Jancis Robinson

Barolo Ornato is a great wine every year. It captures the true character of Serralunga with its wild herbs, minerals and ferruginous notes. Its bouquet shows small berry fruits and cassis, framed by gravel, forest floor, blue flowers and candied orange peel. The wine also has a dusty, mineral note and is intense on both the nose and palate. Ornato sets in with finely integrated tannins and an acidity that sustains all these fruit flavours. A wine that is consistently vertical, straightforward and frontal. SUPERIORE.DE

Filo di Seta is produced in small batches and is an impressive wine. With only 4,000 bottles produced, it reflects the extreme power and depth that can be achieved in this cooler microclimate of Montalcino. The vineyards are located on steep slopes and surrounded by dense forest and vegetation. One cannot help but detect a wild and thorny element in this wine, reminiscent of forest floor, truffles and autumnal foliage. These pretty accents add complexity to the solid core of dark fruit. The powerful mouthfeel is polished and dense. SUPERIORE.DE

A beautiful, very sensual, feminine wine that is only vinified in the best vintages. Exquisitely flavoured with dark fruit, elegant and fine on the palate with plenty of fruit and length. It was named after the nickname once given to the young wild Clerico by his father: Aeroplan Servaj - wild aeroplane. And the labelling is just as wild and creative - there are six different labels! SUPERIORE.DE

A beautiful, very sensual, feminine wine that is only vinified in the best vintages. Exquisitely flavoured with dark fruit, elegant and fine on the palate with plenty of fruit and length. It was named after the nickname once given to the young wild Clerico by his father: Aeroplan Servaj - wild aeroplane. And the labelling is just as wild and creative - there are six different labels! SUPERIORE.DE

Brilliant, dark ruby colour. Deep bouquet of rich blackberry and cherry flavours with mentholated herbal notes that give it lift, while notes of cedar and clove develop in the glass. On the palate, the wine is a pure silk that slowly lays over the palate, with an admirable density and weight balanced by bright acidity and minerality. This still very young wine is full of potential with a core of dark primary fruit that already offers a good foretaste of the charm of later years. A finely woven tannin structure on the long final. Wonderful ageing potential. SUPERIORE.DE

First bottled in 1967, Roncaglie (formerly Barbaresco 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 Socré Barbaresco winery and is now deliberately released a year later to ensure greater harmony and balance. Floral and spicy notes merge with a core of rich, generous fruit in a generous Barbaresco based on pure resonance. Barbaresco Roncaglie is vinified and matured in the same way as Vietti's single-vineyard Barolos. This means long fermentation, six months in French oak and more than two years in barrique. This, together with the broad shoulders of Neive, results in a noble Nebbiolo with clear hints of Barolo and impressive depth. SUPERIORE.DE

Not every year gets a name. 2016 has earned it – and Montalcino does not award such honours lightly. A mild winter, a spring with heavy rainfall that got the growing season back on track. Then, from the second decade of June, a gradual, gentle rise in temperatures throughout July. And finally an August that brought everything together: large daily temperature fluctuations, no rain, perfect ripening conditions. The Consorzio called 2016 one of its best vintages in decades. And Col d'Orcia turned the best site into a Riserva. The Poggio al Vento vineyard is located in the heart of the Tenuta, halfway up the hill above the Orcia Valley, at 350 metres. Planted since 1974. The name – "hill in the wind" – is the programme: constantly ventilated, south-facing, on calcareous, skeleton-rich soils. Grapes are grown here that Col d'Orcia reserves for the most demanding category in the cellar, and even then only when the vintage poses the question: Is this more than a Brunello annata? Can this wine last for decades? In 2016, the answer was yes.

Lisini's vineyards are located between Sant'Angelo in Colle and Castelnuovo dell'Abate on the inner edge of the Sesta area and are cleansed by the constant breeze from the Tuscan coast. The stony soils with a significant proportion of limestone and the altitude of over 300 metres help to maintain the freshness of the wines. The 2018 is wonderfully fragrant, almost exotic. Plump red fruits and sweet summer herbs fill the mouth, but instead of being heavy, it is balanced and transparent. The powdery tannins are fine and lead to a long, maritime finish. SUPERIORE.DE

Top Riserva from a great vintage. Dark ruby, sweet fruity plum aroma on the nose, followed by vanilla, fig and chocolate, the taste very dense, concentrated and fruity. A wine of good structure and beautiful balance with a remarkable finish. SUPERIORE.DE

The 2020 Barbaresco Bernadot comes from one of the coolest and highest cru sites in the municipality of Treiso, whose sandy, chalky soils and exposed south-east exposure give the Nebbiolo particular precision and aromatic clarity. The year was characterised by a warm spring, followed by a stable summer with cool nights, which ensured slow, even ripening and preserved the freshness of the wine.

