0.75 liter

Where the sun sets – right where the light last touches the steep hillside plot before sinking behind the contours of the Val d'Orcia – lies Campo di Tenaglia. This vineyard covers just eight tenths of a hectare at an altitude of 500 metres, yet what grows here on rugged limestone and coarse, sandy soil possesses an intensity that stands out even amongst Trinoro's crus. The soil extends to a depth of over two metres; the roots of the Cabernet Franc vines, which are over 25 years old, reach down into the mineral, skeletal layers – and lend the wine its powerful character. Tenaglia embodies tension.

Grattamacco was the second winery in Bolgheri in 1982 and is still a firm favourite for great, terroir-driven wines with an independent character. The Rosso Superiore comes from high, coastal hillside vineyards with an excellent microclimate and matures for almost two years in French barriques after spontaneous fermentation. The cuvée deliberately does not follow the classic Bordeaux pattern: in addition to Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, Sangiovese also characterises the wine as an indigenous soul – a sign of identity, not convention.

Gabbro in a small edition of just 2,500 bottles each year is the essence of Montepeloso's noblest Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, the vines are over 40 years old. Impressively complex bouquet of dark fruits, smoke and grilled vegetables. Reveals its pedigree and great class on the palate, powerful and muscular. Exquisite, complex, nuanced, persistent, long ... Gabbro truly offers everything that belongs to an unforgettable wine experience at world-class Cabernet level. SUPERIORE.DE

Testamatta means something like "crazy in the head" and this name sums it up perfectly. When you know the crazy obsession with which Bibi Graetz pursues viticulture on the island of Giglio, you no longer have to wonder about the terrificand highly personalised results that Bibi has been bottling for years. This was preceded by several years of experimentation, research and a lot of hard work until the best of the over 100-year-old Ansonica vines in the rocky Serrone vineyard were finally identified. harvest is carried out exclusively by hand and each grape is meticulously selected according to quality and ripeness, which then finds its way to the wine cellar on the island. After destemming and gentle pressing under dry ice, the grapes are left to macerate for 48 hours at a low temperature before being transferred unfiltered to 225-litre barriques for fermentation, where the wine then matures for a further 12 months.

Franchetti Rosso is Passopisciaro's flagship wine and a stunningly perfect wine. The grapes come from 1000-metre-high northern Etna vineyard sites, where the soils are ash and pumice. Franchetti is a ripe, exotic wine that envelops the palate with dark fruit. Refined tannins support the fruit, while an intense inner sweetness adds elegance and finesse. A thoroughly outstanding drop. SUPERIORE.DE

Brunello Magistra is an extremely rigorous selection of the best grapes from the small vineyard of the same name, which is located south of Montalcino at an altitude of around 400 metres above sea level. The vines are surrounded by a holm oak forest, which benefits from exposure with night-time ventilation from the Orcia Valley. This favours the development of the aromas, which are noticeable in the intense Sangiovese bouquet of crushed sour cherries, spiced blood oranges, minty herbs and a hint of sweet smoke. Silky yet lively on the palate, driven by a lively acidity that effortlessly carries the mineral fruit of the red berries across the palate together with the polished tannins. A gem of a wine! SUPERIORE.DE

Strong ruby red. Opulent aromas of dark berries, mint, spices, forest floor and undergrowth. In the balanced, powerful drink very clear, juicy and tight. Spreads comfortably with notes of plum, raspberry compote and chocolate. This great Amarone captivates from the first sip - its long, silky finish leaves nothing to be desired. SUPERIORE.DE

Elisabetta Geppetti is the woman who put Maremma on the Italian wine map. When she took over the management of Le Pupille in 1985, the area south of Grosseto was a blank spot for connoisseurs – today, her Saffredi is one of the most sought-after red wines in Italy. But what few people realise: She harboured her most passionate dream not for the red, but for a white. The Petit Manseng originally comes from Gascony – the region in the south-west of France where it produces the great sweet wines in Juranção and Pacherenc. Elisabetta Geppetti brought it to the Maremma and planted it on 1.5 hectares in the Vigneto Pian di Fiora near Pereta: tufaceous soil with alabaster and gypsum, north-eastern exposure, 200 to 250 metres, 6,250 plants per hectare. A plot that no one else in the neighbourhood has – and that speaks a language you wouldn't expect here.

