0.75 liter

When we discovered this winery by chance at the beginning of the 2000s, we were immediately impressed by the modesty and purism of the Biliorsi winemaking family. This is still the case today, they remain true to themselves and their philosophy and in good years, they produce just 10,000 bottles of a "slightly different" Brunello in the cellar.

It was 1997 when a dream began to take shape in the cellars of Capichera. After two decades in which the Ragnedda family had enchanted the wine world with their revolutionary Vermentino creations, they dared to take on a new challenge: could Gallura's ancient soil also produce red wines on a par with the greatness of their white siblings? The experiment was so convincing that it dictated its own name – assajé, Sardinian for "that's something". A legend was born out of modest hope. What began as pure Carignano developed into a masterful symbiosis of Sardinian originality and international elegance. Today, this pioneer among Gallurese red wines combines the island's finest indigenous grapes with a subtle hint of Syrah – a blend that unites twenty-year-old vines from Olbia and Palau to create a harmonious narrative. On the weathered granite sands, where salty sea breezes ripen the grapes for months, a wine of remarkable depth is created.

Lodano Rosso is a blend of Petit Verdot and Merlot that is seamlessly integrated with its dark fruits, blackberries and plums, which are nicely rounded off by smoke and tobacco from French oak and a smaller proportion of American oak. The Merlot comes from the winery's famous old vines, and the contemporary concentration and richness of the Lodano can be found in this wine as well as in the winery's entire portfolio. The dark fruits and spices speak in a deep baritone that calls for a juicy grilled steak, it also offers excellent value! SUPERIORE.DE

In Abruzzo, Trebbiano was long regarded as a simple "workhorse" grape variety, hardly worthy of any serious reputation. Gianni Masciarelli saw something different in it: the most organoleptically interesting variety in the entire Trebbiano family, capable of standing stylistically alongside the great white wines of Burgundy, whilst retaining the unique vigour and character of its Abruzzese origins. In 1991, this wine was created, and it has since held its own amongst the most distinguished Italian white wines. Thirty-five years later, a tasting in direct comparison with a Burgundy Chardonnay from Albert Bichot confirmed precisely this vision.

The top wine Cavalli Rosso comes from loose marl soils at an altitude of 400 metres facing south. It reveals a dark and lush fruit profile with intense blackberry, sour cherry, plum and graphite flavours. On the palate, it has a high primary intensity and medium weight, finishing with a very crisp acidity. It is polished and deep, balanced and supple with plenty of fruity power, weight and length. SUPERIORE.DE

In 1985, Lucio Tasca d'Almerita embarked on an experiment that was to become legendary. After an initial trial with cuttings from Burgundy, he planted five hectares of Chardonnay in the lower part of the San Francesco hill – at an altitude of 530 metres, facing south-east, where the Sicilian sun meets clayey-sandy soils. It was a time when international grape varieties were not yet officially recognised in Sicily, but Lucio followed his vision. This Burgundian journey to Regaleali resulted in a Chardonnay of impressive complexity. It matures for eight months in Liters French oak barrels from Allier and Tronçais, seventy percent in new barriques. The chalky sediments of the old river deposits lend it a mineral depth, while the altitude and Sicilian temperature fluctuations create the tension that characterises great Chardonnays.

Historically, the vineyards of Castello di Fonterutoli are situated in the territories of three neighbouring municipalities within the Chianti Classico region: Castellina in Chianti, Castelnuovo Berardenga and Radda in Chianti. With the 2017 vintage, the Mazzei family vinified all three major vineyards separately as Chianti Classico Gran Selezione for the first time, in order to reflect the diversity of the terroir: Castello di Fonterutoli, Vicoregio 36 and Badiola.

Monprà combines equal parts Barbera and Nebbiolo from vines in Monforte d'Alba, some of which are over 50 years old, at an altitude of 300-400 metres, from sites with clayey-limestone marl soils interspersed with sandy veins. Fermentation is temperature-controlled and takes place separately for each grape variety in stainless steel, while malolactic fermentation and 18 months of ageing take place separately in French oak. Only then are the batches blended – a precise, elegant blend that combines the fullness of Barbera with the noblesse of Nebbiolo.

