0.75 liter

On warm days, a resinous, musky scent rises from the hedge edges. Helichrysum – the immortelle, the Italians also call it "Immortelle", the immortal. It grows wild among the rocks and bushes that line San Polino's highest vineyards. When Katia and Gigi were looking for a name for their best wine, they didn't have to look far. The five hectares surrounding the farmhouse lie at an altitude of 450 metres, facing south, surrounded by Mediterranean scrub and forest. The view extends to Monte Amiata – the sacred mountain of the Etruscans, seat of their highest gods, the Tuscan Olympus. The soils tell of two powerful forces: the volcanic eruption of Mount Amiata 180,000 years ago, which left behind quartz and metamorphic clay, and the retreat of the Pliocene sea, which left behind sandy loams and shell fossils. Thin, complex soil – poor in nutrients, rich in character. Up here, the scirocco blows from the Sahara. The temperature differences between day and night are enormous. The grapes ripen slowly, develop thick skins and concentrated flavours. "Ah ... 2018," Katia once said about a cooler vintage, "finally you can smell Sangiovese grapes instead of just blackcurrant and undergrowth." Helichrysum is all about precisely this clarity – terroir instead of heat, soil instead of opulence.

The wine icon, rare every year and very highly rated, presents itself in a shiny, rich ruby. On the nose, crisp berry fruit, ripe dark cherries, sweet plums and delicate notes of cinnamon. In the mouth it is full-bodied and firm, very juicy, unfolds a finely woven tannin and glides in a wide arc into a powerful, long final. A great wine full of tension and elegance. SUPERIORE.DE

The sandy soils north of Monforte d'Alba give this Barolo its immense power and structure. The bouquet is very open and appealing with dark cherries and raspberries, as well as notes of mint, cedar wood, rose petals and sage. Very lively and expressive on the palate, with deep beauty, seamlessly contoured and spectacular resonance. A fabulous wine from a very good vintage, classic and exotic at the same time. 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.

Barolo Ravera comes from a single vineyard with vines that are almost 50 years old. In the glass, it impresses with a strong, aromatic opening flavour. Bright, precise and finely chiselled, the Ravera captures everything good that the vintage has to offer. Cherry, sweet mint, candy and expressive floral notes are given an extra kick of inner sweetness by Ravera's natural energy. There is so much to look forward to as the wine develops over the next few years! SUPERIORE.DE

Between the rugged ridges of Serralunga d'Alba lies the historic Baudana cru site – a name that is not just a geographical point, but a synonym for concentration, depth and a centuries-old winemaking tradition. The vines here are rooted in compact, calcareous marl with clay veins, a soil that gives the Nebbiolo vines their characteristic tension and immense Storage potential. The 2020 vintage benefited from a long, harmonious vegetation cycle, with a mild spring, warm but not overheated summer months and clear, cool nights right through to the harvest. The grapes were carefully harvested by hand in mid-October and gently destemmed in the winery. After a classic, long maceration, the wine matured for around 32 months in large Slavonian oak barrels, allowing it to develop its depth without losing the precision of the fruit.

R.S. stands for "Recentemente Sboccato" – recently disgorged. What sounds simple is the result of a decade of patience: this Edizione rested on the lees for 10 years and 4 months before it saw the light of day. Launched in 2020, the project makes the timeless elegance of the Cuvée Prestige accessible in its most mature form. The blend combines 75% of the 2014 vintage with 19% reserve from 2013 and 6% from 2012, obtained from 149 certified organic vineyards. The grape varieties: 82% Chardonnay, 11% Pinot Nero, 7% Pinot Bianco – each grape washed and dried according to the Ca' del Bosco method. The result is a Dosage Zéro of uncompromising purity.