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

Ceretto's single-vineyard Barbaresco Bernadot plays up its elegance and graceful personality. From the fruit of a 4.8-hectare, organically and biodynamically farmed site in Treiso, planted at an altitude of 400 metres above sea level, this pretty Barbaresco unfolds very specific aromas of wild berries, spices, liquorice and iron rust. These aromas are also essential components of its classic Nebbiolo game on the palate, as is its light and silky texture. Barbaresco Bernadot is very straightforward, finely spiced and with a supple personality. SUPERIORE.DE

Five hectares at around 200 metres above sea level. Tortonian soils of limestone, marl and sand, rich in magnesium and manganese. A south-west to south-east exposure that gives the Bric Turot its amphitheatrical shape – and the Nebbiolo all directions at the same time. 2019 was not a favourable vintage. A mild winter caused the vegetation to awaken early – then damp, cold weather from April to the end of May slowed down flowering, reduced fruit set and limited yields from the outset. The summer brought warmth and drought, interrupted by rainfall from mid-July. August with cool nights, September rains, then clarity and slow, patient ripening until well into October. Harvest from 12 to 19 October. A year that Nebbiolo has worked hard for.

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 Piero selection was created as a tribute to the work of Pierluigi Talenti, who has selected and worked the Sangiovese with passion over the years. A 1.95 hectare vineyard near the centre of the winery, with unique pedoclimatic characteristics, is distinguished from all other vineyards by its consistent quality. The gently sloping terrain is surrounded by woods rich in marl, with a south-eastern exposure at an altitude of 410 metres above sea level, where Pierluigi followed and cultivated his personal clonal selection in the 1970s. It is a wine with intense and persistent character, ruby colour, fine and elegant tannins. After ageing in tonneaux for at least 24 months, it is bottled until it is released to the market. SUPERIORE.DE

The Piero selection was created as a tribute to the work of Pierluigi Talenti, who has selected and worked the Sangiovese with passion over the years. A 1.95 hectare vineyard near the centre of the winery, with unique pedoclimatic characteristics, stands out from all other vineyards for its consistent quality. The gently sloping terrain is surrounded by woods rich in marl, with a south-easterly exposure at an altitude of 410 metres above sea level, where Pierluigi pursued and cultivated his personal clonal selection in the 1970s. It is a wine with an intense and persistent character, ruby red colour, fine and elegant tannins. After maturing in tonneaux for at least 24 months, it is bottled until it is released onto the market. SUPERIORE.DE

Barolo Ravera Vigna Elena Riserva DOCG 2018 is a monument to precision craftsmanship and at the same time a rare one-off: it comes from a pure planting of the historic Nebbiolo variety Nebbiolo Rosé – an independent, genetically distinct variety that almost disappeared from the Barolo vineyards over the course of the 20th century. Elvio Cogno and his family have consciously preserved this rare grape variety in the Vigna Elena monopoly position. The parcel is located in the upper Ravera zone near Novello, on poor, calcareous and clayey soils with optimal south-west exposure. The result is low yields, late-ripening grapes and a distinctive style: lighter colour, beguiling floral depth, fine, almost silky tannins and enormous aromatic precision.

Medium, radiant ruby red. Complex nose of sweet and cedar wood, paired with Mediterranean maquis and delicate sweet cherry. In the mouth, balsamic notes, very finely woven tannins and a wonderful complexity that envelops the juicy fruit core and gives the wine an impressive depth and length. The elegance is also very impressive and will certainly increase with further maturity. SUPERIORE.DE

Barolo Brunate comes from the heart of the appellation in La Morra and is one of the most expressive Barolos in Ceretto's single-vineyard collection. The vines are over 50 years old and the total production of the wine is therefore vanishingly small.

After much anticipation, today we present the second vintage of an exceptional Sangiovese from Querciabella's single vineyard Ruffoli.

Until the regulations were changed in 2016, 600 metres was the upper limit for Brunello di Montalcino. The grapes for Passo del Lume Spento come from a single vineyard located on a sandstone plateau at 621 metres above sea level. It displays fresh aromas of lavender and fennel with warm, fragrant earth and a subtle smoky note. The medium-bodied, crisp and sinewy wine tastes of red berries pressed from rocky earth, accompanied by tangy acidity and remarkable freshness. The finish is still primary and mineral, with crisp tannins that give this single-vineyard cru a remarkable bite and great ageing potential. SUPERIORE.DE