Gambero-Rosso

In the quiet hollow above Söll, where the Gewürztraminer vines escape the warm south wind from Lake Garda, a mystery of rare beauty takes place every year. Here, protected in this natural arena between 400 and 500 metres above sea level, the eagerly awaited Botrytis cinerea – the noble rot – finds its perfect conditions. While other vineyards have long since been emptied, the Terminum grapes remain on the vine until the first months of winter. December is their time of perfection, when they have become golden treasure troves of pure flavour, marked and concentrated by botrytis. Each berry is selected individually, each bearing the promise of exceptional complexity. Twelve hours of maceration, gentle pressing at a maximum of 1.8 bar, then the must is transferred to French barriques. Fermentation begins there, which lasts six to nine months. A further seven to ten months of ageing in wood, followed by at least three months of bottle ageing complete the deceleration process.

The dark, seductive Cabernet Franc Poggio de' Colli takes its time in the glass and slowly awakens with a blend of redcurrants, peppery roses, exotic curries and a slight hint of musk that lends it gravitas. Velvety soft yet refined. Aristocratic and cool on the palate, with a powerful wave of tart raspberry fruit that feeds the palate with savoury spices and mineral notes. Leaves a layer of fine tannins and a hint of berry concentration on the final, which tapers off savoury, long and perfectly balanced. A radiant wine that will only reveal its full beauty in a few years. SUPERIORE.DE

Born in the Contrada Arcurìa near Passopisciaro – around 650 metres high on the north-eastern flank of Mount Etna – this Nerello Mascalese carries the clarity of the volcanic slopes in every nuance. The 2020 vintage was the year of deep balance. Warm days were tempered by cooling night-time temperatures, allowing the grapes to achieve healthy ripeness with a lean fruit structure. The harvest took place late, carefully and in small batches. The wine is fermented traditionally and matured for around 24 months in large wooden barrels.

"Vintage Tunina" has been one of Italy's style-defining cuvées since the 1970s - a white monument that pushes boundaries. Silvio Jermann was one of the first people in Friuli to combine international grape varieties with local grapes and vinify them with Burgundian precision. The blend of Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Ribolla Gialla, Malvasia Istriana and Picolit comes from top-class vineyards near Farra d'Isonzo and Dolegna del Collio, on marl and sandstone soils with a perfect microclimate. The 2022 vintage was characterised by a warm, dry summer and occasional cool nights in August - a combination that ensured optimal ripeness, moderate yields and fine acidity levels.

The Popoli vineyard bears witness to the fact that the Valle Reale plateau has been a wine-growing area since time immemorial. Several rows of this vineyard stretch out in front of the ruins of a cave cellar dating back to 1300. This is where the Benedictine monks from the monastery of San Benedetto in Perillis produced and stored their wine. A small plot of around 1 hectare is dedicated to Trebbiano d'Abruzzo.

In the past, the northern slope of Montalcino was not planted with vines, but was cultivated with cereals, olives and cherries. In this area influenced by the Apennines, the seasons are more pronounced, continental and the north wind significantly lowers the temperature in winter. It is therefore the coldest Brunello region at this time of year, but also the wettest. This northern slope is a gentle hill: a characteristic that is more reminiscent of the Crete Senesi area, right next door, than the two stiffer, steeper and warmer southern slopes of Montalcino.

A name like a riddle, a label like an echo of pop culture and poetry – but in the glass, "W... Dreams ..." reveals a Chardonnay of remarkable clarity and depth. What began as an experiment in 1987 has long since developed into an icon. The grapes come from selected plots near Dolegna del Collio and Farra d'Isonzo, on calcareous marl soils with excellent drainage. The 2022 vintage was characterised by a hot, dry summer, but cooler nights from mid-August ensured aromatic precision and a fine acid structure.

The white Zero made history as the first Pas Dosé of the Alta Langa. Its pink-coloured brother goes one step further: here it is the Pinot Nero alone that carries the uncompromising philosophy – 100%, without the Chardonnay as an elegant intermediary. What remains is the pure commitment to one grape variety and one terroir. Saignée – the bloodletting. The method betrays Burgundian roots: after destemming and gentle pressing, the must rests on the skins for two to four hours in a nitrogen atmosphere, just long enough to extract that delicate copper colour that shimmers so seductively in the glass. The yield of blossom must is a maximum of 45% – concentration instead of mass. The grapes come from altitudes between 450 and 550 metres, where the calcareous soils of the Alta Langa give the Pinot Nero mineral tension and aromatic depth.

The Montepulciano vines for this powerful and terroir-rich Montepulciano grow on the Campo San Giorgio vineyard at an altitude of about 150 m on deep, chalky clay soils. The wine is unfiltered and unfined and matures for 12 months in small and large wooden barrels. The label represents the historic design of the Rosso Conero of the 1970s and the impressive result is the calling card of a long family tradition and expertise in viticulture.

Contrada Rampante is one of the highest and most renowned vineyards on the north-east slope of Mount Etna. At around 1,000 metres above sea level, Nerello Mascalese thrives here on volcanic sandy soils with a high lava content – a terroir of rare expressiveness that combines cool nights, long vegetation cycles and extreme slopes. The vines are over 100 years old – partly ungrafted – produce small-berried, concentrated grapes. After fermentation in cement, the wine matures for around 12 months in large wooden barrels and then for several months in the bottle.

