Formats

Il Caberlot is more than just a wine - it is a unique statement. Since the 1980s, the Rogosky family has been vinifying one of Italy's rarest red wines with great restraint: pure Caberlot, a natural cross between Cabernet Franc and Merlot, exclusively from the tiny, high-altitude Il Carnasciale vineyard near Mercatale Valdarno. The stony, barren soils at an altitude of up to 520 metres and the continental microclimate of central Tuscany shaped the 2021 vintage in an ideal way: a fresh spring, a moderately warm summer and a long, dry autumn led to a late, selective harvest with exceptional aromatic finesse.

Two hands, one dream: when Elena Celli and Luca D'Attoma discovered the wild hills of Riparbella in 2000 – unploughed, stony, overgrown with maquis –they recognised the potential of this rugged terroir between 250 and 300 metres above sea level. Here, where the salty breeze of the Tyrrhenian Sea meets the Mediterranean wilderness, one of Italy's most extraordinary Cabernet Francs has been produced for over two decades. Luca D'Attoma, legendary Oenologist and creator of iconic wines such as Le Macchioles Messorio, focuses on radical purity: biodynamic cultivation according to Demeter guidelines, spontaneous fermentation in conical oak barrels, 20 months maturation in barriques with 80 per cent new wood.

A ruined castle towers above the entrance to the village of Terlan. First mentioned in a document in 1206, much has changed since then – the languages, the borders, the owners. What has remained is the porphyry rock, the northern foehn and the will to make wine here that does the place justice. Nova Domus – new house. Founded in 1893 by 24 winegrowers with the simple aim of being better together than alone.

In 1982, Bruno Giacosa bought the Falletto vineyard in Serralunga d'Alba. It was the first and most important investment of his life – and it came as no surprise to those who knew him. Since the 1960s, he had been vinifying bought-in grapes from this south-eastern corner of the Barolo area and making wines that are still among the reference points of the appellation today. When the farmers began to bottle their own wines, there was only one answer for Giacosa: to buy what he could no longer rent.

There are stories that take time. This Amarone rested for ten years in a single 30-hectolitre Slavonian oak barrel – a decade of patient ageing, of slow metamorphosis, of quiet perfection. Only 2,500 numbered bottles and 200 magnums were bottled from the 2013 vintage, each in its own wooden crate, a monument to the philosophy that Carla Prospero Zenato formulates as follows: "Ci sono storie che richiedono il loro tempo" – there are stories that demand their time.

There are situations that don't need to be explained – you just have to name them. Romirasco is one of them. The highest parcel in the Bussia Soprana, 395 metres above sea level, less steep than the Cicala, but more exposed, cooler, more dramatic. The oldest vines on the entire estate are here – 65 to 70 years old, Nebbiolo Lampia on Rupestris du Lot rootstock, rooted in a soil of calcareous clay with exceptional amounts of manganese and magnesium. It is these minerals that give Romirasco its characteristic flavour – the unmistakable fingerprint that distinguishes it from Cicala and Colonnello even in blind tastings. Only 4,000 bottles are produced per vintage from 3.8 hectares – the lowest yield of all Conterno wines. Romirasco was first produced in the legendary 2004 vintage, when hail damage made it impossible to bottle the other crus separately. The result was so overwhelming that the Conternos decided to vinify this vineyard separately from then on. Today, Romirasco is considered the best wine of the house.

It all began with friendship and a love of experimentation: in the mid-1980s, when a group of wine lovers led by photographer Silvia Imparato started their first experiments on the family vineyard in the Campania hinterland. One of these friends was Riccardo Cotarella, now one of Italy's most famous Oenologist. In 1991, the first bottle of a wine was produced that would soon go down in history as the "Sassicaia of the South" – a title that Robert Parker awarded it in 1995 and which still resonates today. The winery is located in the Monti Picentini Regional Park near San Cipriano Picentino, just a few kilometres from Salerno. The five hectares of vineyards lie at an altitude of 100 metres in the shadow of a medieval castle, surrounded by oak, chestnut and citrus groves. The medium-textured soil with a high proportion of skeleton, the south-west exposure and the protection of the Picentini mountains create a microclimate in which Mediterranean mildness meets cool nights.

Where the path ends, this story begins. In 2016, Danilo Drocco made a decision bold enough to commemorate the pioneering work of Carlo Negri. The grandson of the founder, who bottled a Sfursat for the first time in 1956, putting Valtellina on the map of great wine. 60 years later, NINO NEGRI 3000 was born: 3,000 magnum bottles, two iconic wines, an experiment between heaven and earth. The Chiavennasca grapes for this Sforzato were left to dry for 100 days in the cool, clear Alpine air – the traditional method that gives strength and concentration without sacrificing the Alpine freshness. The wine then rested for three years in large oak barrels at Castello Quadrio before the magnums began their journey at the end of 2020: up to the rock-cut mountain cellars of Heaven 3000 in Bormio and Ristoro Carosello 3000 in Livigno. Five years at 3,000 metres, where time slows down – less oxygen, lower temperatures, a maturing process that reveals nuances that remain hidden in the valley.

"Sassicaia really was our house wine back then," says Priscilla Incisa della Rocchetta, daughter of the president of San Guido, Marquis Nicolò Incisa della Rocchetta. "It was more of a wine experiment that was only tested within the family and among friends, until we went on the market for the first time with the 1968 vintage. Today, this wine is all about elegance and balance. We like this style, which is not so much about the body. Sassicaia is a good representative of what we want to convey as a style."

