James Suckling

The exceptional single-varietal Merlot L'Apparita is outstanding with its elegance, strength of character, fine tannin and acid structure and endless length. An oenological rarity of Tuscany and not only therefore an object of desire every year. On the nose, a combination of fruity and spicy impressions, excellent the fleshy taste, whose juicy, still quite concise tannin blends well with the warm body. SUPERIORE.DE

The name Messorio carries the memory of the time when the wheat harvest marked the most important moment in the Tuscan agricultural year. Today it stands for one of the most extraordinary Merlots in the world. What began in 1994 as Eugenio Campolmi's personal challenge to an often underestimated grape variety developed into the crown jewel of Le Macchiole. The 2021 vintage benefited from ideal climatic conditions in Bolgheri: a long, dry summer with cool nights allowed for homogeneous ripening and created the remarkable balance between sugar, acidity and tannins that makes Messorio an exceptional Merlot. The early manual harvest between the first and second week of September produced grapes of exceptional aromatic intensity. The 30-day fermentation in natural cement columns, followed by 16 months of ageing in new barrels, 12 hl vats and ceramic amphorae, created a texture of exceptional suppleness.

The Gran Selezione from the single vineyard Bellavista is rich and dark with aromas of wild cherry, smoke, liquorice, menthol and tobacco. Extremely attractive and rich on the palate, firm tannins form the backbone of this virile, potent wine. SUPERIORE.DE

Marco Pallanti, young and driven by a vision, let his gaze wander over the Bellavista Valley for the first time in 1978 and realised: This was where the benchmark for great Chianti Classico wines would be set. What he saw was more than just landscape – it was the promise of a terroir that was destined to make history. It is this exposed location, this special positioning high above the valley, that has always given the wine its extraordinary concentration and complexity. The soil tells a story of millions of years: gravelly soil interspersed with clay and limestone, a rock called Galestro and Albarese, which creates the ideal conditions for Sangiovese here like nowhere else. There are 22 plots in total, terraced and carefully mapped, but in the best vintages it is plots 1 to 19 with Malvasia Nera and the Sangiovese plots 21 and 22 that form the heart of this Selezione.

Two kilometres north of the medieval village of Ama, stone terrace walls rise up like silent witnesses to a time when human hands began to shape nature. Here, where the rows of vines follow the course of the sun in a perfect north-south orientation, lies the origin of one of Tuscany's most mysterious wines. La Casuccia – a name that comes from a small house that once stood among the vines and today lends its name to one of Italy's most extraordinary Gran Selezione. It was Marco Pallanti who, with scientific precision and intuitive intuition, identified those parcels of land that possessed exceptional soils and microclimates. The first vintage of La Casuccia was produced in 1985 – a visionary cuvée from three separate parcels of Sangiovese and Merlot, which was the first of its kind to lay the foundations for the cru concept in Chianti Classico.

Marco Pallanti, young and driven by a vision, let his gaze wander over the Bellavista Valley for the first time in 1978 and realised: This was where the benchmark for great Chianti Classico wines would be set. What he saw was more than just landscape – it was the promise of a terroir that was destined to make history. Bellavista, the "beautiful view", welcomes visitors to Castello di Ama like a grand gesture of nature. Here, on 22 hectares of south and south-west facing slopes, the vines are enthroned on a sun-drenched ridge between 427 and 515 metres above sea level. It is this exposed location, this special position high above the valley, that has always given the wine its exceptional concentration and complexity. The soil tells a story of millions of years: gravelly soil interspersed with clay and limestone, a rock called Galestro and Albarese, which creates the ideal conditions for Sangiovese here like nowhere else. There are 22 plots in total, terraced and carefully mapped, but in the best vintages it is plots 1 to 19 with Malvasia Nera and the Sangiovese plots 21 and 22 that form the heart of this Selezione.

L'Apparita – "The apparition". From the highest point of this special vineyard, the tower of Siena's Palazzo Pubblico appears in the distance, hovering like a mirage between heaven and earth. It was this magical sight that gave the vineyard its name and gave Tuscany's first 100% Merlot its mysterious soul. High up in the Bellavista Valley, at 490 metres above sea level, two small plots of 3.84 hectares of vines are enthroned. Here, where Canaiolo and Malvasia Bianca still grew in 1975, the Merlot vines of clone 342 now stretch out in a perfect north-south orientation. The soil – predominantly clay on calcareous subsoil – and the revolutionary lyre training system create a microclimate that makes this cru a crown jewel of world wine production.

