this demanding, indigenous grape variety with a precision that few winegrowers have mastered. After strict manual harvesting, the wine is matured for 24 months in French barriques and a further year in the bottle before being released in very small quantities.

At an altitude of 750 metres, where the boundaries of the Etna DOC end in the cold north-west of the volcano, lies a hidden geological secret that only three of the hundreds of contrade on Etna can lay claim to. In its sandy soils, San Lorenzo bears the pure legacy of the Ellittico volcano – the ancient eruption centre whose explosive activity 60,000 years ago created a terroir purity that is now one of Sicily's rarest treasures. Giuseppe Russo is aware of this peculiarity when he cultivates the precious white vines that have been sinking their roots into these elliptical volcanic sands for eighty years among the centuries-old Nerello vines of his red Contrada wines. Here, where Etna sends its coldest winds over the vineyards and time is measured in geological epochs, white wines are produced with a minerality that only this unique combination of ancient lava and extreme altitude can produce.

In 1967, Sergio Manetti, a Milanese industrialist and passionate art collector, bought an abandoned estate in the hills of Radda in Chianti. He knew little about wine. He knew a great deal about quality. And he decided early on that his wine would make no compromises – —not even those demanded by the appellation. When the Chianti Classico DOCG stipulated that white grapes must be blended in, Manetti refused. From then on, his wine was called Toscana IGT. Not for lack of pride in Chianti – but because he had too much of it. What grows at Montevertine are the three indigenous reds of Chianti: Sangiovese as the soul, Canaiolo for elegance, Colorino for colour and structure. No additions, no international compromises. Martino Manetti, Sergio’s son, runs the estate with the same conviction: “Simplicity, respect, care for every detail and savoir-faire” – is how the estate itself describes its philosophy. Words that sound simple, yet are so difficult to put into practice.

The famous Castello della Sala is situated on a hill above Orvieto – a medieval stronghold surrounded by woods and olive groves, deep in the Umbrian silence. The Marchesi Antinori have owned it for generations, but what made it a wine legend was the first Cervaro della Sala in 1985: a white wine that was conceived as a red wine – barrique fermentation, malolactic fermentation, long breath. Making a white wine that would last for decades was not a matter of course in Italy at the time. But it became one. The vinification follows a principle that Renzo Cotarella once formulated and that still applies today: as little intervention as possible. The Castello winery works with gravity – no mechanical pumps, no unnecessary stress for the grapes. The harvest begins in the early hours of the morning when the temperatures are still cool. The Chardonnay macerates on the skins for four hours at 10 degrees, then ferments in barriques and matures in partial BSA. The Grechetto remains consistently in steel – it provides the tension that Chardonnay alone cannot deliver. The two come together in February.

At the centre of the Via Bolgherese, that legendary wine route where the Tuscan dream and the Bordeaux vision merge into an indelible myth, lies a small kingdom of just 5.5 hectares. Here, nestled between the giants Ornellaia to the right and Sassicaia to the left, Antonio Moretti Cuseri and his sons Alberto and Amedeo tell a story of unbridled passion, a story called Orma. Orma means footprint. And this 2021 truly leaves one in the soul of the taster. The purest expression of an exceptional vintage, this organically certified Bordeaux blend of 50% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Cabernet Franc unfolds like a symphony in purple and garnet. The Mediterranean sun of Bolgheri, tempered by the salty breezes of the Tyrrhenian Sea, gave the grapes that unique ripeness that only a few terroirs in the world are capable of producing.