Forty years. That's how long it took Ferrari to create the perfect Blanc de Noirs. Perlé Nero Riserva is a challenge within a challenge: to vinify a white spumante from 100% Pinot Nero without forcing the colour extraction, without manipulating the body. The result? Pure elegance. 2016 was a year for purists. A cool, precise vintage that gave the capricious Pinot Nero the structure that great Riserva Spumanti need. The Lunelli family knew that this vintage would make history. In fact, the 2012 Perlé Nero later became World Champion and the 2016 follows in the same tradition.

Le Macioche Riserva 2019 has the same slender and bright appearance as the Annata and the fine aromas of wild berries and cassis associated with Sangiovese. Racy and supple, it sweeps across the palate with a silky texture and shows tart wild berries and sour citrus fruit, all accompanied by lively acidity. The finish is long, with an earthy aftertaste. A very successful Riserva from a wonderful year, which has been interpreted very convincingly in this wine. SUPERIORE.DE

In 2011, Campo di Magnacosta was the first of three single-varietal Cabernet Franc crus created by Andrea Franchetti, who recognised that his vines – over 20 years old and with deep-reaching root systems – were capable of precisely reflecting the distinctive character of each individual terroir. This 1.5-hectare plot lies on the valley floor at an altitude of 400 metres, where an old stream disappeared beneath the surface and carved its way into the hillside – magna costa, the 'eating hillside' – leaving behind river sediments of gravel and silt. The vines were planted over two decades ago using cuttings from a vineyard in Pomerol, where Cabernet Franc has been grown for three centuries. This deep, well-drained soil gives the Magnacosta a character that differs fundamentally from its two siblings: the wine seems to burst with energy, is complex and relatively light in colour, yet deep and straightforward with an airy, fresh character.

Gigliola Giannetti was born at the Argiano vineyard, the daughter of a cellar worker. She grew up amongst the barrels and vines; the scent of fermenting must was the scent of her childhood. At the age of 19, she went to work for Franco Biondi Santi; later, Giulio Gambelli encouraged her to make her own wine. In 1993, the time had come: her first plot of land, her first child – her daughter Viola. Three years later, she acquired a further two hectares and welcomed her daughter Sofia. Today, three women work together in the cellar, representing three generations of Montalcino in a single line. Le Potazzine is one of the highest-altitude estates in the appellation: 450 to 530 metres, where the harvest begins up to three weeks later than in the valley. What was once considered a disadvantage is now worth its weight in gold – the grapes ripen slowly, retain their acidity and develop finesse rather than mere power. The winemaking process is uncompromisingly traditional: spontaneous fermentation, 30 to 45 days' maceration, no temperature control. The wine then rests for 42 months in large Slavonian oak barrels – six months longer than is even required for a Riserva. Every Brunello from Le Potazzine is therefore, in fact, a Riserva. Why don’t they call it that? Modesty, or perhaps quiet pride.

Le Lucére is not a wine for coincidences. The plot – almost 2.5 hectares, east-facing, Galestro and slate, vines that have been rooted in this soil for more than a quarter of a century – only becomes a single-vineyard bottling under certain conditions. 2018 was such a year, although the world of Brunello experts initially reacted cautiously. Wrongly so. The eastern exposure of San Filippo is a quiet privilege for cooler years: no blazing afternoon sunshine that burns the fruit and hardens the tannins. Instead – morning light, slow ripening, precision. The vines did not suffer. They concentrated. Caciorgna vinified in steel, fermented in concrete, put the wine first in barrique and tonneau, then in large 20 to 30 hectolitre barrels. More than three years of ageing, one year in the bottle. The wine needed the time.

