0.75 liter

Marco Pallanti, young and driven by a vision, let his gaze wander over the Bellavista Valley for the first time in 1978 and realised: This was where the benchmark for great Chianti Classico wines would be set. What he saw was more than just landscape – it was the promise of a terroir that was destined to make history. Bellavista, the "beautiful view", welcomes visitors to Castello di Ama like a grand gesture of nature. Here, on 22 hectares of south and south-west facing slopes, the vines are enthroned on a sun-drenched ridge between 427 and 515 metres above sea level. It is this exposed location, this special position high above the valley, that has always given the wine its exceptional concentration and complexity. The soil tells a story of millions of years: gravelly soil interspersed with clay and limestone, a rock called Galestro and Albarese, which creates the ideal conditions for Sangiovese here like nowhere else. There are 22 plots in total, terraced and carefully mapped, but in the best vintages it is plots 1 to 19 with Malvasia Nera and the Sangiovese plots 21 and 22 that form the heart of this Selezione.

L'Apparita – "The apparition". From the highest point of this special vineyard, the tower of Siena's Palazzo Pubblico appears in the distance, hovering like a mirage between heaven and earth. It was this magical sight that gave the vineyard its name and gave Tuscany's first 100% Merlot its mysterious soul. High up in the Bellavista Valley, at 490 metres above sea level, two small plots of 3.84 hectares of vines are enthroned. Here, where Canaiolo and Malvasia Bianca still grew in 1975, the Merlot vines of clone 342 now stretch out in a perfect north-south orientation. The soil – predominantly clay on calcareous subsoil – and the revolutionary lyre training system create a microclimate that makes this cru a crown jewel of world wine production.

Giacomo Neri's new top Brunello was born with the purchase of a very special vineyard. True to the winery's philosophy of making wines only from the best terroirs around Montalcino, a small 7-hectare parcel with over 45 years of vines was purchased a few years ago. This was preceded by a friendship of over 40 years with the previous owners, with whom Giacomo's father Giovanni Neri planted the vines and nurtured them over the past decades.

Raise the curtain on a great Bolgheri debut: Barinca is a single-varietal Cabernet Franc that thrives on the limestone and gravel-rich hills north of Bolgheri – directly between its renowned neighbours Ornellaia and Tenuta San Guido. Under the direction of Conte Federico Zileri dal Verme, the 30th generation of the Gherardesca family, the grapes are harvested by hand in mid-September, destemmed and fermented spontaneously in open wooden vats in the historic vaulted cellar. After malolactic fermentation, the wine matures for 18 months in 500 litre Liters and large 35 hl oak barrels before being bottled in a strictly limited edition of 2,400 bottles and 200 magnums and subjected to further bottle ageing until release.

Ornellaia Bolgheri Superiore 2021 is a wine of extreme precision. It offers well-proportioned power and depth with profound layers of black fruit, coffee and liquorice. It captivates with its lustre and polished texture, which merges into great richness, concentration and structure. Enveloping as it progresses with sweet dark fruits and dark spices that linger for a long time. Ornellaia 2021 is a wonderful, if not perfect, example of the impressive potential of this great Tuscan vintage! SUPERIORE.DE

If Barbaresco has a face, then it is that of the Asili. This site on the western edge of the municipality – gently undulating, exposed to the south-west, on calcareous clay soils with a fine vein of sand – produces a Nebbiolo that differs from all others in the appellation: not through power, but through grace. Not through extraction, but through transparency. It is not a wine that is loud. It murmurs – but what it says is not forgotten. Bruno Giacosa recognised this early on. He has been vinifying Asili grapes since 1967, initially buying them in, then – in the late 1990s – on his own property: 2.5 hectares, which he carefully brought together from different plots. Today, his vines lie side by side with those of Gaja, Roagna and the Produttori del Barbaresco – a silent society of the greatest. Bruna Giacosa and cellar master Dante Scaglione cultivate this heritage with the same restraint that Bruno cultivated throughout his life: let the soil speak for itself. And in the cellar, they let him speak.

