Formats

Anagallis arvensis – is the correct botanical name for the small, inconspicuous flower with bright orange petals that grows between the rows of vines in the vineyard plots around Lilliano. When the Ruspoli family decided to give their Bordeaux-inspired cuvée a name, they chose this humble wildflower – a symbol of its roots in the terroir, even though the grape varieties themselves originate from France. While Chianti Classico embodies the soul of Lillliano, Anagallis represents the Tuscan courage to embrace modernity that revolutionised the wine world in the 1970s and 1980s: international varieties on Tuscan soil, vinified with respect for origin and craftsmanship. The blend of 50 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon, 40 per cent Merlot and ten per cent Petit Verdot comes from the Tenuta's best plots, selectively harvested by hand and fermented separately in small stainless steel tanks. Each grape variety undergoes its own cycle before being transferred to French barriques after malolactic fermentation, where it matures for 14 months – not in new barrels, but in used ones, which give the wine structure without dominating it.

When Franco Pola bottled the first bottle of his Barbaresco Bordini in 1970, he not only marked the beginning of a family history, but also set an example of the bond between people and the vineyard that has endured for generations. The vineyard bears the same name as the street on which the estate stands – Via Bordini 15 – and this geographical coincidence holds a deeper truth: Here, where the winery building looks directly out onto the south-east-facing slope, family and terroir are inextricably intertwined. On sandy limestone-clay soil, 280 metres above sea level, Nebbiolo vines aged between 50 and 60 years are rooted – one hectare of which is even over 70 years old and ungrafted, a living link to the time when Franco's father, Secondo, still ran the estate as a farm.

Uvaggio is an old Piedmontese word for what has been practised in the vineyard for centuries: Growing different grape varieties together, harvesting together, pressing together. In Alto Piemonte, this was never an emergency solution, but a conviction – that Nebbiolo brings depth, Vespolina spice and minerality, Croatina colour and suppleness, and that the whole is more than the sum of its parts. Proprietà Sperino has recovered this principle from the historical memory of the region. Paolo De Marchi – who redefined Chianti Classico in Tuscany with Isole & Olena – returned with his son Luca to the family's home in Piedmont, the castle of Lessona, in 1999. Here, in a vaulted cellar that is more than two hundred years old, they have since been producing wines that put Alto Piemonte back on the map of great Italian red wines. The grapes come from the vineyards in Lessona and the Madonna degli Angeli vineyard in Brusnengo, both on those unique marine Pliocene sands on igneous rock that give the wine its unmistakable minerality. Spontaneous fermentation with natural yeasts in open wooden barrels, 23 days of maceration, regular pumping over. Twelve months sur lie, then 22 months in a mixture of barriques and large oval barrels.

One of South Tyrol's great wine stories begins under the mighty lime tree that has given the historic estate its name for centuries. The Lindenburg in Bozen-Dorf, the family seat of the Lageders for three generations, towers majestically over the broodingalluvial soils of the Talfer – a location that connoisseurs praise as one of the two best for Lagrein in the whole of South Tyrol. Here, where millions of years of geological history have formed a unique valley basin, wines of legendary expressiveness are created.

"Courageous, headstrong, rebellious" – is how Arianna Occhipinti describes the wine that most resembles her. Frappato, this quintessentially Sicilian grape variety of rural origins, is rooted here in calcareous sandy soils at the foot of the Monti Iblei. Forty-year-old vines near Vittoria, at an altitude of 280 metres, cultivated biodynamically. The winemaking process follows the rhythm of nature: spontaneous fermentation in concrete, thirty days" contact with the skins, then fourteen months" ageing in large Slavonian oak barrels. Bottled unfiltered, the wine retains its vibrant authenticity.