A name that breathes history: since 2011, the grapes for Marchese Antinori have come exclusively from the vineyards of Tenuta Tignanello – the legendary location that lies at the heart of the Chianti Classico between the gentle hills of the Greve and Pesa valleys. Here, where the Medici once walked and where the Antinori family has been realising its visionary wine philosophy since 1850, one of the purest interpretations of Sangiovese thrives on stony limestone soils. The 2022 vintage tells of a summer of extremes – little rain until August, hot spells in June and July. But the old vines proved resilient: even budding, regular flowering, perfectly ripe grapes for the harvest. In the winery's cellars, winemaking was carried out with classic precision: gentle destemming, gentle pressing, one week of fermentation in stainless steel tanks. Ten days of maceration using gentle methods – an extraction that combines intensity with elegant, supple tannins. Natural acid degradation until the end of the year, then twelve months of ageing in French and Hungarian oak barrels, followed by a further twelve months of bottle ageing before release.

Deep ruby red colour, lush notes of cherries, strawberries and sweet oak spice, vanilla and black pepper. The Sangiovese gives the blend great freshness and is in perfect balance with the silky and soft tannins of the Merlot. Overall rich, but always elegant and with great persistence. A complex, excellently structured red wine in absolute Super Tuscan quality and produced in a limited edition of just under 3,000 bottles. SUPERIORE.DE

The small 2-hectare Sant'Eusanio vineyard is located approximately 500 metres above sea level in the highest zone of the entire Valle-Reale area. What distinguishes this vineyard from the others in Popoli is its northern exposure and the temperature differences between day and night, which can reach the lowest temperatures in the valley. These factors lead to extreme microclimatic conditions under which the grapes of Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Sant'Eusanio ripen, making it a unique wine. It is an uncompromising expression of Montepulciano from the mountains and speaks a dynamic language of acidity and freshness that contrasts sharply with the body and structure of the wines grown in the coastal zone of the region.

A Merlot of impressive depth and fidelity to its origins: "Ros di Buri" comes from the single vineyard of the same name near Buttrio, whose old vines are deeply rooted in the typical Ponca soils of marl and sandstone. This vineyard is one of the winery's prime locations and produces a Merlot that is far more than just an international style wine. The grapes are rigorously selected, harvested by hand and vinified in small French barriques, where the wine matures for 18 months before spending further time in the bottle to reach perfection.

Lis is a mixed blend of Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc and is one of the house's top wines. It has a wonderfully complex aroma of citrus and passion fruit, yellow apple and an initially barely perceptible flavour lead from the Sauvignon Bianco. All elements of this cuvée are equally and masterfully married on the palate, the mouthfeel is soft and round. This complex and at the same time elegant white wine, with its subtle pressure, whets the appetite for more and inevitably casts a spell over every Friuli fan. SUPERIORE.DE

Mathias is one of the top wines. Together with the Pinot Nero Riserva Matan and the Cortazo red wine cuvée, it forms the top tier of Pfitscher’s quality pyramid. A white wine that offers the most complete picture of the vineyard of the same name and the family’s philosophy. The soils on which it grows are unique: grey porphyry and sandy-limestone rock dust. Two geological worlds in a single vineyard: the volcanic depth of the porphyry and the mineral-driven precision of the Alpine limestone. As James Suckling once put it, this captures the essence: "Wild herbs, gentian root, flint, white currant – with a literally breathtaking mineral freshness on final." A Sauvignon that doesn’t scream of fruit, but speaks of its terroir.

Aldo Conterno was an exception among the Piedmontese Barolo producers – one of the few who gave Barbera the attention it deserved. While his colleagues dismissed the variety as an everyday wine, Conterno recognised its potential. The Conca Tre Pile is a steep, hilly slope in the Bussia Soprana, planted entirely with Barbera – vines up to 45 years old, rooted in the legendary terroir that usually produces the great Barolo. This is no ordinary Barbera. This is Barbera on a par with the greats. The grapes are harvested by hand at the beginning of October. After eight to ten days of maceration at 26 to 28 degrees in stainless steel tanks, the wine is racked, pumped over several times and then filled into 100 per cent new French barriques, where it matures for twelve months. An unusual amount of wood for Barbera – but it works for Conterno. The natural acidity of the variety absorbs the wood, integrates the vanilla and spice flavours and transforms them into complexity rather than dominance.

Pecchenino, traditionally known in Dogliani for Dolcetto, ventured into Monforte d'Alba, one of the eleven Barolo villages and home to some of the appellation's most prestigious single vineyards, in the early 2000s. Today, the family cultivates plots in the three prestigious Menzioni Geografiche Aggiuntive Ravera di Monforte, Le Coste di Monforte and Bussia – sites whose names carry weight in connoisseur circles. San Giuseppe is not a single vineyard, but a composed vision: 50% Ravera di Monforte, 35% Le Coste and 15% Bussia merge to create a Barolo that combines the strengths of these different terroirs. Ravera, at an altitude of 440 metres, with its whitish marl, brings minerality and structure. Le Coste, exposed to the south-east, delivers elegance and aromatic finesse. Bussia, the largest and best known of the three, contributes strength and ageing potential. The chalky, clayey soils, the south to south-westerly exposure and the precise manual labour in the vineyard – everything follows the principle of low yields for maximum concentration.

