Luca Maroni

Bucine, Valdarno di Sopra – where the Arno meanders through gentle hills between Arezzo and Florence, Fattoria Petrolo lies between 250 and 500 metres above sea level. In 1988, Lucia Bazzocchi Sanjust wanted a wine that told the true identity of this terroir: the "Château" of Petrolo, a tribute to the centuries-old Tuscan tradition of combining French varieties with Sangiovese. As early as 1834, Giorgio Perrin, agronomist of Swiss origin and owner of Petrolo, reported in the "Giornale Agrario Toscano" that it was customary in Chianti to blend "uve francese" with Sangiovese, not to change the quality, but because the terroir won out over the grape varieties.

The three Tedeschi siblings Antonietta, Sabrina and Riccardo, who also select the three barrels from which the blend is made each year, give their name to the "Ansari", which is only available in small quantities. Rich bouquet of dried fruit, sultanas, rum pot and chocolate. Firm on the palate with an excellent structure, the opulent fruit centre is joined by balsamic, herbal notes and a piquant bitter note on the long finish. The perfect addition to the famous family winery's top-class Amarone range since the 2016 debut vintage. SUPERIORE.DE

A ruined castle towers above the entrance to the village of Terlan. First mentioned in a document in 1206, much has changed since then – the languages, the borders, the owners. What has remained is the porphyry rock, the northern foehn and the will to make wine here that does the place justice. Nova Domus – new house. Founded in 1893 by 24 winegrowers with the simple aim of being better together than alone. What they created back then is now Terlan's white flagship – a cuvée of 70 per cent Pinot Blanc, 25 per cent Chardonnay and 5 per cent Sauvignon Blanc, the individual components of which are distributed across the vineyards as precisely as the notes of a well-composed score. The Pinot Blanc comes from 500–600 metres, where the downdraughts keep it cool even at the height of summer. Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc from 300–350 metres, where the volcanic quartz porphyry unleashes its full mineral energy.

Acininobili Bianco Passito is a stunning interpretation of the indigenous Vespaiola grape, offering impressive depth, complexity and personality. It is a superb dessert wine made from grapes that were air-dried for up to 120 days after harvest and developed Botrytis cinerea during the careful appassimento process. Basically, the same Vespaiola grapes are used here that are used for Torcolato. At the end of the drying process, the grapes that have developed noble rot are hand-selected and passed into this precious wine. If the noble rot does not appear, this wine is not made.

Pieluni is Illuminati's flagship wine - a single-varietal Montepulciano made from selected grapes from old vines in the highest parcels of the Colline Teramane. The exceptional 2017 vintage was characterised by heat, drought and low yields, but produced concentrated, healthy berries with a dense tannin structure. Fermentation was followed by careful ageing in new and used barriques for 24 months, followed by long bottle ageing.

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.

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.

Alongside Fragore, Etna-Cru Donnafugata, named after the Contrada Marchesa vineyard of the same name, is Donnafugata's second top wine from the volcano. Its label is adorned with a volcano goddess decorated with flowers and fruit, next to which is the medieval village of Castiglione di Sicilia. The Nerello vines grow on a lava soil rich in minerals, and the location to the north of the volcano ensures temperate summers with strong temperature fluctuations between day and night.

"The 2013 Oseleta is dark and brooding, but also seductive, with balsamic spices, cocoa and mentholated herbs giving way to cinnamon-dusted blackcurrants. It envelops the palate with a silky fruit texture, but quickly gains tension as a stimulating acidity and sour citrus nuances meet under a hint of rosy inner flowers. It finishes structured and coats the cheeks with fine-grained tannins, while traces of liquorice and tobacco fade. The 2013 Oseleta is a wild wine that is still years away from its optimal drinking window. That said, I doubt the acidity will ever recede, so plan to enjoy it with a savoury stew or a fatty cut of meat." Vinous

In 1886, Carlo Campagnola founded his winery in the Marano Valley, in the heart of Valpolicella Classico. In 1907, he won the first gold medal for the best Recioto at the Verona Wine Fair – since then, the family, now in its fifth generation, has continued what began as a small farm. The vineyards for this Amarone are located on calcareous slopes between 200 and 350 metres above sea level, where Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella are harvested by hand at the end of September. The traditional appassimento drying process takes around 100 days until the grapes have lost 35–40% of their weight. Gentle pressing in December, 30 days of maceration, then ageing: 60% matures for 24 months in large Slavonian oak barrels, 40% for 18 months in new Allier oak barriques.

Bòggina Bianco is an extremely brooding, flavoursome and fresh Trebbiano from vines that are around 50 years old. It is the result of Luca Sanjust's encounter with Lucien Le Moine (Mounir Souma), a major producer in Burgundy, who has contributed significantly to the success of this extraordinary project with his inspiration and expertise. Vinification takes place in French oak barrels and tonneaux specially made for this wine and selected by Lucien Le Moine. The wine remains "sur lie" (on the lees) for the entire ageing period of over 2 years, which gives it an incredibly fresh flavour and harmony. An extremely rare and very delicious exceptional white wine, which is only produced in small quantities of a few 1,000 bottles. SUPERIORE.DE

Every year, Fratta is a groundbreaking blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot that you can't help but love. Fratta proved the Veneto's potential for winemaking when it was first produced in 1977, the year Angela Maculan (a second daughter) was born. Deep, complex fruit bouquet, rounded off with fine sweet spices, tobacco and coffee. On the palate, beautiful lines and a sharp focus with dry mineral tones framing dark fruits, dried cherries and exotic spices. Fratta is a bold and big wine and there is no doubting the broodingelegance of this highly personalised expression. SUPERIORE.DE

