Formats

When tasted blind, it literally screams Syrah, and for all the right reasons: Lamb, steak and charcuterie are present in abundance. Behind this are more vegetal nuances, such as blackberry leaves and juniper berries and, of course, blackberries and blackcurrants. The palate is very dense, cleanly structured, deliciously flavoured with ripe black fruits and earthy notes. Velvety tannins and a long, harmonious final form the impressive final. SUPERIORE.DE

Directly in front of the cantina, at an altitude of 450 metres and facing south-west, lies the vineyard that has defined Fontodi's claim to Sangiovese since 1985. Three plots, planted between 1963 and 1973, are united by a special geological feature: slaty Galestro soils that break up into characteristic platelets on the surface. Giovanni Manetti recognised early on that this soil structure gives the Sangiovese the dark fruit and volume on the mid-palate that distinguishes it from the limestone-dominated sites. The name "Sorbo" refers to a local Tuscan fruit – dry, tannic, almost like grapes themselves. What began as a Riserva in 1985 was elevated to Gran Selezione in the 2011 vintage, when the new classification was introduced in Chianti Classico. Since 2012, 100% Sangiovese, previously blended with small proportions of Cabernet Sauvignon.

The Cotarella family's Le Macioche Brunello 2020 shows balance and character, opening with bright cherry fruit, menthol, balsamic herbs, minerals and soft earthy tones. On the palate, the wine unfolds with lightness, silky and refined, with a pure presentation of ripe red berries accompanied by violet-coloured flowers and a hint of leather. Although grippy and structured, it remains energetic and fresh on the final, leaving a hint of violets and lavender. SUPERIORE.DE

Le Serre Nuove carries the DNA of Ornellaia in every fibre, born from the same vineyards, shaped by the same philosophy. What Marchese Lodovico Antinori began in 1981 as a visionary experiment – french vines on the Tuscan coast, four kilometres from the Mediterranean Sea – has long since become a legend. Le Serre Nuove, the estate's "Second Vin" since 1997, is much more than just the younger brother: it is a preview and invitation to discover the Mediterranean Bordeaux style that made Bolgheri world-famous. After a mild winter and early budding, the 2023 vintage brought frequent rainfall during flowering and fruit set, which reduced yields but gave the grapes the perfect physiological balance that characterises great wines. Cooler summer conditions and precise August rains enabled ideal ripeness. The cuvée of 65% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Cabernet Franc is vinified separately from the grape varieties and matured for 15 months in French oak – 25% in new barrels and 75% in one-year-old barrels.

Among the red Bordeaux grape varieties, Cabernet Franc is the most poetic: less vigour than Cabernet Sauvignon, but more fragrance, more herbs, more finesse. In Friuli, where it is rooted in the Grave soils, it has its own unique character – and it is precisely this that Nonino captures. Only Cabernet Franc grapes from the Grave del Friuli are used for this rare cru grape brandy, harvested when perfectly ripe and distilled as a whole fruit: skin, pulp and juice together, using the ÙE method invented by Benito and Giannola Nonino in 1984.

Sergio Manetti, a steel entrepreneur from Florence, bottled his first wine in 1971 – a Chianti Classico from the two hectares of vines he had planted around his holiday home. A wine for friends and business partners, nothing more. He sent a few bottles to Verona for the big Vinitaly wine fair, more out of curiosity than ambition. The response was overwhelming. A hobby became a passion, a passion became a vocation. Until 1981, this wine bore the name "Chianti Classico Montevertine Riserva". Then came the break. Sergio Manetti refused to blend white Trebbiano into his Sangiovese, as prescribed by the Chianti Classico regulations. The decision cost him the DOCG – and made him a legend. From 1982, the wine was simply called "Montevertine", without any additions or compromises. A name that became the programme: Sangiovese in its purest, most traditional form, just as the old Chianti farmers would have made it before bureaucracy and commercialism wrote the rules. The wine comes mainly from a two and a half hectare plot facing south-southeast, planted in 1982 – in the year of the great rupture.

Della Bastonaca is the quintessence of the COS philosophy, grown on the historic estate in Bastonaca near Vittoria – where up to 75-year-old Alberello vines of Nero d'Avola and Frappato stand on calcareous red clay, criss-crossed by quartz veins and the constant presence of Mediterranean air. Biodynamics is not a statement here, but a lived practice – for decades, each vintage has been vinified in harmony with nature at the right rhythm.

