Formats

50 years of Grande Annata! The Grande Annata by Mattia Vezzola seduces you with a beautiful blend of ripe apples, pears, candied ginger and subtle nuances of blood oranges. This outstanding Metodo Classico from Lake Garda is both round and perfectly structured as well as vibrant with its bright acidity and salty minerals clearly taking centre stage. A hint of raw almonds and sour apples lingers on the final, along with a subtle hint of lime that literally tickles the cheeks. Every year, Grande Annata brut is a top sparkling wine of great complexity and with a wonderful arc of tension! SUPERIORE.DE

"Rich, bright ruby red colour. Inviting aroma of ripe cherry, plum and spice. Juicy and fruity on the palate, present, fine-meshed tannins, lingering finish." Falstaff

Deep ruby red colour, lush notes of cherries, strawberries and sweet oak spice, vanilla and black pepper. The Sangiovese gives the blend great freshness and is in perfect balance with the silky and soft tannins of the Merlot. Overall rich, but always elegant and with great persistence. A complex, excellently structured red wine in absolute Super Tuscan quality and produced in a limited edition of just under 3,000 bottles. SUPERIORE.DE

A Burgundian soul in the Tuscan terroir: Giovanni Manetti vinifies this single-varietal Pinot Nero from the west-facing Case Via vineyard in the heart of the Conca d'Oro. The hand-picked grapes from 4,000 to 6,000 vines per hectare undergo a two-week spontaneous fermentation in cone-shaped Allier wooden vats with indigenous yeasts and manual racking. Twelve months of ageing in French Troncais barriques give the organically certified Pinot Noir its characteristic elegance.

In the Barolo world, Serralunga d'Alba stands for strength, depth and remarkable longevity. The Nebbiolo grapes come from selected plots in the municipality, characterised by barren, iron-rich clay-marl soils with veins of sand from the Helvetic formation. These soils give the wines their characteristic tannic structure, while the altitude of 320 to 400 metres ensures cool nights and slow, even ripening. The 2021 vintage provided ideal conditions. Sunny, clear days and fresh nights harmonised fruit precision and aromatic depth. Each parcel was harvested separately, gently fermented and then matured for around 30 months in large Slavonian oak barrels to preserve the typicality of the terroir while developing supple, multi-layered tannins.

2022 was a vintage of concentration: dry winter, hot summer – small yields, but outstanding quality. The Tiefenbrunner family demonstrates this intensity in the Linticlarus cuvée in an impressive way. The classic Bordeaux assemblage of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in equal parts grows on the south-southeast-facing slopes of Entiklar, at an altitude of 260 to 300 metres. The broodingmoraine soil – loamy sand with a high lime content – stores the heat of the day and slowly releases it at night. The result: perfect phenolic ripeness with preserved freshness. Mash fermentation in concrete is followed by 12 months in barriques, 6 months in large wooden barrels and a further year of bottle ageing.

Some wines are created out of calculation, others out of passion. This one bears the signature of an artist. In 1984, Sandro Chia, co-founder of Transavanguardia and one of the most influential painters of the late 20th century, acquired the dilapidated Castello Romitorio above Montalcino. The foundations date back to Roman times, the walls were a temple, fortress and monastery – a place where history is physically tangible. Chia turned it into his studio and winery, convinced that art and wine come from the same source. "Colto" – the educated, the cultivated – is his latest project: a Rosso di Montalcino that explores the boundaries of the denomination. Only 6,000 bottles are produced from young, vigorous vines in the north-west of Montalcino, where marl and clay soils with fossilised inclusions bear witness to a prehistoric seabed. Vinification is not rushed: six months in wood, six months in cement, six months in the bottle – eighteen months of ageing, which puts many a Brunello to shame.

Satèn – the name alone promises what this Franciacorta delivers: silky-soft texture, reduced perlage intensity, pure elegance. Bellavista vinifies this exclusive category exclusively in outstanding years from pure Chardonnay from the higher vineyards that catch the first morning light. The 2020 vintage shows what Vittorio Moretti's vision of perfection means: hand-picked grapes, vinified in small oak barrels, then matured on the lees for at least four years in the bottle – time that you can taste.

The same contrada, a completely different wine: while the Bianco from Cavaliere impresses with its freshness and saltiness, the Rosso reveals the other side of this extraordinary terroir: Burgundian elegance, volcanic depth and a tannin structure of silky precision. At an altitude of 900 metres on the south-western slope of Etna – higher than most Etna vineyards – 50-year-old Nerello Mascalese vines grow in the Guyot system. The skeleton-rich volcanic sands with a sub-acid profile and excellent drainage force the roots deep into the soil. Little rainfall, abundant light and dramatic day-night fluctuations characterise a microclimate that gives the grapes unusual aromatic complexity. Hand-picked in mid-October, destemmed, then fermented on the skins for 21 days at a controlled temperature with our own Etna yeasts – the result of years of research. The wine matures for twelve months in French tonneaux, then in stainless steel, followed by ten months in the bottle.

"In 2012, I bought the small vineyard Le Gonnare and began to cultivate it. It represents the excellence of the Bolgheri terroir. The soil is clayey and rich in skeleton, which allows for very gradual ripening, a particularly important aspect for Merlot. The character of the wine is therefore Mediterranean, but balanced." Fabio Motta

Pietra nera – black stone. This is the name of the introduction to the world of Piaggia, the small winery in Carmignano founded by Mauro Vannucci in the 1970s and now run by his daughter Silvia. Carmignano, the forgotten DOCG at the gates of Florence, where Cabernet has been permitted in blends since the Medici era – centuries before the Super Tuscans were invented. Pietranera shows this tradition in small format: 80% Sangiovese, 20% Cabernet Franc. Fermented with natural yeasts, eighteen to twenty days on the skins, then only three months in used barriques – just enough to smooth the edges, not enough to let the wood taste.