With Cifra, star oenologist Luca D'Attoma has vinified a wonderfully agile and elegant Cabernet Franc. Dark ruby purple in colour, with a deep aroma and notes of blackberries and liquorice. Rich fruit on the palate with firm tannins and a mineral final. A delight from the Tuscan coast from biodynamic (Demeter) cultivation. SUPERIORE.DE

Pinot Grigio can be many things. With Dessimis, it is one thing above all else: itself. Gianfranco Gallo realised early on that this grape variety only reveals its full character if it is given the maceration time it deserves – and if the result is not pressed immediately. Dessimis is produced from two separate plots covering nine hectares in Mariano del Friuli, on shallow, gravelly soils with inclusions of iron and aluminium oxide, which give the soil its characteristic reddish hue and the wine its mineral structure. Extended contact with the skins – not an 'orange wine', but a deliberate extraction of colour, aroma and texture. This is followed by nine months' ageing on the lees in steel tanks, with no oak and no intervention. Further months are spent in the bottle.

When Franco Pola bottled the first bottle of his Barbaresco Bordini in 1970, he not only wrote the beginning of a family story, but also symbolised the connection between man and vineyard that lasts for generations. The vineyard bears the same name as the street on which the winery stands – via Bordini 15 – and this geographical coincidence harbours a deeper truth: here, where the winery building looks directly onto the south-east-facing slope, family and terroir are inextricably interwoven. On sandy limestone/clay soil, 280 metres above sea level, Nebbiolo vines 50 to 60 years old take root – one hectare of which is even over 70 years old and ungrafted, a living link to the time when Franco's father Secondo still ran the farm as a farm.

Livio Felluga's new cru wines are the result of massalselection. For this purpose, selected vines are reproduced in particularly favourable locations in order to renew vineyards with particularly high-quality vines and to further improve the quality of individual varietal wines.

Franz and Bernadette Pratzner planted their first Riesling grapes more than 30 years ago. The small parcel yields just 1,500 bottles per year. The primary rock soil, the dry warmth during the day and the cool nights provide excellent conditions for the Vinschgau Riesling to thrive on the steep south-facing slopes between 550 and 900 metres.

This smooth and exceptionally polished Valtellina Superiore comes from Sassella, one of the most famous villages in the Valtellina appellation on the north bank of the River Adda. Bright ruby red in colour. Camphor, wild roses, wild berries and hints of graphite and vanilla are the main characters in this fragrant red wine. Straightforward and elegantly structured, it reveals red cherry, pomegranate and liquorice on the palate, accompanied by present but fine tannins. The lively acidity provides the necessary drive, including further ageing potential. SUPERIORE.DE

Siccagno is Arianna Occhipinti's personal monologue on Nero d'Avola – not a loud one, but a concentrated, quiet and deep-breathing one. The name derives from the Sicilian term for dry farming (sicco) and aptly describes the origins of this wine: deep-rooted vines in limestone soils near Vittoria, unirrigated, deliberately left to nature's care. 2021 was a year of bright sunshine, good air circulation and a growing season free from extreme heat or stress – perfect conditions for a delicately structured vintage. The grapes are harvested by hand, fermented spontaneously with natural yeasts, and macerated on the skins for around 30 days. The wine is aged for 24 months in large Slavonian oak casks – no rushing, no fining, no filtering. Just patience and trust in what the soil has to say.

In 1969, five years after the first Barolos and Barbarescos – , Bruno Giacosa bottled a Barbera for the first time. Not as a by-product, not as a clearance item, but as a statement in its own right: that Barbera, the everyday grape variety of the Langhe, is capable of more than its reputation suggests when treated with the right care. Today, this wine is one of the estate’s longest-standing labels. The grapes come from trusted vineyards in Neive and Alba – 30 to 38-year-old vines, facing south-west, from farmers with whom the estate has been working for decades. The vinification is rigorous and demonstrates just how seriously Giacosa takes this wine: 20 days of maceration in steel, full malolactic fermentation, followed by 14 months’ ageing in wood. For a Barbera d’Alba DOC, this is exceptional. The result is a wine that takes the grape variety far beyond its usual accessibility.

