Formats

Maroccoli, around four hundred metres above sea level near Sambuca di Sicilia – where limestone with sandy layers forms the foundation and cool night air from the sea provides finesse, while the days are flooded with Sicilian sunshine. Diego Planeta recognised early on that Syrah on this island could be more than just an international variety: a hymn to the Mediterranean light, dry heat and barren soil that forces the vine to fight. The microfauna here is extremely active, the vines have to conquer their water – and produce grapes of exceptional ripeness and concentration.

Poggio San Polo Brunello is a selection of the best grapes from the estate's various vineyard sites. It opens very engagingly with dark fruit, including plenty of black cherry and dark plum, optimally rounded off by a fine balsamic herbal spice and notes of white pepper. The palate has an almost perfect texture, a suppleness and silkiness that is refreshed and carried by a well-proportioned, refined Sangiovese acidity. Dark berry flavours, long, deep and with a very remarkable, slightly mineral final. SUPERIORE.DE

Pieluni is Illuminati's flagship wine - a single-varietal Montepulciano made from selected grapes from old vines in the highest parcels of the Colline Teramane. The exceptional 2017 vintage was characterised by heat, drought and low yields, but produced concentrated, healthy berries with a dense tannin structure. Fermentation was followed by careful ageing in new and used barriques for 24 months, followed by long bottle ageing.

Poggio Rosso Gran Selezione has an enormous abundance of fruit that is beautifully layered. A very beautiful interpretation of the Sangiovese grape with a dense core and plenty of padding around it. Rich ruby-garnet colour, very fine texture and structure on the palate, which only reveals itself fully with the necessary time in the glass. It is full of tension and power in its youth, the acidity and the well-built tannins are programmed for development, as it will only develop its full elegance and greatness in a few years. SUPERIORE.DE

Vigorello was created back in 1968 at the beginning of the Super Tuscan movement. It is a powerful yet refined wine that bursts from the glass with unadulterated tones of black fruit, liquorice, rose and dried lavender, Mediterranean herbs and a sweet hint of vanilla. The balance and structure are outstanding and it will develop even more complexity over time. SUPERIORE.DE

Poggio San Polo Brunello is a selection of the best grapes from the estate's various vineyard sites. It opens very engagingly with dark fruit, including plenty of black cherry and dark plum, optimally rounded off by a fine balsamic herbal spice and notes of white pepper. The palate has an almost perfect texture, a suppleness and silkiness that is refreshed and carried by a well-proportioned, refined Sangiovese acidity. Dark berry flavours, long, deep and with a very remarkable, slightly mineral final. SUPERIORE.DE

Light yellow-green colour, very inviting aroma of pear fruit, melon and delicate grapefruit. Juicy and powerful on the palate, the flavours are reminiscent of white fruit, racy acidity, elegant and mineral. SUPERIORE.DE

For two decades, the white indigenous cuvée Biancosesto has represented one of the most original and stylistically distinctive interpretations of the Friulian white wine tradition – a poetic blend of Friulano and Ribolla Gialla from old vineyards around the historic settlement of Sesto al Reghena. The calcareous marl soils (Ponca) and the cool microclimate of the Colli Orientali provide this classic white wine with complexity and finesse every year.

One of the rarest creations of Alpine viticulture thrives in the sheltered locations between 250 and 350 metres above sea level, where the Tridentine mountains clasp precious vineyards like protective hands. The name Loam (loam) tells the story of soils that guard their heat storage capacity like a secret and give French Bordeaux grape varieties the full ripeness that seems impossible in the Alpine region. The grapes for this cuvée come from a terroir that creates a microclimate of magical intensity between the Mediterranean sun and cool mountain winds. The southeast-facing vineyards catch the first rays of the morning sun, while the cold downdraughts of the nights create the concentration of flavours that can produce great wines. After manual harvest at the end of October, the journey through time and wood begins: twelve months of ageing in French barriques, a further six in large wooden barrels, followed by at least six months of bottle ageing.

In 1881, Anton Jermann left the Austrian Burgenland, travelled through the then Slovenian Collio and finally planted his vines in Villanova di Farra in Friuli. One family, three languages, one Ponca – the characteristic flysch soil of marl and sandstone that gives this region its unmistakable character. On the label of Vinnae, a double-headed eagle bears the legacy of this history: found on an old barrel from great-grandfather Anton, a symbol of the Danube monarchy that once ruled here. Silvio Jermann created the name Vinnae in 1983 – as a tribute to the family's hundred years of winegrowing and the birth of his son Michele. From "Vinnaioli", the winegrowers, to Vinnae: the Ribolla Gialla, the variety that the family has been cultivating in this borderland since the 18th century. Today a blend of 90% Ribolla Gialla, 5% each Friulano and Riesling Renano – three indigenous varieties for three territorial souls. Fermentation in steel, six months maturation partly in large Slavonian oak barrels.