Le Potazzines Riserva from the dream vintage 2019 is an absolute eye-catcher, vibrantly fruity yet refined. It is a prime example of purity. Ripe black cherry, exotic spices, liquorice, rose petals, cedar wood and sage can all be detected in the glass. This is one of the most harmonious wines of the vintage, with a deep, silky texture and an abundance of red fruit complemented by a hint of clove, crisp minerals and a core of vibrant acidity. Then dramatically long and powerful but still fresh on the final, ending with a cascade of spices, flowers over a complex web of graphite-like tannins. One of the most perfect wines of the vintage in Riserva quality! SUPERIORE.DE

There are wines whose mere name gives you goose bumps. Ornellaia belongs to that rare category of growths that not only epitomise Italian iconography, but have also written global wine history. Ever since the legendary 1985 vintage, when Marchese Lodovico Antinori and visionary OenologistAndré Tchelistcheff realised the dream of a Mediterranean Bordeaux, this name has stood for uncompromising excellence. The 2022 vintage bears the motto "La Determinazione" – determination – and this characterisation could not be more apt for a vintage that demanded everything from both the vineyard team and the vines. The climatic conditions in 2022 presented a textbook challenge: The driest start to the vintage in the last four years, from February to June, coincided with the hottest period between May and September. Extremes that initially seemed to contradict each other. The prolonged drought slowed growth dramatically, leading to low yields and concentrated, small-berried grapes. But then came the saving rain in August and September – precisely timed to restore the balance that characterises great wines. The technical team, led at the time by Axel Heinz and Oenologist Olga Fusari, responded with rigorous selection: in the vineyard and twice again in the cellar. The result of this determination is a wine that combines the positive attributes of the sun with surprising freshness.

The grapes come from the single vineyard MGA Rabajà in the municipality of Barbaresco. 2019 is a retro vintage, so to speak, as it marks a return for Vietti, who vinified Rabajà back in the 1980s. The soils are calcareous and clayey, with a south/south-west exposure and an altitude of around 235-315 metres above sea level. The average age of the vines is 51 years and they are cultivated according to the Guyot system. Intense garnet red colour. Opulent and delicate on the nose with floral scents of rosehips and violets and ripe black cherry. Amazingly fresh and enveloping for a mature Riserva from the very first sip. The tannins are ripe, soft, silky and wonderfully integrated, giving the wine a great structure and elegance. What completely won us over during the tasting was the almost immeasurable length of the wine, which is still resonating as we write this. Complimenti! SUPERIORE.DE

"The dynamic vintage produced rich and structured wines, with each of the grape varieties expressing their particular qualities. We got a classic Ornellaia, combining sunny ripeness with elegance in a wine defined by harmony and proportion." Axel Heinz, Gutsdirektor

The grapes come from the MGA Rabajà in the municipality of Barbaresco. The soils are calcareous and clayey, with a south/south-west exposure and an altitude of around 235-315 metres above sea level. The average age of the vines is 51 years and they are cultivated according to the Guyot system. SUPERIORE.DE

It was spring 2010, a family lunch at Altare. Elio opens a bottle of Larigi 1986 – a Barbera from a notoriously difficult vintage, characterised by hail and rain, one of the last bottles from the family library. The expectations? Low. The result? Spectacular. Antonio Galloni later said of this wine: "The fruit remains lively and incredibly pure right through to the long, polished final. The balance is simply superb." Why was this wine so exceptional? Because in 1986, in a vintage destroyed by hail, Elio decided to destem every single berry by hand – only the few perfect berries went into the mash. Two barriques, 600 bottles, one great Barbera. Silvia Altare remembers this lunch and the idea that came from it: "Why don't we try this with Nebbiolo? And why not with our historic family vineyard Arborina?" The 2010 harvest was imminent and the grapes were perfectly ripe. The goal? Maximum purity of the fruit – no stems, no leaves, no unwanted berries, no insects. Because Nebbiolo is difficult to destem completely: The stems are fragile, even the most expensive machines cannot work as precisely as the human hand. 26 days of work, three barriques, 900 bottles – the first UnoPerUno was born. 2010 was never released, it was the first attempt ...

There are wines that become legends before they are even drunk – and then there is Madonna del Piano 2019. In the small votive chapel that gave this mythical vineyard its name, the faithful of centuries past could hardly have guessed that one of the most monumental Brunelli in wine history would one day be born here. But that is exactly what happened in 2019, when the stars aligned perfectly over Montalcino. The 2019 vintage is already being described by connoisseurs as a dream vintage – a year in which nature did everything right. A cold, rainy winter replenished the water reserves, a balanced spring ensured even budding and a moderately warm summer without extreme heat or heavy rain created ideal conditions. In September, mild temperatures and large temperature fluctuations between day and night brought the perfect ripening that only exceptional vintages achieve.

Two stone crosses stand in the vineyard of Le Pontare, probably of Celtic origin, signposts for pilgrims on the path to a nearby sanctuary. According to legend, Dante Alighieri also passed by here on his wanderings through the Veneto, perhaps in search of that vin pretto – the pure wine – which he praised so highly in his Convivio. If you stand between these crosses today, at 450 metres above sea level, you can look down over the entire Valpolicella Classica valley, Verona and the shimmering waters of Lake Garda.