More than two centuries ago, Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi, Princess of Piombino, had something planted on the ferruginous hills above Suvereto that would change this landscape forever: Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon – grape varieties from the Bordelais. The Maremma, still rough and wild at the time, became the testing ground for a woman with a feel for terroir. Francesca Moretti, daughter of Bellavista founder Vittorio, deliberately picks up on this thread with Petra. The name says it all. Petra. Stone. Consistency. 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, hand-picked from the Vigneto di Petra in San Lorenzo Alto. Limestone soils with the right balance of clay and skeleton, 10 to 15 per cent slope. Fermentation with natural yeasts in large oak vats, ageing for at least 15 months in French barriques – 25 per cent new – followed by at least 17 months in the bottle. The cellar, a structure by Mario Botta, works with gravity: no pumping, no stress.

Silvio Jermann was one of the first people in Friuli to combine international grape varieties with local grapes and vinify them with Burgundian precision. The blend of Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Ribolla Gialla, Malvasia Istriana and Picolit comes from top-class vineyards near Farra d'Isonzo and Dolegna del Collio, on marl and sandstone soils with a perfect microclimate.

Poggio San Polo Brunello is a selection of the best grapes from the estate's various vineyard sites. It opens very engagingly with dark fruit, including plenty of black cherry and dark plum, optimally rounded off by a fine balsamic herbal spice and notes of white pepper. The palate has an almost perfect texture, a suppleness and silkiness that is refreshed and carried by a well-proportioned, refined Sangiovese acidity. Dark berry flavours, long, deep and with a very remarkable, slightly mineral final. SUPERIORE.DE

In the past, the northern slope of Montalcino was not planted with vines, but was cultivated with cereals, olives and cherries. In this area influenced by the Apennines, the seasons are more pronounced, continental and the north wind significantly lowers the temperature in winter. It is therefore the coldest Brunello region at this time of year, but also the wettest. This northern slope is a gentle hill: a characteristic that is more reminiscent of the Crete Senesi area, right next door, than the two stiffer, steeper and warmer southern slopes of Montalcino.

For two decades, the white indigenous cuvée Biancosesto has represented one of the most original and stylistically distinctive interpretations of the Friulian white wine tradition – a poetic blend of Friulano and Ribolla Gialla from old vineyards around the historic settlement of Sesto al Reghena. The calcareous marl soils (Ponca) and the cool microclimate of the Colli Orientali provide this classic white wine with complexity and finesse every year.

A Barbera with a closed gaze – as if you were looking into a dark, purple-red depth from which concentrated essences rise. Scarrone Vigna Vecchia comes from vines that are decades old – partly planted around 1918 – in the Scarrone vineyard near Castiglione Falletto. In the cellar, spontaneous fermentation takes place in stainless steel, followed by around 16 months of ageing in predominantly French barriques (proportion new), where intelligent use of wood subtly helps the terroir. The 2021 vintage brought full maturity, dense fruit and clear acidity – the best prerequisites for an expressive but elegant Barbera with Storage potential.

In 1974, a decision was made that nobody really understood at the time. Herbert Tiefenbrunner had the grapes from the Fennberg – a high plateau at 1,000 metres above sea level in the municipality of Margreid – a single-vineyard wine. Müller-Thurgau. At a time when single vineyard sites for white grape varieties were virtually unheard of in Italy. At an altitude where hardly anyone expected great wine. Named after Field Marshal Joseph von Fenner zu Fennberg, the Austrian officer who once owned this high plateau. Fifty years later, Feldmarschall is one of Italy's most iconic white wines.

When Lamole di Lamole acquired this two-hectare cru in 2017, they didn't just take over vines – they took over a legacy. The Sangiovese vines, planted in 1994, grow here in the archaic form of the "Alberello Lamolese", the bush training that generations of winegrowers have wrested from the harsh altitude and which they never wanted to give up. This natural terrace lies between 540 and 580 metres, exposed to the south, buffeted by the wind and flooded with the purest light. The old dry stone walls made of ochre-coloured Macigno Toscano absorb the sun's heat during the day and give it back to the vines at night – a dialogue between stone and plant that has been going on for centuries. As early as 1800, the geographer Emanuele Repetti noted: "Buon vino di Lamole, lodata campagna" – good wine from Lamole, praised landscape. In 2018, the village was declared a "Patrimonio Storico d'Italia". The 2020 – only the third vintage from this vineyard – shows what Gran Selezione can mean. The grapes undergo optical selection, ferment in 50-hectolitre conical barrels with "macerazione differita", mature first in the same containers, then in 30-hectolitre oak barrels. The result? A wine that the winemakers themselves describe as lyrical and beguiling.

Tulin is a wine that looks in two directions – on the one hand deeply rooted in the single vineyard of the same name directly below the winery in Treiso, and on the other hand an expression of a modern, consciously contoured interpretation of Barbaresco. The wine comes from a south and south-west facing steep slope on calcareous marl soil, interspersed with layers of blue clay – a terroir that produces structure, precision and clarity. In the great Pelissero canon, Tulin stands for finesse with a backbone. The vines are over 50 years old and produce concentrated, but never exuberant harvest. The wine is matured for around 20 months in tonneaux and large barrels – not for effect, but for balance. Vinification is carried out with open mash fermentation and a great deal of patience in the cellar; the use of wood is deliberately minimised.