Bianco Trinoro is made from 100% Semillon from a tiny sandy plot in the highest areas of the Trinoro vineyard. The plot is located at around 600 metres above sea level and covers approximately 5,000 square metres. The vineyard was partially planted in 2001 and completed in 2006 with vines from Bordeaux; here, as elsewhere on the estate, the vines are planted close together, one metre apart, in the Bordeaux style. Very aromatic with ripe, fruity notes balanced by a lovely freshness and acidity, great length and very good ageing potential! SUPERIORE.DE

The Fontalloro is a single-varietal Sangiovese that is matured for up to 20 months in new and two-year-old barriques.brilliant ruby colour with a light garnet rim, mineral, woody-fruity aroma of cherry, cedar, blueberry and hazelnut. With aeration, the flavours become increasingly complex and the terroir influence very clear. Compact and very present on the palate with fine-grained tannins and classic proportions. Very high ageing potential and one of the best Sangiovese in central Tuscany every year. SUPERIORE.DE

When Lamole di Lamole acquired this two-hectare cru in 2017, they took on more than just vines – they took on a legacy. The Sangiovese vines, planted in 1994, grow here in the archaic "Alberello Lamolese" style – a bush-trained method that generations of winegrowers have fought to preserve in these rugged highlands and which they have never been willing to give up. This natural terrace lies at an altitude of between 540 and 580 metres, facing south, caressed by the wind and bathed in the purest light. The ancient dry stone walls, built of ochre-coloured Macigno Toscano, absorb the sun's heat during the day and release it back to the vines at night – a dialogue between stone and plant that has continued for centuries. As early as 1800, the geographer Emanuele Repetti noted: "Buon vino di Lamole, lodata campagna" – good wine from Lamole, a much-praised landscape. In 2018, the village was declared a Patrimonio Storico d'Italia. The 2020 vintage – only the third from this vineyard – demonstrates the true potential of Gran Selezione. The grapes undergo visual selection, ferment in 50-hectolitre conical vats using "macerazione differita", and mature initially in the same vats, then in 30-hectolitre oak barrels. The result? A wine that the winemakers themselves describe as lyrical and beguiling.

It was Luigi Veronelli, the Italian wine revolutionary of the 60s and 70s, who convinced Francesco Giuntini that exceptional single vineyards deserve their own voice. Of all the old Poderi from the Mezzadria period, Bucerchiale has always been the best – a south-west facing amphitheatre in the cooler heights of Rufina, where Tuscany approaches the last foothills of the Apennines. Francesco took the plunge in 1979. While the law still stipulated Trebbiano in every Chianti and the wine world favoured quantity, he produced defiant resistance from pure Sangiovese. A 100 per cent Sangiovese from a single vineyard – a revolutionary act at the time that marked the beginning of the Tuscan Renaissance. In 2022, Vigneto Bucerchiale celebrates its 43rd year and embodies a perfect vision. Spontaneous fermentation in steel tanks at 30-32°C with 30 days of maceration allows every nuance of the terroir to unfold before the wine matures 50 per cent in French oak barrels of 25 hl and 50 per cent in barriques – only 15 per cent of which is new.

In 1974, a decision was made that nobody really understood at the time. Herbert Tiefenbrunner had the grapes from the Fennberg – a high plateau at 1,000 metres above sea level in the municipality of Margreid – a single-vineyard wine. Müller-Thurgau. At a time when single vineyard sites for white grape varieties were virtually unheard of in Italy. At an altitude where hardly anyone expected great wine. Named after Field Marshal Joseph von Fenner zu Fennberg, the Austrian officer who once owned this high plateau. Fifty years later, Feldmarschall is one of Italy's most iconic white wines.

A white wine from Trinoro? Andrea Franchetti planted Sémillon in 2001 on a tiny sandy plot in the forest, 630 metres above sea level – originally with the vision of creating a sweet wine. But year after year, the harvest yielded dry, concentrated grapes. What followed was a wine that Franchetti initially kept to himself: tasted, analysed and perfected for years. It was not until 2017 that he dared to bottle it commercially for the first time. Today, after more than two decades, Trinoro Bianco is considered one of the most fascinating white wines in Tuscany. Fermented partly in steel tanks, partly in small wooden barrels, matured in concrete tanks – a vinification process that preserves purity and structure in equal measure.