Deep dark ruby-purple colour. On the nose, cassis, blackcurrants and a strong herbal spice with a good dose of pipe tobacco, tar and crushed gravel. On the palate, dark berries, chocolate and a cornucopia of herbs define the full-bodied palate. This juicy wine monument has precisely integrated tannins, an enormous silkiness and an almost endless finish. SUPERIORE.DE

Bright red colour. Sweet spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla complement the aromas of dark red and black cherries on the fresh, sexy nose. Lively, juicy and sweet on the palate, but with a tactile mouthfeel and spicy flavours of red cherries, herbs and sassafras. The youthful, crisp finish, which emphasises notable but polished oak nuances, is pleasantly persistent. A real plus point is the balance of this wine, it is a spicy, well-structured Rosso on a clear Brunello level and a real beauty! SUPERIORE.DE

The single vineyard Guarnaschelli is a 60-year-old vineyard with a slight westerly exposure. A loamy matrix of brown skeletal soils can be found here. This generous soil, characterised by limestone, gives the wines finesse and minerality. Here, the plants produce grapes of consistently high quality every year - the result of deep roots and restrained, intelligent vineyard work. The strong exposure to the sun is tempered by constant winds blowing from all directions. This sets in motion a play of temperature fluctuations from which the old vines benefit to produce complex and aromatic grapes.

Pacenti's flagship Brunello di Montalcino Vecchie Vigne 2017 is a blend of equal parts fruit from the north and south of Montalcino with great texture and resonance. The aromas are dark and textured through and through. Dark red fruits and stone fruits, new leather and cedar gradually open up in the glass, but it needs time to fully develop, partly because the Vecchie Vigne has slightly more new oak than the Pelagrilli. A powerful, spicy representative of the appellation that will only reach its true top form with a few years of bottle ageing. SUPERIORE.DE

Named after the founder of the estate, Maurizio Zanella Rosso is much more than just a name wine - it is a personal commitment to the idea of modern Italian red wine. Bordeaux grape varieties on Lombardy soil, French vinification techniques and Italian intuition: a cuvée that has been proving since the 1980s that great red wines are not bound by borders. The 2021 vintage is in the tradition of cooler, structured years - with crystal-clear fruit, lively freshness and excellent ageing potential. The blend consists of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, from single vineyards with poor, chalky soils and natural yield stress. The grapes are harvest strictly and selectively by hand. After fermentation in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks, the wine matures for around 13 months in small French barriques - around two thirds of which are new. It is then bottled, unfiltered, without fining.

"The best of the best - you don't drink this wine every day. It needs attention, time to mature and likes to play the leading role: as the crowning glory of a festive table or even as a proud solitaire." Michael Graf Goëss-Enzenberg, Weingut Manincor

When Paolo Panerai realised his vision of a great Tuscan red wine made exclusively from indigenous grape varieties at the end of the 1970s, hardly anyone suspected that this wine would make history. As early as 1988, the Wine Spectator catapulted it into the international wine elite with sixth place in its first Top 100 – a triumph for a Supertuscan that deliberately eschewed Cabernet and Merlot in favour of the genetic purity of Tuscan vines. The name itself tells of the terroir: "Sodi" is what Tuscan winegrowers call those hard, stony soils that were too heavy for teams of oxen and had to be laboriously worked by hand. Here, on calcareous Galestro soils between 350 and 400 metres above sea level, around the medieval church of San Niccolò, the vines fight for every drop of water – 85 per cent Sangioveto, the original, small-berried form of Sangiovese, and 15 per cent Malvasia Nera, an almost forgotten grape variety – an almost forgotten grape variety that was abandoned in many places due to its low yields – result in a cuvée of unnerving power and unmistakable race. The 2021 vintage perfectly embodies this philosophy: After 18 to 25 days of maceration in steel tanks, the wine matures for up to 30 months in barriques, two thirds of which in new wood, before resting for a further twelve months in the bottle.

If only it were true. Angelo Gaja's Tuscan masterpiece Magari bears this Italian expression full of longing and hope in its name, and it tells the story of a dream that became reality. When the Piedmontese patriarch first explored the Maremma coast in the 1990s, he saw the potential for something extraordinary in the gentle hills of Bolgheri. Eighteen rounds of negotiations were necessary to acquire the Ca' Marcanda estate – "the house of endless negotiations", as it has been known ever since.

