Formats

Luigi Veronelli would have turned one hundred years old on 2 February 2026. This is no ordinary anniversary for Castellare di Castellina, because without Veronelli, this wine would not exist. It was 1976 when he was walking through the vineyards of Castellare with Paolo Panerai and stopped at the descent to the estate's most beautiful parcel. "Paolo, call it I Sodi di S. Niccolò," he said. And then, even before Panerai could explain the choice of grape variety, he haunting: "Forget the French varieties. Sangioveto and Malvasia Nera – they are better." It was exactly what Panerai himself thought. The first harvest followed in 1977.

Giovanni Neri died in 1986, fifteen years after purchasing Podere Casanova. He had lived out his dream – but not long enough to see what became of it. His son Giacomo, and his grandsons Giovanni and Gianlorenzo, are carrying on his dream. And to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the first vineyard, they dedicated a wine to the founder that bears his name – and embodies his philosophy: the belief that Montalcino was capable of more than the world realised at the time. The vineyard is old and untamed, as the estate itself puts it – vines over fifty years old that have never stopped putting down deep roots.

Brunello Giovanni Neri embodies all the outstanding qualities of the grapes and the winemaker's craft. Man and nature come together here with perfect precision and harmony. Its balance is exquisite. Rich notes of cherry and blackberry give way to crushed minerals, liquorice, smoke and subtle hints of cedarwood. The wine unfolds evenly and powerfully on the palate, and its flavour intensity lingers for many minutes. Giovanni Neri Brunello is wonderfully concentrated and rich, yet never too heavy or even too dense. SUPERIORE.DE

The fruit for Tenuta Nuova is harvested from a south and south-east facing slope at 250 to 300 metres above sea level. The soils are loose and mixed with gravel, which allows access to air and moisture.

Rabajà is the most fleshy, full-bodied terroir in Barbaresco. The name has appeared in the archives of Piedmont for centuries – time and again as a reference for exceptional Nebbiolo from the south-western amphitheatre above Martinenga, where the slopes fall towards the Tanaro and the soils of calcareous blue clay with sand inclusions give the Nebbiolo a rare combination of fullness and freshness. Hardly anyone owns land here; Vietti holds just under half a hectare – 2021 was an exceptional year for Barbaresco: "Ottobrate" (golden October days) in the truest sense of the word, uniform ripeness, cool nights into October, 25 days of maceration more than in other vintages – more than in other vintages because the quality allowed it. Then around 30 months in large oak barrels.

Giacomo Neri's rather new top Brunello was born with the purchase of a very special vineyard. True to the winery's philosophy of producing wines only from the best terroirs around Montalcino, a small 7-hectare parcel with over 45-year-old vines was acquired a few years ago. This was preceded by over 40 years of friendship with the previous owners, with whom Giacomo's father Giovanni Neri planted the vines and nurtured them over the past decades.

The grapes come from the MGA Rabajà in the municipality of Barbaresco. The soils are calcareous and clayey, with a south/south-west exposure and an altitude of around 235-315 metres above sea level. The average age of the vines is 51 years and they are cultivated according to the Guyot system. SUPERIORE.DE

Tenuta Nuova. The name carries weight: when Giacomo Neri acquired the land around Le Cetine near the Abbazia di Sant'Antimo in southern Montalcino in the early 1990s, no one had ever planted Sangiovese there before. This was no oversight – it was a judgement that Giacomo Neri wanted to overturn. Not out of defiance, but out of conviction: that this terrain, this microclimate, these soils held the potential for a Brunello with a character all of its own. What followed was not a gut feeling, but a methodical approach. Systematic studies of the microclimates, the optimal exposures and the soils – clone selection, rootstock research, planting distances; everything was scrutinised, every decision made. The first result came in 1993. A few years later, the rest of the world was talking about it.

A Grand Cru of Franciacorta – from a single, high-altitude Pinot Nero parcel, selected and vinified with the utmost precision. The 2013 matured on the lees for more than seven years and was disgorged without dosage in order to reveal the pure character of the vineyard. In the glass, it shines in a rich gold colour with copper reflections, interspersed with an ultra-fine, persistent perlage. The nose is deep and multi-faceted: ripe apricot, candied orange peel, rosehip, fine brioche notes, hazelnut and a hint of smoke. Powerful and focussed on the palate, carried by taut, crystal-clear acidity and a silky texture. The fruit remains subtle, while salty minerality and fine toasted notes create great inner tension. The final is long, cool and complex, with hints of dried herbs and citrus zest. A Franciacorta of rare depth and nobility – uncompromising, clear and of impressive longevity. SUPERIORE.DE

2019 is considered one of the vintage highlights of the last decade in Barolo: cool nights, sunny days and a long vegetation period led to perfectly balanced ripeness. In Bricco Pernice, this meant maximum aromatic clarity and structural depth. The high, south-westerly exposure in the Ravera cru site ensures an interplay of warmth and freshness, while the calcareous marl soils promote a taut, vertical style.