Rabajà is the most fleshy, full-bodied terroir in Barbaresco. The name has appeared in the archives of Piedmont for centuries – time and again as a reference for exceptional Nebbiolo from the south-western amphitheatre above Martinenga, where the slopes fall towards the Tanaro and the soils of calcareous blue clay with sand inclusions give the Nebbiolo a rare combination of fullness and freshness. Hardly anyone owns land here; Vietti holds just under half a hectare – 2021 was an exceptional year for Barbaresco: "Ottobrate" (golden October days) in the truest sense of the word, uniform ripeness, cool nights into October, 25 days of maceration more than in other vintages – more than in other vintages because the quality allowed it. Then around 30 months in large oak barrels.

A Barbaresco that visualises freshness, clarity and origin in a masterful balance: The 2020 vintage shines in a bright ruby colour with a lively shimmer – an instant promise of elegance. It combines the styles of 14 selected cru sites from the Barbaresco region, each with its own character and ageing potential. The nose is delicate and complex: red cherry, raspberry, subtle floral notes and herbal spice, accompanied by the scent of roses and a slightly menthol-like freshness. Behind this, a mineral tension emerges, finely balanced and playful. On the palate, this Barbaresco presents itself with vital freshness and polished fruit. Fine-grained tannins lend structure without harshness; the acidity is present but always elegantly integrated – it gives the wine its vigour. The finish is dry, mineral and with a delicate, balsamic note that lingers for a long time. With its balanced transparency, this Barbaresco symbolises a modern interpretation of the region – clear, fine and expressive. SUPERIORE.DE

Giacomo Neri's rather new top Brunello was born with the purchase of a very special vineyard. True to the winery's philosophy of producing wines only from the best terroirs around Montalcino, a small 7-hectare parcel with over 45-year-old vines was acquired a few years ago. This was preceded by over 40 years of friendship with the previous owners, with whom Giacomo's father Giovanni Neri planted the vines and nurtured them over the past decades.

Brunello Giovanni Neri exudes all the outstanding qualities of the raw material and the winemaker's craft. Man and nature unite here in perfect precision and harmony. Its balance is exquisite. Strong cherry and blackberry notes are followed by crushed minerals, liquorice, smoke and slightly fragrant cedar wood notes. The wine spreads evenly and powerfully on the palate, and its flavour intensity can be counted on for many minutes. Giovanni Neri Brunello is wonderfully concentrated and rich, but never too heavy or even too dense. SUPERIORE.DE

The name says it all: Riserva del Fondatore is a tribute to the visionary Giulio Ferrari, who dared to dream in his small cellar in Via Belenzani in 1902. Of an Italian sparkling wine that could rival the French greats. The Giulio Ferrari Rosé is the material realisation of this dream in rosé form and with a rarity and class that is second to none. Only around 5,000 bottles of this vintage went on sale. Each one was kept for over twelve years in the Ferrari cellars, where time is the most precious commodity. Pinot Nero and Chardonnay from the highest sites of the Lunelli vineyards, where the Dolomite winds create the drastic day-night temperature fluctuations that make world-class sparkling wines possible in the first place. And all with the finesse and precision that is only possible with decades of experience.

The Falletto vineyard in Serralunga d'Alba is considered the centrepiece of Bruno Giacosa's work. The south and south-west facing slopes with calcareous marl soils produce Nebbiolo with unmistakable depth and structure. The 2020 vintage was characterised by a warm, sunny summer, balanced by cool nights and a long, stable autumn – ideal conditions for fully ripe, aromatically complex grapes with precise acidity.

Allegrini's top-quality Riserva Fieramonte is deeply concentrated and almost black in the glass. The palate is firm and equally concentrated, with dense waves of dark fruit, spices, toast and cinnamon. The aromatic panorama of this wine is impressive, its dimension, depth and texture make it one of the greatest wines of the appellation. Wow! SUPERIORE.DE

Angelo Gaja's 2021 Barbaresco is a wine with poise and grace that has a lot to offer. Expressive spicy and floral notes are the first to open up, but what really stands out is the wine's nuance and delineation. The transparency is unmistakable. Sweet red cherries, mint, cinnamon and rose petals develop in the glass and add further nuances. The flavour is balanced and spicy, the tannins firm and the finish precise and long. This muscular monument of a red wine definitely needs a few more years of bottle ageing, with a little patience it will transform into pure elegance. Put simply, the 2021 is one of the best Gaja Barbarescos of recent times. SUPERIORE.DE