Every year, Istine's Chianti Classico is one of the most racy and authentic representatives of its genre. Its weightlessness and at the same time precision make up a large part of its appeal. A finely knit bouquet of red berries, flowers, chalk and white pepper. Medium-bodied on the palate, its fine fruit, creamy tannins and plenty of personality come to light with further aeration. A red wine that takes hearts by storm with its lively, dancing and extremely fine nerve! SUPERIORE.DE

Tasca became involved in Etna early on and the latest result of these years of experience are four new single-vineyard wines from the Tascante estate: Contrada Rampante, Pianodario, Sciaranuova and Sciaranuova Vigna Vecchia (V.V.). The wines are delicate and brooding, and despite their strength, acidity and firm tannins, they are very elegant, full of finesse and light on the palate. Each of the four parcels brings a slightly different style and personality to the wine - due to the altitude, soil conditions and morphology of the historic lava flows. A high annual rainfall ensures that the soil has all its water reserves, and the temperature fluctuations between day and night support the variety of flavours in the grapes and ultimately the ripening potential.

The strong ruby-red Pinot Nero Schweizer, which is only produced in the best vintages, is a masterpiece. Its bouquet is large, complex and reminiscent of very ripe small wild berries. These special flavours are also found in the mouth, in combination with ripe, candied dark cherry and delicate floral and red berry notes. Juicy, wide-ranging palate, mouth-filling and with delicate, sveltenuances and an inviting and slightly tannic body which, together with the well-proportioned acidity, gives the wine a long life. SUPERIORE.DE

Of the four Gulfi-Cru, this is the vineyard closest to the sea, less than 700 metres away and only 10-15 metres above sea level. With vines that grow on sandy soils. A beautiful, multi-layered wine that shows the elegant side of Nero d'Avola that few producers are ever able to present. Precise aromas of ripe red cherries, flint, orange peel, lavender and violets. Silky and juicy on the palate, with a refined but very concentrated extract that almost crushes the taste buds, yet remains lively and not at all heavy, giving the flavours of red cherries, raspberries, flowers and minerals beautiful definition and lift. The finish is very deep and long, with very soft tannins, a beguiling aroma and extreme finesse; very Barolo-like. SUPERIORE.DE

The vineyards of the Reyna site in the hills of Neive and Barbaresco benefit from an ideal south-east to south-west exposure and reddish limestone marl, which is loosened up by sandy inclusions. The grapes are deliberately harvested late in order to achieve optimum physiological ripeness. After fermentation in stainless steel tanks, the wine matures for around 18 months in large Allier and Slavonian oak barrels, followed by a resting period in the bottle. The 2021 vintage was characterised by a warm, stable summer and cool nights during the ageing phase, which ensured impressive aromatic precision and a taut structure.

When the morning mist rises from the hills near Orvieto in late October and covers the vineyards of Castello della Sala like a silken veil, one of the most mysterious transformations in the world of wine begins. The grapes – sauvignon Blanc, Grechetto, Traminer, Sémillon and Riesling – are attacked by Botrytis Cinerea, the noble rot that has produced the world's greatest sweet wines for centuries. The fungus penetrates the grape skin with invisible precision, extracts the water from the pulp and concentrates sugars and flavours into an essence that would not be accessible to any cellar technology. In several patient passes, the harvesters pick only those berries that have reached the ideal degree of botrytisation – a process that requires connoisseurship and timing, as the right moment is fleeting. After gentle pressing, the must ferments for 18 days at a controlled cool 17 degrees before the still sweet wine is transferred to French barriques. Here it matures for months, absorbing delicate wood nuances while the aromas and structure harmonise, before ageing in stainless steel completes the work.

It was in 1991 that Michele Satta planted his first vineyard with a visionary blend: Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese and Syrah. An assemblage that would simultaneously honour Bolgheri's established Bordeaux excellence and unite the Tuscan elegance of Sangiovese with the Mediterranean complexity of Syrah. Three years later, in 1994, Piastraia was born – the wine that changed everything and catapulted Michele Satta into the ranks of the great Bolgheri producers. The name comes from the chestnut trees that surround the vineyard – piastraia refers to the characteristic paving of chestnut leaves that covers the ground. But it is more than just a name: it is the manifestation of a philosophy that combines international greatness with Tuscan soul. Almost three decades after the first planting, Piastraia has found its final form. Since 2012, it has proudly borne the designation "Bolgheri Superiore" – an honour for vineyards that have reached their full complexity after two decades. From the 2019 vintage, Satta said goodbye to Syrah in this blend to make room for the pure essence of Bordeaux varieties and Tuscan Sangiovese.

The South Tyrolean Pinot Noir Riserva Anrar is fresh and light on the palate with wild berries and cassis, followed by dried mint and lavender flavours. This red wine fermented in steel and matured in barriques is silky and smooth, almost without rough edges. Cantina Andriano Kellerei Andrian works with a skilful hand when it comes to Pinot Noir, preserving the nuanced elegance of the grape variety's aromas. SUPERIORE.DE