In the quiet morning hours of Gallura, when the first light dances over the granite hills and the Sardinian Mediterranean scrub begins to awaken, something extraordinary emerges. Amistai – a name that means friendship and solidarity in the ancient language of Gallura – is Capichera's bold answer to the question: can a rosé achieve the same depth and complexity as the estate's legendary white wines? With the 2024 vintage, the traditional winery took a revolutionary step. Where the classic També epitomises the light elegance of Sardinian rosés, Amistai breaks all conventions. Made from the finest autochthonous grapes from selected vineyards, prolonged maceration and a vinification process that redefines boundaries – this rosé is Capichera's manifesto for a new era in Sardinian viticulture.

Pliocene clays retain moisture. In a dry, hot year like 2020, this is not merely an agricultural detail, but a survival strategy. The clay soils of Poggio Landi, situated 300 to 500 metres above Torrenieri, provided a natural buffer against the summer drought that put large parts of Montalcino under strain that year. The organically farmed vines, with their deeper, more active root systems, played their part. The result is a Brunello full of concentration and character. Herbal and spicy notes on the nose – wild herbs, fennel and oregano – followed by sweet cherry and tamarind. Two weeks of spontaneous fermentation, 38 months in large French oak barrels, and 6 months in bottle.

Strong ruby red. Pinot Nero Case Via exudes a varietal bouquet of wild berries and pipe tobacco, which combines harmoniously with the barrel spice. The soft, characterful taste is based on the strength of the tannin and the excellent aroma structure of the Pinot Pinot Noir. SUPERIORE.DE

In the Valley of the Gods (Valpantena), Bertani has been writing perhaps the purest Amarone story in Italy since 1857. This northernmost subzone of Valpolicella is considered their secret cru, where marl-limestone on the eastern slope and clay-limestone on the western slope of the hills create a unique terroir. Here, far from the tourist trails, Corvina Veronese and Rondinella thrive on 15 to 20-year-old vines. After being harvested by hand in September, the grapes are left to rest for four months in the historic drying rooms of the Grezzana winery until the winter pressing begins. 30 months of ageing in Slavonian oak barrels and barriques give this Amarone its characteristic finesse – less opulent than the classics from Negrar, but more mineral and flavoursome.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Caterina Zardini lost her husband. What remained were ten children, a hundred hectares of land in the heart of Valpolicella Classica and a winery that her husband Carlo Campagnola had built up with passion – he had won the prize for the best Recioto in the region in 1907. Caterina could have handed over the estate. But she didn't. She took over the work and continued to run the winery with all her children, laying the foundations for five generations of a wine family that is still rooted in Marano di Valpolicella today. This Amarone bears her name, a tribute.

Fayé – is the old dialect name for Faedo. The place that is the focus of everything here bears its oldest name in this wine. And the wine embodies the place: on the labels, in the terroir, in the choice of grape varieties blended here. 50% Cabernet Sauvignon sets the framework: structure, dark fruit, longevity. Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Lagrein fill it out – and that is the crucial point. For Lagrein is no international guest. It is indigenous, at home exclusively in Trentino-South Tyrol, and it gives Fayé an identity that no pure Bordeaux cuvée could ever have. A red wine that is rooted in the international scene yet remains deeply rooted in its local terroir.

Le Baròncole – the little manors. The name refers to the feudal division of this land in the Middle Ages, to landowners who were small enough to be forgotten, but large enough to leave their mark on the landscape. Today, Le Baròncole is the name of the finest Chianti Classico from San Giusto a Rentennano – a Riserva produced only in years when the terroir warrants it. The estate overlooks the upper Arbia Valley at an altitude of 270 metres. The soils are diverse – sand, clay, limestone and mineral-rich deposits – and characterised by a microclimate that experiences marked temperature fluctuations between day and night. In such locations, Sangiovese ripens differently to elsewhere: more slowly, with greater tension, and with a freshness not found in the Maremma or the lower Chianti region. 97% Sangiovese, 3% Canaiolo, hand-harvested in September when the Martini di Cigalas grapes are at their best. Aged for 16 to 20 months in large oak casks and French barriques, depending on the vintage, followed by a further six months' bottle ageing.