There are places in this world that seem destined by a higher power to produce something extraordinary. The Oratorio di San Lorenzo is one such place – a small valley nestled amongst the rolling hills of the Colli Berici, where monks have lived in quiet contemplation for centuries and where, today, Stefano Inama has completed his life's work. Here, in the shadow of a small 16th-century chapel dedicated to Saint Lawrence, a wine is produced each year – but only in the very finest vintages – that is unlike any other: Oratorio di San Lorenzo – Inama's red masterpiece and perhaps the purest expression of Carménère outside Chile. The story of this wine is one of vision and passion.

Vittorio Frescobaldi and Robert Mondavi shake hands in 1993. Two worlds, one idea: to create a wine that combines the best of Montalcino – the structure and elegance of Sangiovese – with the rounded depth of Merlot. A combination that had never before been seen in this region. Luce became the first Super Tuscan made from a Sangiovese-Merlot blend from Montalcino. Thirty years later, the 2022 vintage is released as 30° Vendemmia – the thirtieth harvest of a wine that pioneered a new era. The estate is situated in the south-west of Montalcino, in the heart of the Val d'Orcia, which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004. The estate covers 249 hectares, 88 of which are planted, at altitudes ranging from 280 to 418 metres, with a south to south-west aspect. The soil follows its own logic: slate and sandstone at higher altitudes, perfect for Sangiovese; clay layers deeper down, which give Merlot the power and suppleness it needs.

A deep, glossy red. The bouquet offers an alluring blend of dark cherries, plums, mocha, liquorice, leather and cloves. On the palate, the fruit is very compact and powerful, characterised by deep intensity, dense layers and a velvety texture. Very focused and well-balanced; it will certainly need a few more years to develop fully. Outstanding elegance and length. In short: an absolute beauty! SUPERIORE.DE

There are wines that define a region. Saffredi is one of them. When Elisabetta Geppetti, in 1987 – in her mid-twenties and driven by a vision to bring the sleepy Maremma to world fame – created this wine together with the legendary Giacomo Tachis, nobody could have imagined that a Super Tuscan was being born here, one that would rival Sassicaia and Tignanello. The name is a loving tribute to Fredi, Elisabetta's father-in-law Alfredo Gentili, who sparked her passion for wine and, in the 1980s, planted the five-hectare vineyard from which the grapes for Saffredi are still sourced today. The Saffredi single vineyard near Pereta lies at an altitude of 250 metres, facing south-west for the old vines and south-east for the newer plantings. The soil is the result of millions of years of geological processes: of sandstone origin, rich in calcareous marl and iron minerals, low in organic matter, with clay layers only appearing at a depth of 30 centimetres. On clear days, the view from here sweeps across the hills to the Mediterranean, 25 kilometres away – a proximity to the coast that lends the wine its distinctive freshness and vibrancy.

Plot ten is the exception in the Bertinga vineyard: the only one facing north, and the one with the highest clay content. There, a Merlot is grown for Volta di Bertinga at altitude in Gaiole in Chianti, where Sangiovese otherwise reigns supreme. The soil is the same as that of the entire vineyard: Alberese, a calcareous marl that has been in place for around 50 million years, with compact stones, and is shallow to medium in depth. In this north-facing slope, it combines with a low pH level, which is the ideal combination for early-ripening varieties such as this: lively acidity coupled with fully ripe tannins. Harvested by hand, the grapes are taken to the sorting table and fermented in stainless steel. The wine is then aged for 18 months in French barriques, 30% of which are new, followed by at least one and a half years in the bottle before it is released. The year 2019 began cool and dry; growth was slightly behind schedule. The summer remained consistently warm without any extreme temperatures or heavy rain, and in September, warm days and cool nights ensured the grapes ripened fully right up to the very end.

Luce is the iconic wine of the estate of the same name and symbolises the harmonious balance between the elegant structure of Sangiovese and the richness of Merlot. The wine marries the tradition and terroir of the Montalcino region with a personal interpretation of this extraordinary land.

There are vineyards named after the place where they are situated. And there are vineyards that give the place its name in the first place. Podernovi is one such example – the three hectares of Sangiovese that have been growing on this plot for over thirty years are so inextricably linked to the hill that the vineyard and the district share the same name. When San Polo bottled the first single-vineyard Brunello from this vineyard in 2015, it was less a debut than a recognition of what the soil had long known. Podernovi lies at 450 metres, facing south-east, where the view sweeps across the Val d'Orcia towards Monte Amiata. The soils are a kaleidoscope of Tuscan geology: marl and galestro – that schistose clay which lends the region’s finest Sangiovese sites their distinctive minerality – interspersed with loam that stores water and nourishes the vines even during dry summers. What sets this vineyard apart from others is not only its terroir, but the rigour with which San Polo tends it: Four to five bunches per vine, no more – 700 to 800 grams per vine, a yield reminiscent of Burgundian standards, forcing the Sangiovese to achieve a concentration it rarely attains elsewhere.