Montalcino is a hill. To be more precise: a single large cone of limestone, marl, slate and sand that rises above the Val d'Orcia – exposed to the north, south-east and south-west, characterised by three completely different climates. Most of the producers in the appellation have access to one of these slopes. Val di Suga has all three. Vigna del Lago in the north-west, Poggio al Granchio in the south-east, Vigna Spuntali in the south-west. Three soils, three microclimates, three characters – and a single winery that unites them all under one roof. The basic Brunello is the result of this unique position: a cuvée from all three sites that does not aim for simplification, but for synthesis. Fermentation takes eight to twelve days at a controlled temperature, with maceration lasting a further two to three weeks. Maturation in traditional 50-hectolitre Slavonian oak barrels for 24 months, followed by six months in concrete and then the bottle. The 2021 vintage brought a late frost in April – the harvest was reduced, the quality concentrated. A dry summer without extreme heat, a long, even autumn. The Consorzio and a jury of eight Masters of Wine agreed on three words to characterise the vintage: fragrant, precise, vertical.

Bertone – almost two hectares, planted in 2001 with Burgundian clones for great finesse – on the slope opposite the Cru Pernice. 400 metres, south to south-west facing, directly above Villa Fornace, the family's historic residence. Calcareous, clayey soil with sand and silt, a dry microclimate that accelerates ripening and concentrates the grapes. Small like a Burgundian plot, consistent like a family decision. 2021 was a year of balance at Oltrepò Pavese: a long, cool spring, a dry and structured summer. Fermentation in conical wooden vats, malolactic fermentation in barriques in spring, then twelve months in carefully selected French barrels of various origins – followed by at least one year in the bottle.

From the historic Mosconi cru hillside in Monforte d'Alba: Fides is Pio Cesare's clear commitment to the Barbera grape – for years from a singular parcel, with the strictest yield limits and tiny production. Hand-picked, followed by fermentation in stainless steel with around 30 days of maceration; malolactic fermentation takes place gently in tanks. Ageing: around 20 months in large oak barrels (botti), a small proportion in French barriques – enough to anchor depth and texture without masking the origin.

When Luciano and Luca Sandrone first laid eyes on the concave hillside of Valmaggiore in the 1990s, it was love at first sight. It was not just the history that captivated them – in the 19th century, the Nebbiolo grapes from this vineyard dictated the price for the entire region – but above all the unique combination of sandy soils and the microclimate of this natural amphitheatre. In Vezza d'Alba, on the left bank of the Tanaro in the Roero, lies this south-facing single vineyard with extremely steep slopes, where soft sandy soils lend the Nebbiolo that finesse and elegance for which the Roero region is famous.

Celestino Gaspari stood next to Giuseppe Quintarelli – in that cellar in San Pietro in Cariano, which is a place of pilgrimage for many wine lovers. He learnt the language of the Appassimento, the patience of the large barrels, time as an instrument. Anyone who knows this will be surprised when they look at the Metodo Classico label: dancing bubbles, delicate and light, like the exact opposite of what Zýmē is known for. That is the intention.

Gianfranco Gallo has a phrase that he always repeats: "Wine needs time to show what it is." This is not modesty – it is an attitude that characterises his entire winery. Since 1992, all Vie di Romans wines have only been released on the market two years after the harvest. The Chardonnay that bears his name is the most personal expression of this conviction. The vineyard is located in Mariano del Friuli on glacial gravel soils deposited by the Isonzo over thousands of years – gravel-rich, mineral-rich, aerated. The bora winds from the east create pronounced temperature fluctuations between day and night, keeping Mediterranean ripeness and Alpine freshness in a rare combination. Late harvest to achieve maximum aromatic ripeness. Control over oxidation from the first moment. Fermentation at a controlled temperature, nine months on the lees in barriques, then bottle ageing.