0.75 liter

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.

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.

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.

More than two centuries ago, Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi, Princess of Piombino, had something planted on the ferruginous hills above Suvereto that would change this landscape forever: Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon – grape varieties from the Bordelais. The Maremma, still rough and wild at the time, became the testing ground for a woman with a feel for terroir. Francesca Moretti, daughter of Bellavista founder Vittorio, deliberately picks up on this thread with Petra. The name says it all. Petra. Stone. Consistency. 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, hand-picked from the Vigneto di Petra in San Lorenzo Alto. Limestone soils with the right balance of clay and skeleton, 10 to 15 per cent slope. Fermentation with natural yeasts in large oak vats, ageing for at least 15 months in French barriques – 25 per cent new – followed by at least 17 months in the bottle. The cellar, a structure by Mario Botta, works with gravity: no pumping, no stress.

The parcels of La Tartufaia lie between the historic Barolo slopes of La Morra and the forests where white truffles are foraged in autumn. The soil of calcareous marl mixed with fine layers of sand gives this Nebbiolo a delicate flavour and silky structure. Giulia Negri cultivates the vineyard in a natural way, working with spontaneous fermentation and careful ageing for around 30 months in medium-sized wooden barrels to bring the terroir unadulterated into the glass. The 2021 vintage provided a perfect balance of ripe fruit and fresh acidity.

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.

In the 1990s, almost every winegrower in Tuscany planted Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. International demand was clear, the prices were right, and old native 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 among connoisseurs. The small municipality on the eastern slope of Mount Etna is the only place whose white wines are allowed to carry the designation "Superiore" – according to the Etna DOC regulations. Here, in the Contrada Rinazzo, where steep terraces with dry stone walls of black lava look down to the Ionian Sea, Carricante finds perhaps its purest form of expression. At an altitude of 800 metres, just eight kilometres from the sea, the climate is characterised by constant ventilation, plenty of light and striking temperature amplitudes.

Where it all began. 2002 – the first vintage of Tenuta delle Terre Nere – did not come from just any plot. It came from Guardiola: the estate’s highest vineyard, the most challenging, the oldest. For the first Etna wine of his life, 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 – at the very edge of the Etna DOC. Any higher up, there are no more grapes. 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 heights on 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.

Silvio Jermann was one of the first people in Friuli to combine international grape varieties with local grapes and vinify them with Burgundian precision. The blend of Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Ribolla Gialla, Malvasia Istriana and Picolit comes from top-class vineyards near Farra d'Isonzo and Dolegna del Collio, on marl and sandstone soils with a perfect microclimate.