In 1972, Herbert Tiefenbrunner did something that was considered a risk at the time: he planted Müller-Thurgau. A grape variety traditionally associated with simple, uncomplicated wines from cooler northern regions, and he did so at an altitude of 1,000 metres, on the Fennberg plateau in the municipality of Margreid. One hectare to begin with; today there are three. The vines are planted on a gentle south-facing slope, sheltered at the rear by the mighty rocky ridge of the Rotwand, which blocks the cold northerly winds. The soil is exceptional: red, loamy-sandy earth, interspersed with white and red marble, porphyry and granite boulders, with dolomite and limestone beneath. The high salt content of this subsoil shapes the characteristic fruit and herbal aromas for which this vineyard is now regarded as a benchmark across Europe – the highest-altitude Müller-Thurgau growing area on the entire continent!

In Friulian, "Dut'un" means "all in one" – and this name is not a modest claim, but a precise description of what is contained in this bottle. Gianfranco Gallo regards the Dut'un as the distillation of his entire estate: equal parts Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc from the finest plots of the Vie di Romans and Vieris vineyards – thirty-year-old vines on glacial gravel soils with a silt component, facing east-west and north-south. What he seeks is not the character of the grape variety, but the character of the place. The Isonzo, the Bora, the gravel, the light – these are the ingredients. Chardonnay and Sauvignon are the tools.

This impressive Sangiovese comes from the single vineyard "Vitticciana", which was specially created for a pure Sangiovese wine by the "Godfather of Carmignano" Ugo Contini Bonacossi due to its perfect orientation. It is only produced in the best years, when it presents itself as a multi-layered wine with fine fruit and fine-grained tannins. After a few years of ageing in the bottle, it can easily hold its own with some of the best Brunello di Montalcino. SUPERIORE.DE

There are vintages that you can sense even whilst in the vineyard. 2021 was one of them: April frosts reduced yields by up to a third; what remained ripened slowly and fully under a long, hot, dry summer. No rain in September, no rush to harvest – a luxury afforded by this vintage and one that is rare in Montalcino. For Giancarlo Pacenti and his north-facing Pelagrilli vineyards, this meant ideal conditions for a Brunello of classic elegance.

Some wines have a history. This one has a founding history. The Terlaner Cuvée (formerly Classico) was already there in 1893, when 24 winegrowers founded a cooperative in the small village of Terlan – with the conviction that more is possible together than alone. Over 130 years later, this idea remains unchanged, as does the wine. 60 per cent Pinot Bianco, 30 per cent Chardonnay, 10 per cent Sauvignon Blanc – the three great white Terlans in an assemblage that cellar master Rudi Kofler describes as compositional logic: Pinot Bianco provides freshness and acid structure, Chardonnay the ripe warmth and fullness, Sauvignon Blanc the fine aromatic play. Not a product of chance, but a wine with architecture. The grapes grow at 280 to 700 metres above sea level, on the characteristic quartz porphyry of Terlan – volcanic primary rock, which gives the wines their salty minerality and exceptional longevity.

A little bit of everything, but never too much of a good thing. One of the most complex Nobiles we have ever tasted. Delicate red fruit with a pinch of sweetness and floral aromas, underpinned by a little tobacco and raspberry. Clear cherry flavour on the palate, plus a wonderful spiciness with that subtle sweetness in the background again. A finesse-rich and harmonious final whets the appetite for the next glass. Very successful and full of precision! SUPERIORE.DE

The grapes come from the historic centrepiece of the Planeta estate in Ulmo near Sambuca di Sicilia – a vineyard that was planted back in the mid-1980s. The vines are rooted at an altitude of around 250 metres in loamy-sandy soils with a high lime content, not far from Lake Arancio. Deep ruby red in the glass with a purple rim. The nose opens powerfully and invitingly: black cherry, plum, cassis and blueberry, accompanied by cocoa, tobacco, fresh leather and a subtle herbal spice. On the palate, Sito dell'Ulmo is both full-bodied and elegant: dense, with polished tannins, fresh acidity and a long, silky finish. The integration of the wood is finely balanced and the fruit always remains in the foreground. A Sicilian Merlot with format, origin and depth. SUPERIORE.DE