The 30th anniversary vintage – and a Montevetrano that epitomises three decades of pioneering work in its stylistic precision and inner calm. Silvia Imparato has been combining the best of Mediterranean warmth and international finesse in this wine since 1991. 2021 brought ripe, healthy harvest, harvested in cool morning hours to preserve freshness and flavour density. Deep dark ruby with a youthful purple colour. The bouquet opens slowly, almost like a theatre curtain: blackcurrant, cherry, blackberry, fine herbal tones, cedar wood, dark chocolate and a hint of graphite. Superbly balanced on the palate – powerful, but not heavy, with fine-grained tannins and clear, juicy fruit, carried by a lively, perfectly proportioned acidity. Several months of ageing in French barriques adds subtle roasted flavours and depth of flavour without masking the terroir expression. Montevetrano 2021 is an anniversary that does not celebrate loudly, but with timeless elegance – a wine statement that tells a story and at the same time sets standards for the future. SUPERIORE.DE

It all began with friendship and a love of experimentation: in the mid-1980s, when a group of wine lovers led by photographer Silvia Imparato started their first experiments on the family vineyard in the Campania hinterland. One of these friends was Riccardo Cotarella, now one of Italy's most famous Oenologist. In 1991, the first bottle of a wine was produced that would soon go down in history as the "Sassicaia of the South" – a title that Robert Parker awarded it in 1995 and which still resonates today. The winery is located in the Monti Picentini Regional Park near San Cipriano Picentino, just a few kilometres from Salerno. The five hectares of vineyards lie at an altitude of 100 metres in the shadow of a medieval castle, surrounded by oak, chestnut and citrus groves. The medium-textured soil with a high proportion of skeleton, the south-west exposure and the protection of the Picentini mountains create a microclimate in which Mediterranean mildness meets cool nights.

At 618 metres above sea level, where the air already carries the coolness of the mountains and the view sweeps over the entire Chianti Valley, lies one of the most venerable vineyards in Tuscany: Coltassala – once born as a rebellious Supertuscan, today ennobled as Chianti Classico Gran Selezione from the UGA Radda, embodies the revolution and evolution of Tuscan viticulture like no other wine. In 1980, Federica Mascheroni Stianti's family took the plunge: when the DOC system was still forcing Trebbiano and Malvasia into Chianti, they pressed a pure Sangiovese wine up here in small barriques based on the French model instead of the traditional large Slavonia barrels. What was then still misjudged as Vino da Tavola heralded a new era. Today, with the new UGA rules of Chianti Classico (Unita Geografiche Aggiunte, in Germany one would say Lage, in France Cru), Coltassala is finally finding its well-deserved home – as a Gran Selezione from the Radda geographical unit, which stands for the most extreme and elegant expressions of Chianti Classico. The altitude gives the 2021 vintage that characteristic freshness that makes Radda so unique – despite the warm weather, the wine retains its crystalline acidity and vibrancy.

For some years now, Riccardo Cotarella's Montiano has been characterised by great freshness and dark, concentrated fruit. In contrast to the vintages of the early 1990s, the wine has become much livelier and more dynamic. And the 2021 vintage brings a new nuance to this characterful Merlot: riper, denser and finer at the same time. The climatic conditions – an early summer temperature rise followed by cooler evening hours – allowed for slow, even ripening with perfect concentration levels. As always, the Montefiascone region delivers mineral-structured fruit and precise floral components.

Barolo Paesi Tuoi is more than just a designation of origin. The name – borrowed from the novel "Among Peasants" by Cesare Pavese – evokes Piedmont not just as a landscape, but as a cultural space: rural, archaic, full of inner tensions. And so this Barolo is not an expression of a single cru, but a synthesis of the villages, hills and soils that together form the essence of this appellation. The grapes come from different, characterful vineyards around Barolo, Monforte and Serralunga, carefully selected and vinified separately. Long maceration periods, followed by around two years of ageing in traditional, large oak barrels – the result is a classic style with depth.

The Bricco della Bigotta comes from the single vineyard of the same name and owes its name to a former resident whose strict piety became proverbial in the village. The old vines stand on a hill not far from Rocchetta Tanaro, in soils of limestone, marl and clay, which give the variety a distinctive structure. The 2020 vintage was characterised by a balanced vegetation cycle: mild spring days, a warm summer without extreme heat and cool nights in late summer, which gave the grapes freshness and aromatic depth. After selective manual harvesting, a long maceration followed by 12 months of ageing in French barriques.

Born of fire. This is how the Cantina Terlan describes the red porphyry rock, between whose slopes the vineyards have nestled like small sun terraces. The rock is of volcanic origin, millions of years old, and it gives the area its unmistakable character – the wines their minerality, the cellar its façade, the wine its name. The porphyry is Terlan's red answer to the question of what Lagrein can be if you think it through to the end. No compromises. Three selected single vineyard sites, whose vines are almost a century old. Old vines yield little – but what they do yield is the sum of a long life in the grape flesh. Manual harvesting, destemming, slow maceration in steel – and then: 18 months exclusively in barrique, a third of which is new. No large wooden barrels, no compromises. Only barrique, only concentration, only depth.

Sigmund Freud defined the "id" as that part of the psyche that only obeys a single principle: lust. Unbridled, unregulated, beyond space and time. When Gianfranco Fino gave his wine this name, it was not marketing – it was a manifesto. In 2004, the former olive consultant bought his first vineyard: just 1.3 hectares near Manduria, planted with Primitivo vines over fifty years old in traditional Alberello cultivation. What began as an experiment became a revolution. Six years later, Fino stood on the stage of the Gambero Rosso and received the "Winemaker of the Year" award – the first ever winemaker from central or southern Italy. In a row with northern Italian legends such as Josko Gravner and Romano Dal Forno.