The grapes come from the historic MGA Bussia in Monforte d'Alba – steep, well-ventilated slopes between 300 and 450 metres, characterised by calcareous marl with clay veins and sandy inclusions. The year 2020 brought a stable summer without extreme peaks, clear nights during the ripening phase and a calm, dry autumn allowed for a late, precise harvest. The result is healthy, fully ripe phenolic grapes with bright fruit and balanced acidity – the ideal basis for a transparent yet powerful Barolo.

Pian dell'Orino's Rosso di Montalcino 2021 impresses with bright and crisp fruit that is impossible to resist. If a Rosso can taste this good, we can look forward to great things when the 2021 Brunello wines come onto the market. The fruit is bright, firm and pure. Wonderfully tactile mouthfeel with spicy flavours of red cherries, herbs and sassafras. The youthful, crisp finish, which highlights notable but polished oak nuances, is pleasantly persistent. A real plus point is the balance of this wine, it is an absolute beauty. SUPERIORE.DE

Piante a Lapio is a rich and complex white wine produced in small quantities (about 3,000 bottles per vintage) from the grapes of a single vineyard parcel of just under one hectare in the municipality of Boschi in Lapio (AV). It consists of 35-40 year old vines planted on stratified and complex calcareous soils with basaltic subsoil at an altitude of about 550 metres. The vineyard is protected at the back by a namesake forest, which contributes to the vineyard's special microclimatic conditions. Here, in the heart of Irpinia, white wines are produced with great freshness and good acidity levels, which, vinified with the necessary care, can age for over 20 years.

A white wine that challenges everything you think you know about Puglia. While the region is known for powerful red wines from Primitivo and Negroamaro, this Fiano shows that great whites can also be produced here – perhaps even the best in the entire region. The organically cultivated vines are rooted in the barren limestone tufa soils of Tenuta Bocca di Lupo near Minervino Murge, at an altitude of 250-300 metres in the heart of the wild Murgia. Harsh winters, striking day-night fluctuations and the proximity to the extinct volcano Vulture characterise a terroir that produces white wines of rare minerality. The grapes are gently destemmed and pressed. The must rests for 24-48 hours at 10 °C for natural clarification before fermentation begins in stainless steel and is completed in French tonneaux. There the wine matures on the fine lees, followed by further bottle ageing.

In the house, they simply call him "A". As if he didn't need a name. As if the letter was beginning enough – the beginning of everything Schiopetto has to say. Amrità is a Sanskrit word: the immortality potion of the gods, the mythical nectar that gives eternal life to those who drink it. The fact that a Friulian winery calls its flagship wine this is not coquetry – it is a commitment. Wine is not simply made here. This is where it becomes essential what Capriva del Friuli has to say. The basis: Chardonnay from old vines, complemented by a small portion of Friulano – the variety with which Mario Schiopetto started everything in 1965. Both together, as if they had always been destined for each other. Fermentation in steel, nine months of ageing in steel and large barrels, followed by at least six months of bottle ageing. The 2022 was produced in a warm, dry year – and yet it shows no heat, but subtle maturity. Friuli has its own laws.

After "A" comes "M". This is not a weak alphabet exercise – this is strong hierarchy. If Amrità is the immortality potion, then "M" is the monument. The man himself, in bottle form. The legacy of MARIO Schiopetto, born in 1930, died in 2002, lies in every vintage of this wine – in the Ponca soils of Capriva, in the philosophy of the cellar work, in the conviction that a great white wine needs no compromises, only the courage to achieve total perfection.

"For the Barolo DOCG Parussi, we left the confines of Serralunga and opted for a vineyard in Castiglione Falletto. Thanks to the characteristics of Nebbiolo, which is perfectly capable of capturing the differences in microclimate and soil composition and translating them into sensations, the result amazed us. Structured, important, austere. Made with Nebbiolo grapes from our vineyard in the MGA Parussi in Castiglione Falletto." Franco Massolino

"The Barolo DOCG Margheria comes from the calcareous soil with a slightly higher proportion of sand than in our other sub-areas, which has a strong influence on its character. It was produced for the first time in 1985 and has great ageing potential. The grapes come from our vineyard in the MGA Margheria in Serralunga d'Alba." Franco Massolino