Carricante is the white soul of Etna. While Nerello Mascalese attracts the attention of the world, Carricante works quietly and consistently – a grape variety that develops deep minerality on volcanic lava sand and an acidity structure that can last for decades. On the northern Etna slope, in the Contrada Cottanera, lies the vineyard to which this estate has given its name and to which it now dedicates its purest white wine. Hand-picked with careful grape selection. What follows is a conscious decision: 5 to 6 hours of maceration in the press – longer than most producers would risk with Carricante, and yet it is not a so-called orange wine. The skin contact gives texture, depth and a phenolic structure that supports the subsequent ageing. Fermentation in concrete vats at 14 to 22 °C – the material that breathes without overlaying. Then 24 months in concrete, 24 more in the bottle. A full four years from the vineyard to the glass.

Thomas Bär was dreaming out loud. He spoke openly about the fact that he regarded wines such as Solaia from Antinori or Le Pin from Pomerol as a benchmark – not out of arrogance, but out of conviction: That the Pietraforte soils of the Conca d'Oro at 450 to 500 metres in Panzano have the terroir to bear something extraordinary. The Balisca was his most personal answer to this question. 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, exclusively from the estate's own Panzano vineyards – a decision that is still unusual in the Chianti Classico zone. 1,200 bottles.

In 1975, Roccaldo Acuti planted a small plot of Cabernet Sauvignon alongside the Sangiovese – a risky move that half of Panzano at the time saw as a betrayal of Chianti, but which is now regarded as a sign of foresight. This plot gave rise to Bruno di Rocca, the wine that showcases the estate's Super Tuscan side without ever denying its Tuscan roots. The name honours Bruno Acuti, who planted the plot together with his father Roccaldo, long before Cabernet Sauvignon was even permitted in Chianti. In the 2020 vintage, Cabernet Sauvignon dominates at 85 per cent, complemented by 15% Sangiovese from the same high-altitude vineyards between 480 and 550 metres, where galestro and limestone provide coolness and structure. Unlike the estate's single-varietal Sangiovese wines, this wine is aged in tonneaux and a small proportion in barriques; here, the wood is allowed to play a greater role because the Cabernet demands it and the fruit has the body to support it.

You can tell from this white masterpiece that Giulia Negri spent some time in Burgundy, where she gained the tools for her still very young, but stellar career as a winemaker. What's more, this Chardonnay in no way denies the characteristics of the Langhe. The long maturation in small tonneaux on the fine lees and excellent grapes from up to 500 metres above sea level are the recipe for a taut, fresh and incredibly elegant white.

At Giovanni Rosso, Ester Canale Rosso is more than just the name on a bottle: it accompanies the estate's most prestigious wines, from Barolo Vignarionda to Langhe Nebbiolo, as a tribute to the family's history. Since the debut vintage of 2024, the name has also been given to a white wine from far beyond the Piedmontese hills – the Etna Bianco DOC from Contrada Pietra Marina, a plot acquired in 2023 on the northern slope of the volcano, not far from the Alcantara, the second vintage of which is now available in 2025. The Contrada has been regarded for decades as one of the volcano's finest white wine sites, long before Giovanni Rosso established himself here.

This is more than a wine – it is the essence of a project born in 1999 with the vision of showing the world the finest that Bolgheri is capable of producing. From five selected vineyard sites between 80 and 220 metres above sea level – argentiera, Ginestre, Ventaglio, Porcarecce and Ceccosodo – a cuvée is created that has been a contemporary symbol of Italian winemaking since its debut vintage in 2003. Sourced from the best plots of the Tenuta, where sandy, calcareous and stony soils thrive between Mediterranean scrub and the salty breeze of the Tyrrhenian Sea, each grape embodies the unique terroir identity of this privileged location.

The name is a nod to the old silver mines of the province of Livorno. The land on the southern edge of Castagneto Carducci once belonged to the Serristori, a noble Florentine family; today, it is home to 85 hectares of vines spread across four zones, the first of which were planted by the estate in 2000. The cellar is modelled on 16th-century Tuscan fortresses; from its terrace, the view stretches as far as the islands of the Tuscan Archipelago. The vineyards open out towards the sea like a shell, close to the water yet situated on some of the highest plots in the appellation. For this wine, they extend up to around 200 metres, on marl and claystone with interlayers of sandstone and siliceous rock; the rows face from north through west to south, with 7,500 vines and around 6,000 kilograms of grapes per hectare. The sea breeze blows all year round, and as the grapes ripen, the nights cool noticeably.