Michele Satta is one of Italy's greatest ambassadors for the Viognier grape, which he has almost single-handedly brought to this part of the Tuscan coast. His Viognier is sophisticated and seductive, making it the object of desire for wine lovers all over the world. Its inimitable bouquet of apricot and peach exudes an almost cheerful floweriness. Maturation in a combination of cement, oak and amphorae gives this expressive, flavoursome white wine a beautiful note. A dense white wine that spreads softly across the palate with a lovely salty freshness and a long, delicious finish. From the 2024 vintage, it is a 100% Bianco from the Bolgheri DOC. SUPERIORE.DE

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

Ornellaia Bolgheri Superiore 2021 is a wine of extreme precision. It offers well-proportioned power and depth with profound layers of black fruit, coffee and liquorice. It captivates with its lustre and polished texture, which merges into great richness, concentration and structure. Enveloping as it progresses with sweet dark fruits and dark spices that linger for a long time. Ornellaia 2021 is a wonderful, if not perfect, example of the impressive potential of this great Tuscan vintage! SUPERIORE.DE

If there is one thing that Giacomo Neri has mastered 100%, it is harvesting at the optimal time of ripeness. He knows his property and his vines better than most and it shows.

Cepparello is one of the great varietal Sangiovese classics from central Tuscany. Brilliant ruby red colour. Clean, flawless aroma of red fruits, enlivened by fine pepper accents and delicate mineral nuances. Elegance radiates from the relaxed, enveloping flavour, which delivers a perfectly measured acidity framework to a well-integrated tannin to finish long and full of finesse. SUPERIORE.DE

There are wines whose mere name gives you goose bumps. Ornellaia belongs to that rare category of growths that not only epitomise Italian iconography, but have also written global wine history. Ever since the legendary 1985 vintage, when Marchese Lodovico Antinori and visionary OenologistAndré Tchelistcheff realised the dream of a Mediterranean Bordeaux, this name has stood for uncompromising excellence. The 2022 vintage bears the motto "La Determinazione" – determination – and this characterisation could not be more apt for a vintage that demanded everything from both the vineyard team and the vines. The climatic conditions in 2022 presented a textbook challenge: The driest start to the vintage in the last four years, from February to June, coincided with the hottest period between May and September. Extremes that initially seemed to contradict each other. The prolonged drought slowed growth dramatically, leading to low yields and concentrated, small-berried grapes. But then came the saving rain in August and September – precisely timed to restore the balance that characterises great wines. The technical team, led at the time by Axel Heinz and Oenologist Olga Fusari, responded with rigorous selection: in the vineyard and twice again in the cellar. The result of this determination is a wine that combines the positive attributes of the sun with surprising freshness.

There are wines that define a region. Pietra Marina is one such wine. When it became the first Etna ever to receive the Tre Bicchieri of the Gambero Rosso in 2007 – and when Benanti was named Winery of the Year in the same year –This was more than just an honour: it marked the birth of the modern Etna Bianco on the world stage. The name itself tells the story: Pietra Marina, sea stone – a word that combines volcanic landscapes, flint, minerality and a salty sea breeze. Since 1991, the first vintage, Giuseppe Benanti has conceived this wine as proof of the potential of the Carricante from Milo. Today it is recognised as one of the most typical, elegant and long-lived white wines in Italy. The grapes come from the uppermost, more porous part of the Contrada Rinazzo – the same location as Contrada Rinazzo, but from a sector with less sandy, more skeletal soil. Here, at an altitude of 800 metres, steep terraces with dry stone walls made of black lava stone look eastwards towards the Ionian Sea, just eight kilometres away. The Alberello vines, some over 90 years old, are rooted in mineral-rich volcanic sand with a sub-acidic profile. Extreme planting densities of 8,000 to 9,000 vines per hectare and yields of just 5,500 kg guarantee concentration. The climate: humid, often snowy in winter, with exceptional ventilation and marked day-night fluctuations.

Mosconi 2021 comes from one of the most renowned crus of Monforte d'Alba – a site known for its brooding, clay-limestone soils and south-westerly exposure. The terroir here gives the Nebbiolo particular depth, warmth and structural density. The 2021 vintage was almost ideal in the Langhe: a cool, slow start to the growing season, followed by a stable summer without heat stress and a dry, sunny autumn created perfect conditions for the grapes to ripen slowly, with high aromatic complexity and finely polished tannins.