Rich, concentrated Bordeaux-style red with the unmistakable signature of top oenological consultant Stéphane Derenoncourt. Multi-layered black fruit on the nose, plus rock, liquorice, camphor and graphite. Impressively supple on the palate, the fruit is always juicy and centred, wonderful and almost perfect in structure, polish, elegance and length. SUPERIORE.DE

In the quiet of 2019, Paolo De Marchi's decades-long vision of Cabernet Sauvignon as an authentic terroir expression of the Tuscan soul came to fruition. After more than forty years of tireless viticultural revolution, the maestro proved once again that international grape varieties do not become commonplace wines on the Galestro and Alberese soils of Isole e Olena, but express their new home in every drop. Only 10,000 0.75-litre bottles and 240 magnums were produced from the south-west-facing vineyards at altitudes between 350 and 400 metres. The 2019 benefits from an almost ideal vintage: mild winters, balanced rainfall in spring and a classically dry Tuscan summer produced grapes of exceptional concentration and elegance. 24 months in French barriques, forty per cent of them new, followed by three years of bottle ageing – this patience creates a wine of impressive complexity.

There are places in this world that seem destined by a higher power to produce the extraordinary. The Oratorio di San Lorenzo is one such place – a small valley nestled in the rolling hills of the Colli Berici, where monks have lived in silent contemplation for centuries and where Stefano Inama has now completed his life's work. Here, in the shadow of a small 16th century chapel dedicated to St Laurence, only the very best vintages produce a wine that is more than any other: Oratorio di San Lorenzo – inama's red masterpiece and perhaps the purest expression of Carménère outside Chile. The story of this wine is one of vision and passion. When Stefano Inama decided to add red wines to his white empire in the late 1990s, chance led him to a sip from a nameless glass – that legendary moment of "love at first taste" that changed his life. The wine came from Carménère grapes, the almost forgotten Bordeaux variety that had been brought to the iron-rich red soils of the Colli Berici by French emigrants in the mid-19th century. Stefano immediately recognised the potential of this grape variety on this special terroir and acquired the twelve-hectare valley around the Oratorio in two tranches – an investment in the future that proved to be brilliant.

In 1994, an unusually large number of Bolgheri figures gathered at once beneath the holm oak at Grattamacco: among them were Michele Satta, Piero and Lodovico Antinori, as well as the host, Piermario Meletti Cavallari. A photograph captures the gathering. Meletti Cavallari, a wine connoisseur and close friend of Veronelli, had taken over the estate in 1977. He had the orchards cleared and planted vines in white, barren soil that was difficult to work: Vermentino, a rarity in the area at the time, along with Sangiovese and Bordeaux varieties. The first vintage was released in 1982; in 1994, shortly after the rules for the appellation were introduced, Grattamacco became the first estate to bottle a Bolgheri Rosso. It has been owned by Claudio Tipa since 2002 and is now part of the ColleMassari group.

Mazzei's top wine Siepi is not only an outstanding Tuscan wine every year, but also a 6-hectare vineyard in the middle of dense oak forests with an ideal altitude and a unique climate. The sunshine is optimal throughout the day and a constant breeze from the west prevents excessive heat and creates a mild, Mediterranean climate. The oak forests also provide an ideal protective barrier against extreme weather conditions. Rocky soils of marl, limestone and clay from the Pliocene period ensure a special balance of elements in this geological complex.

In 1977, a 34-year-old manager from Bergamo came to the Tuscan coast. Pier Mario Meletti Cavallari had had enough of balance sheets and meetings – the wine journalist Luigi Veronelli had persuaded him that his place was among the vines, not in offices. What he found: a piece of land without electricity, without running water, overgrown and forgotten. Only the name reminded him of a distant past: Grattamacco – the slag heaps of the Etruscans, who smelted iron here two and a half thousand years ago. Five years later, in 1982, Meletti Cavallari bottled his first wine – as a simple Vino da Tavola, three years before Ornellaia even existed.

Romano Dal Forno started out in 1983 with a proposition that he has proven every vintage since: a Valpolicella can compete with the greatest wines in the world. He learnt this from Giuseppe Quintarelli. He internalised it in the Val d'Illasi, where his vines grow on alluvial gravel and clay, at up to 450 metres, with a planting density that makes every yield a rarity. Valpolicella Superiore does not begin fermentation – it begins with six weeks of appassimento. Corvina, Corvinone, Croatina, Oseleta and Rondinella dry slowly in the air of the lodoletta, losing water and gaining soul. Then: controlled fermentation in steel tanks, 36 months in new French and American oak barriques, years of ageing in the bottle.