Giuseppe Russo cultivates part of the 12-hectare San Lorenzo vineyard at an altitude of around 750 metres on the slopes of Mount Etna near Randazzo. The lava flows of recent decades have created a porous soil here, rich in volcanic rock and therefore providing excellent drainage.

The wolf's mouth. This is the translation of Bocca di Lupo – a name that captures the wildness of this landscape. Here, in the heart of the Alta Murgia near Minervino Murge, a dream began in 1998: the Antinori family, creators of legendary super Tuscans, recognised the dormant potential of Apulia and invested in a terrain that could not be more barren. Limestone tuff soils, karstic hills, an almost lunar panorama at an altitude of 250-300 metres. But it is precisely this barrenness that is the secret. At the centre of the project: the rediscovery of Aglianico – the noble, once underestimated grape variety that is to find an authentic Apulian voice here. The organically cultivated vines yield slightly overripe grapes that fully develop their phenolic potential. After manual harvesting, the must ferments at 25–27 °C in stainless steel, maceration takes place over 15–18 days with gentle remontages and délestages. Malolactic fermentation takes place in French barriques, where the wine matures for a further 15 months. This is followed by a full 24 months of bottle ageing – this wine is only released onto the market after a total of three years (+).

Venice, 1967: Charles de Gaulle and his wife Yvonne are guests at the Hotel Gritti, invited to the Biennale. A red wine is served at the state dinner, which the president considers to be a great Bordeaux – and publicly praises. When the sommelier reveals that it is a Venegazzù from Montello, just fifty kilometres away, the surprise is perfect. Conte Piero Loredan, descendant of the Venetian Doge Leonardo Loredan, then commissioned the artist Tono Zancanaro to design two labels: Dionysus with the dedication "des roses pour Madame" for the president's wife, the goddess of wine with "...et pour Monsieur la Bombe" for de Gaulle himself. The Capo di Stato was born – a wine for heads of state. To this day, bottles are sent to the Élysée Palace every time a new French president is elected.

Michele Chiarlo's Barbaresco Faset offers a high degree of intensity and balance. Its bouquet shows wild berries and cassis with sophisticated background notes of tar, smoke and dark spices. It is a silky expression of the grape variety with a long and very convincing finish. Be patient and give it another 3-5 years to give it the time it needs to integrate and balance. SUPERIORE.DE

"You should take that much time. Time and attention for the best of our Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Perfect harmony that is only achieved after 10 years of ageing in the bottle. Dense to the tips of your hair." Michael Graf Goëss-Enzenberg, Weingut Manincor

Bright ruby red in colour with a slight garnet hue – a lively start to this elegant Nebbiolo from the breathtaking vineyards of Ravera near Monforte d'Alba at an altitude of around 400 metres. The vines are around 15 years old and are deeply rooted in chalky clay soil, which gives the wine its characteristic freshness and precision. After manual harvesting and gentle fermentation in stainless steel, the wine matures for around 14 months in used French barriques before being bottled.

G.D. Vajra's Ravera (whose vineyard extends over the municipalities of Novello and Barolo) is always the most angular, powerful and vertical of their collection. It comes from soils with clay and sandstone at 320 to 340 metres above sea level. This is the ideal place for wines that show both power and elegance. The tannins are sweet, but every fibre of the backbone is dense and firm. Red and purple fruits with liquorice, tar and white truffle are neatly packaged here and only reveal themselves gradually, but then with beautiful precision and straightforwardness. The final has a wonderfully long aftertaste, superb! SUPERIORE.DE

"Vigna Dominin" comes from a steep single vineyard with old vines that are deeply rooted in the characteristic Ponca soil. Paolo Meroi only vinifies this wine in the best years and with uncompromising precision. The 2015 vintage was characterised by a cool growing season, which gave the grapes exceptional aromatic tension and a remarkable balance of fruit, structure and acidity. After rigorous manual harvesting, the wine matured for 24 months in French barriques and was only released after several years in the bottle.