A wine that made history. When Francesco Ricasoli presented Casalferro for the first time in 1993, it marked the beginning of a new era for the venerable Castello di Brolio and cemented Ricasoli's membership in the elite of Italian oenology. Today, almost three decades later, Casalferro 2019 is a prime example of how a French grape variety matures to exceptional perfection on Tuscan terroir. Casalferro is the essence of three exceptional individual vineyards: Vigna Casalferro, Vigna Pecchierino and Vigna Sodacci. These 13 hectares of Merlot vineyards between 400 and 500 metres above sea level are the result of decades of meticulous terroir studies. Each site has its own personality: Vigna Casalferro with its sandstone and limestone soils, Vigna Pecchierino on pure Alberese limestone and Vigna Sodacci on iron-rich sandstone soils. They all share the characteristic altitude, which gives the grapes the crystalline freshness and lively acidity that characterise the DNA of the Brolio terroir.

Paleo Rosso - unmistakable Cabernet Franc and one of Bolgheri's most important wines, full of elegance and class. The name is unspectacularly derived from a weed that has long since been removed from the vineyards of Le Macchiole. Rich ruby red colour with violet reflections. Mint, white pepper, blackberry fruit and a hint of pomegranate on the nose. Finely melting on the palate with hints of tobacco and poppy seeds. Wonderfully structured and with a long final. SUPERIORE.DE

To mark the 30th anniversary of this iconic red wine from Sardinia, Argiolas has joined forces with the Sardinian creative studio Pretziada to curate an exhibition that artistically honours the origins and history of Turriga and the various disciplines of artisanal excellence on the island. This special edition "Dialogo Adagio" was also created in a limited edition of 1,000 magnum bottles, accompanied by a special print of the curated artwork.

First bottled in 1967, the Masseria comes from a vineyard in Bricco di Neive and is essentially vinified and aged like a Barolo. Since the 2018 vintage, it now comes from a small parcel that used to belong to the Barbaresco winery Socré, and it is now deliberately released a year later to provide more harmony and balance.

The legendary single vineyard Mosconi in Monforte d'Alba: steep, windy slopes on calcareous and ferruginous marl, predominantly south/south-west facing. The story behind it: Pio Boffa, who died far too young, acquired the Mosconi parcel a few years before his death as a strategic addition to the family estate – a late legacy that adds the powerful mineral voice of Mosconi/Monforte to the Barolo identity of the estate. Hand-picked from parcels, fermentation in stainless steel with prolonged maceration and gentle extraction. Maturation predominantly in large Slavonian barrels, finely dosed and flanked by French oak – always for texture, not opulence. The 2019 vintage: Long, balanced growing season, large day-night amplitude and late, highly selective harvest – aromatic precision, taut acidity, fine-grained tannin.

The purchase of the Mosconi Cru parcels in Monforte by Pio Boffa is one of the last major decisions taken by the estate – with the aim of complementing the depth of Serralunga (Ornato) with Monforte gravity. Selective hand-picking; separate fermentation in stainless steel with a carefully extended maceration period, malolactic without haste. Classic ageing in large barrels, moderate proportion of French oak as a fine brushstroke of texture. The 2020 vintage fitted in well with the concept: a stable summer, clear nights for ripening and precise harvest – healthy, ripe harvest, polished phenolics and generous, balanced fruit were the result.

Vigna San Marcellino Gran Selezione is both youthfully fresh and ripe and complexly muscular. It contains a healthy dose of the deeply coloured Pugnitello grape, and on the nose liquorice, tarragon and broom mingle with lush plum and subtle roasted aromas that are highly seductive in their complexity. Deep, taut and lively on the palate, loaded with black cherry and rich, velvety tannins. The texture is silky, while subtle chalky notes and a salty minerality give it plenty of energy and lead it into a juicy, refreshing finish. Vigna San Marcellino is a convincing wine with enormous ageing potential every year. SUPERIORE.DE

Cherry accentuated bouquet with hints of violet blossoms, clove, cigar box and a pleasant spicy sweetness. Dense and expressive on the palate, it opens vibrantly and multilayered and then reveals a beautiful load of black cherry, exotic spices and a fine salty vein. The perfectly balanced tannin always provides the necessary balance and gives it a racy, very long finish with its exceedingly refined flavour components. SUPERIORE.DE