Barolo Castiglione 2018 is bright, fresh and clearly defined. Crushed red berry fruit, white pepper, chalk, mint and rose petals run through this beautifully shaped Barolo. The purity of the fruit and overall energy are captivating. Castiglione is Vietti's entry-level Barolo and is always the most approachable in the bottle range, but this vintage shows a higher level of intensity, complexity and freshness. The silky tannins are accompanied by a lovely mentholated brightness into a beautiful finish. A very down-to-earth drop that unmistakably shows off its charm. SUPERIORE.DE

The single vineyard Falletto in Serralunga d'Alba is one of the centrepieces of the Barolo region. On steep, south-facing slopes, whose marl and sandstone soils store heat and contribute minerality, Nebbiolo matures here into wines of great structure and depth. The 2021 vintage is considered one of the best of the last decade: a stable summer with cool nights and sunny days allowed for long, even ripening and produced grapes of rare balance.

In Andrea Cortonesi's own words, 2019 was the first vintage since the legendary 1990 that gave him the feeling that everything was in balance. A slow start to vegetation after a rainy winter, a summer without heat peaks, even ripening until September. Harvest from 25 September – clean, healthy, concentrated. Already a stroke of luck for the Annata. For the Riserva: a perfect invitation. But not every vintage becomes a Riserva. And not every grape in the best vintage. Cortonesi only uses the oldest vines for the Riserva – planted in 1975, back when the word Brunello was hardly known outside Montalcino. Seven hectares, spread over sites between 150 and 350 metres in Castelnuovo dell'Abate, calcareous-clayey soils with marl and mineral structure. What grows here has decades of life in it.

There are wines that speak of a place, and there are wines that speak of a decision. The PS Riserva is both. In the early 1970s, Siro Pacenti planted a small plot of one and a half hectares in the northern part of his Pelagrilli slope – on sandy loam, at 350 metres, within sight of Siena. These vines are still standing today. Only in the most exceptional vintages do they produce the PS – the estate's only single-vineyard wine, in a strictly limited edition, unfiltered and produced over time. The bottling process follows the same principle as all of Giancarlo's wines: fermentation in tempered steel, double manual selection before and after destemming, 24 months in customised French barriques. No intervention that is not necessary. No adjustment that is not justified.

There are wines that have made history. And then there is Sassicaia – the wine that started a revolution and changed Italy forever. The first commercial bottle saw the light of day in 1968, at that time still classified as a modest Vino da Tavola, today the only wine in Italy to be honoured with its own DOC. What began as an experiment by a visionary marchese became a legend. The name says it all: "Sassi" – stones. An idea that Mario Incisa della Rocchetta had in the 1940s is rooted in the stony, calcareous soils of the Bolgheri hills, between 100 and 400 metres above sea level. Inspired by the great wines of Bordeaux, he dared to do the unthinkable: to plant Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc in Tuscany, where only Sangiovese had reigned for centuries.

Since the first vintage in 1988, there has been no other wine in the world made from the mysterious Caberlot grape variety, a natural cross between Cabernet Franc and Merlot, which the agronomist Remigio Bordini discovered in an overgrown vineyard near Padua at the end of the 1960s. What began with a superstitious gesture – wolf and Bettina Rogosky buried a bottle of Sassicaia under the first Caberlot vine in 1986 – developed into a cult icon of the Tuscan wine world. Only 3,900 magnum bottles of the 2020 Il Caberlot are produced annually in the barren heights of Mercatale Valdarno, where iron-rich sandstone soils over limestone bedrock create a rarity that collectors in 24 countries covet. Each bottle is personally numbered by Bettina Rogosky and recorded in a small notebook – a ritual that emphasises the exclusivity of this wine dream come true.

A farewell and a new beginning at the same time. Cepparello 2021 marks Paolo De Marchi's final vintage as master of his life's work before the winery was transferred to the French EPI Group. After more than four decades of tireless work, the maestro from Piedmont completed his testament with this wine – a Sangiovese of paradoxical brilliance that retains an astonishing freshness and elegance despite its powerful fifteen per cent alcohol. The name Cepparello, which originates from the small stream at the highest point of the vineyards, has carried the revolutionary vision of one hundred per cent Sangiovese since 1980. What began as a rebellion against the Chianti Classico regulations – the absurd rule of adding white grapes – developed into an icon of pure Sangiovese expression.

Badia a Passignano is always one of the many highlights in the Antinori range and is probably the estate's most refined and elegant Sangiovese. Its character is medium-bodied and supple, but with plenty of fruit intensity, which is typical of the vineyard of the same name. It skilfully strikes a balance between richness and finesse, captivating from the very first sip. Lavender, mint, blue-purple fruit and liquorice are beautifully brought out. It is a very traditional and noble expression of the Tuscan grape that is hard to resist. SUPERIORE.DE

Powerful, very attractive wine. Smells of strawberry and cherry, spices and a hint of leather. Tastes juicy, very special and impresses with firm tannin and persistent length. SUPERIORE.DE

Seven hectares surrounded by a hostile world. The Vigna Fracia is located where the Alpine valleys meet, where glacial winds ensure temperatures that are below the average for the already cool Valtellina. It is historically the coldest zone in the region – and yet lavender and rosemary grow wild here between the dry stone walls. This contradiction has characterised the wine since 1897, when Nino Negri acquired this parcel: his oldest, his most idiosyncratic. Where the Sforzato Carlo Negri favours concentration through drying, the Vigna Fracia chooses the classic path. No appassimento method, no sultana sweetness – instead a pure red wine vinification that preserves the Nebbiolo's alpine freshness. After fermentation, the wine rests for twelve months in medium-sized oak barrels, followed by two years of bottle ageing in the valley. At the end of 2020, the magnums began their ascent: five years in the rock cellars of Bormio and Livigno at 3,000 metres. Two paths, one goal – altitude as the finishing touch.