The world-famous Caiarossa is an extremely exciting blend of the Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Sangiovese, Syrah and Alicante varieties, with the rich, dark fruit flavours of the Cabernet grapes taking centre stage. On the nose, a beautiful first wave of dark fruits that never appear too ripe, which greatly benefits the elegance of the wine. The palate is very balanced and focussed with blackberries, cassis and slight hints of salty or rusty minerals. Caiarossa displays a good degree of elegance, not least due to its fine and taut tannins, and despite its density and complexity never comes across as opulent or even overloaded. SUPERIORE.DE

Since the 2016 vintage, Livio Felluga's top wine Sossò has been maturing in the bottle for an extra year before being released for sale. This Riserva is a beautifully rich and comforting red wine that is dense on the palate, imparting pretty cherry and dark fruit flavours with plenty of spice and tobacco. The extremely articulate flavour shoulders a convincing tannin portion and yet steers into an intensely fruity final with terrificlength. The wine simply glides forward with its unique feel and a dynamism that is slow and long-lasting. SUPERIORE.DE

Bright ruby red colour. Refined raspberry and red cherry on the nose, with notes of quinine and flowers that develop with further aeration. Fresh flavours of red berries and smoked beef, with hints of violets and orange zest. Almost exotic on the palate with plenty of luscious extract sweetness and fine tannins and a fresh, mineral, dry finish. An exceptional red wine with a terrificarc of tension! SUPERIORE.DE

Also from Bruttrio, like the Friulano Buri Bellaria, comes the almost pure top Merlot from the Palazzolo family. The vines of the vineyard, which was formerly cultivated by Miani, are almost 100 years old and regularly produce grapes of great complexity and very fine tannins, which, however, require at least two years of ageing and refinement before the wine is bottled unfiltered. But then the wine embarks on a journey that could not be more exciting and rewarding. On the nose, we find violet flowers and lots of blue and black berries, rounded off with savoury herbs and spices. A remarkably silky, almost floating red that leads into a never-ending, fusiose final with fleshy berries, minerals and herbs. SUPERIORE.DE

Deep dark, impenetrable ruby colour with violet reflections. Opulent, warm bouquet of fully ripe cherries, plums, liquorice, young leather with a hint of French oak spice. Powerful and firm on the palate, with a brilliant structure and taut tannins. With increasing aeration, it reveals its good structure and refined elegance. This outstanding Merlot from central Tuscany never seems broad or too heavy until the long finish, but is completely convincing with its terrificenergy and complexity. SUPERIORE.DE

In the annals of Tuscan wine history, there are vineyards that bear witness to dynasties and eras, and the Vigna dell'Impero is one of these living monuments. In 1935, in that fateful year when Europe was on the eve of great upheavals, the Savoia royal family had a vineyard planted on their hunting reserve in Valdarno di Sopra, which is now one of the most venerable terroirs in Tuscany. Three hectares of terraced vineyards, planted by hand at an altitude of 300 metres, where the Sangiovese vines dig their roots deep into the stony, galestro-rich soil. Antonio Moretti Cuseri recognised the exceptional quality of this ancient site and decided in 2012 to create a limited edition from this historic cru. Only in the best vintages, in numbered bottles, as a tribute to 85 years of winegrowing history. The Sangiovese in Purezza undergoes a particularly gentle, one-month maceration to extract all the noble components of the grapes harvested at optimum phenolic ripeness. 24 months of ageing in large 15 and 25 hectolitre barrels, followed by months of bottle ageing without filtration – to preserve the purest terroir notes.

Around 2,000 bottles of this single-vineyard wine are sold each year. Extremely complex bouquet of blackberry, blackcurrant and sour cherry, with perfectly integrated notes of Mediterranean herbs. Broad and elegant on the palate, supported by a delicate acid wire that makes it fresh and lively. A great wine with excellent structure and remarkable persistence and depth of flavour. SUPERIORE.DE

From the beginning, Pio Cesare produced limited quantities of Barolo Chinato and Vermouth, precisely according to a family recipe handed down by his grandfather. In the early 1950s, however, production was discontinued as tastes and preferences changed.

Pinot Nero in Lombardy is a quiet discipline - difficult to master, easy to underestimate. With Pinéro, Ca' del Bosco has been proving for decades that this grape variety can also achieve expression and elegance on the edge of the Alps. The 2019 vintage was characterised by balanced vegetation, with cool nights at harvest time - a blessing for finesse, freshness and structure. The grapes come from high-altitude vineyards in the Sebino area with calcareous, clayey soils and good air circulation. After manual harvesting in small crates and strict selection, fermentation takes place in large, open oak vats - a traditional process that preserves structure and aromatic finesse. The wine then matures for 11 months in French barriques - one part new, the other used. Everything is done with care: no excess, no forced concentration, but rather the development of fine depth.