0.75 liter

The Nerello Mascalese vines for the Archineri Rosso are rooted deep in the terraced vineyards of Contrada Rampante – at an altitude of around 850 metres on pure volcanic rock. It is a barren, yet vital terroir which, in combination with old, ungrafted vines and strict selection, produces wines of almost ascetic precision. The grapes are fermented spontaneously, then matured for around 12 months in large, used oak barrels before being bottled without filtration.

In 1981, a wine was bottled that would finally put Ronco del Gnemiz on the map. Not the biggest, not the most expensive – but the one that showed what was possible on this hill in Rosazzo. Sol Chardonnay was the beginning of a story that continues to this day. The vineyard from which it comes is a rarity: half a hectare, planted between the two world wars, when no one could have guessed that these vines would one day be among the oldest Chardonnay vines in the Colli Orientali. Today they are over 80 years old – and still produce grapes of astonishing vigour year after year. The soils are rich in organic matter, the eastern exposure catches the gentle morning light and protects the grapes from the afternoon heat. 20 hectolitres per hectare: less than half of what is considered low elsewhere. Christian Patat presses the grapes as whole clusters and ferments the must entirely in barriques – a third of them new, the rest already used. Bâtonnage? Rarely.

Half a hectare in Rosazzo. Two plots that touch like old friends: one was planted in 1954, when Friuli was still licking the wounds of war. The other followed fifty years later, in 2004, as if someone wanted to continue the story. Together they form one of those patches of land that are known in the Colli Orientali as authentic Grand Crus – a word that is not used lightly here. The winery does not (yet) reveal who Ana Freire was or is. Just this much: the name is written on the label like a dedication, preceded by an "a" like a silent "for you". At Ronco del Gnemiz, wines bear the names of those who matter – serena's mother Iris, her father Dottore Palazzolo. This Chardonnay joins this silent gallery of affection. Christian Patat vinifies it like its siblings: whole bunch pressing, fermentation in wood, the same meticulous process as for the Sol or Ronco Basso.

A wine that made history. When Francesco Ricasoli presented Casalferro for the first time in 1993, it marked the beginning of a new era for the venerable Castello di Brolio and cemented Ricasoli's membership in the elite of Italian oenology. Today, almost three decades later, Casalferro 2019 is a prime example of how a French grape variety matures to exceptional perfection on Tuscan terroir. Casalferro is the essence of three exceptional individual vineyards: Vigna Casalferro, Vigna Pecchierino and Vigna Sodacci. These 13 hectares of Merlot vineyards between 400 and 500 metres above sea level are the result of decades of meticulous terroir studies. Each site has its own personality: Vigna Casalferro with its sandstone and limestone soils, Vigna Pecchierino on pure Alberese limestone and Vigna Sodacci on iron-rich sandstone soils. They all share the characteristic altitude, which gives the grapes the crystalline freshness and lively acidity that characterise the DNA of the Brolio terroir.

Contrada Arcurìa is situated directly opposite Alberto Graci's winery. It was here, on the north-eastern slope of Mount Etna in Passopisciaro, that the estate's history began in 2004, when the former Milanese investment banker acquired his first plot of land following the death of his grandfather, who had made his own wine in central Sicily. Covering 25 hectares, 18 of which are planted with vines, Arcurìa remains the heart of his estate to this day. Unlike the entry-level Bianco, this wine is made from 100% Carricante grown at an altitude of 600 metres, on brown, volcanic soil with a high proportion of skeletal material and plenty of iron. Following gentle pressing without contact with the skins, half is aged in 1,Liters and the other half in concrete tanks, followed by twelve months on the fine lees and a further twelve months of bottle ageing before the wine is released.

In the 1990s, almost every winegrower in Tuscany planted Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. International demand was clear, the prices were right, and old indigenous varieties seemed old-fashioned and difficult by comparison. San Felice did the opposite. On a plot of land near the village of Castelnuovo Berardenga, the Vitiarium was established – an experimental vineyard where over 270 endangered Tuscan grape varieties were planted, in collaboration with the Universities of Florence and Pisa. Not for the market. For the future.

1976 – this was Maurizio Zanella's first rosé bottling from Ca' del Bosco. He simply called it "Rosé Ca' del Bosco". What was an experiment back then is now number 47 in a continuous process: since 2018, each edition has had its own number because Zanella and his team are convinced that each composition has its own sensory signature – and that this signature should be memorialised. Edizione 47 is based on the 2022 harvest year – a hot, dry summer in Franciacorta, which forced an early harvest on 6 August. 14 days, 7,800 kilograms per hectare, a harvest under pronounced water stress. The result is wines with good structure and pleasantly fresh acidity, with fruity notes over a clear citrus base. 80% Pinot Noir from twelve vineyards in Erbusco, Adro, Iseo and Passirano – on average 34-year-old vines – and 20% Chardonnay from seven parcels, half reserve wines 2021, half base wines 2022.

Milo. A name that inspires awe amongst connoisseurs. This small village on the eastern slopes of Mount Etna is the only place whose white wines are permitted to bear the designation "Superiore" – as stipulated by the Etna DOC regulations. Here, in Contrada Rinazzo, where steep terraces with dry stone walls made of black lava rock look down towards the Ionian Sea, the Carricante grape perhaps finds its purest expression. At an altitude of 800 metres, just eight kilometres from the sea, the climate is characterised by constant ventilation, abundant light and marked temperature variations.

The place where it all began in 2002. The first vintage of Tenuta delle Terre Nere did not come from just any plot. It came from the Guardiola: the estate's highest vineyard, the most challenging, and the oldest. For the first Etna wine of his career, Marco de Grazia chose the toughest start he could find. And he gave it two further firsts: the first time an Etna Rosso bore the Contrada name on the label. And the first time it was bottled in a Burgundy-style bottle. The Contrada Guardiola lies at an altitude of 900 to 1,000 metres – right on the very edge of the Etna DOC. No grapes grow any higher up. The soils are poor: sand, volcanic pumice, basalt scree – the bare minimum a vine needs. The terraces become narrower with increasing altitude; vineyard work there is carried out exclusively by hand and is exceptionally difficult. The vines have stood on this soil for over a hundred years – on their own roots, ungrafted, because phylloxera never reached these high altitudes on Mount Etna. Pre-phylloxera. Alive.

The name is no coincidence. The plot of land where Giulia Negri's Pinot Nero grows is called La Tartufaia – the truffle ground. Serradenari has been famous for its white truffle for centuries, and the almost 300-year-old natural forest that surrounds the estate is its ideal habitat. At 520 metres above sea level, among the ancient oaks and hazel bushes, lies the north-facing vineyard, which is one of the highest in the entire Barolo appellation. Giulia Negri's father planted Pinot Nero and Chardonnay on the cooler northern slopes – a nod to Burgundy, which was unusual for La Morra. Giulia has turned this into a conviction. The soil here is Messiniano: calcareous clay, structuring, mineral, fundamentally different from the sandy Tortonian of the lower sites. Spontaneous fermentation in conical wooden vats with around 25 days of maceration, then around 20 months in French barriques and tonneaux of 228 and 350 Liters.