Formats

2018 – a year that will go down in Ferrari history. Pinot Nero and Chardonnay in perfect harmony - 70% red vigour, 30% white finesse. Perlé Rosé Riserva is not just any rosé sparkling wine. It is the essence of what Giulio Ferrari dreamed of over a century ago: Italian sparkling wines to rival the French greats. From the best plots of the family vineyards, between 300 and 700 metres above sea level, where the Dolomite winds provide the alpine freshness that makes a world-class sparkling wine possible. Five years pass while the Riserva matures on the fine lees and in the end you can taste every single week of the maturing period.

The farmers of Menfi call it "Burdisi". This is not a nod to France – it's dialect. "Burdese" is the Sicilian pronunciation of "bordolese", and it reveals just how naturally Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc have become part of the landscape in this south-western corner of Sicily. Not as imported goods, but as part of the local vocabulary. Planeta has adopted the name – and turned it into one of the island’s most distinctive red wines. The vines are planted at the Dispensa estate near Menfi, at altitudes of up to 430 metres, in brooding, calcareous soils of medium texture. A site that provides the Cabernets with the necessary coolness to retain their aromatic precision. Limited quantity, selected plots, harvested in mid- to late September. Aged in oak for a wine made for long-term ageing.

In 1964, Annamaria Clementi Zanella purchased two hectares near Erbusco, which would later become Ca' del Bosco. In 1976, the estate's first rosé was released, a wine blended from several vintages. Since the 2018 harvest, it has been part of the Edizioni range, and with each new edition the dosage is reduced slightly so that the grape variety and vintage come through more clearly. Edizione 48 is made exclusively from the 2023 harvest, sourced from 19 vineyards: 64% Pinot Nero from Erbusco, Adro, Iseo and Passirano, 36% Chardonnay from Erbusco, Cazzago San Martino and Passirano, with the vines averaging around thirty years old. The grapes are washed and dried; the Pinot Nero remains on the skins for 24 to 36 hours until the delicate pink colour develops, ferments in stainless steel and small wooden vats, and only then is blended with the Chardonnay. On average, the cuvée rests on the lees for around 24 months; the lees are removed without exposure to oxygen, and the dosage is kept to a minimum.

As always, Castiglione is mainly based on grapes from Ravera, with smaller portions from Ginestra, Mosconi, Bricco Ravera (in Monforte), Le Coste, Costabelle, Meriame, Briccolina and Codana. Every year it is a dazzling wine that shows how convincing even an "entry-level wine" from a top producer can be. Rich, voluptuous and explosive, it has enormous fullness and resonance from the very first sip. On the nose, bright red cherry and plum fruit, wild flowers, mint, blood orange and spices. Its silky tannins are accompanied by a beautiful, mentholated brightness. A real charmer! SUPERIORE.DE

Maroccoli, some four hundred metres above sea level near Sambuca di Sicilia – where limestone interbedded with sandy layers forms the bedrock and cool night-time air from the sea lends finesse, whilst the days are bathed in Sicilian sunshine. Diego Planeta realised early on that Syrah could be more than just an international variety on this island: an ode to the Mediterranean light, to the dry heat and the barren soil that forces the vine to fight for survival. The microfauna here is extremely active; the vines must fight for their water – and in return, they 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

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

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

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 1960s and 1970s, who convinced Francesco Giuntini that exceptional single-vineyard wines deserve a voice of their own. Of all the old poderi from the mezzadria era, Bucerchiale has always been the finest – a south-west-facing amphitheatre in the cooler heights of Rufina, where Tuscany meets the final foothills of the Apennines. In 1979, Francesco took the plunge. Whilst the law still mandated Trebbiano in every Chianti and the wine world prioritised quantity, he produced a defiant challenge made from 100% Sangiovese. A 100% Sangiovese from a single vineyard – a revolutionary act at the time, marking the beginning of the Tuscan Renaissance. In 2022, Vigneto Bucerchiale celebrates its 43rd year and embodies a vision brought to perfection. Spontaneous fermentation in steel tanks at 30–32°C, followed by 30 days' maceration, allows every nuance of the terroir to unfold before the wine matures: 50% in 25-hl French oak casks and 50% in barriques – only 15% of which are new.

A white wine from Trinoro? In 2001, Andrea Franchetti planted Sémillon on a tiny sandy plot in the woods, at an altitude of 630 metres – originally with the aim of creating a sweet wine. Yet year after year, the harvest yielded dry, concentrated grapes. What followed was a wine that Franchetti initially kept solely for himself: tasted, analysed and perfected over many years. It was not until 2017 that he ventured to produce the first commercial bottling. Today, after more than two decades, Trinoro Bianco is regarded as one of Tuscany's most fascinating white wines. Fermented partly in stainless-steel tanks and partly in small wooden barrels, and matured in concrete tanks – a winemaking process that preserves both 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 keeps out the cold north 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

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.

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.