Matured wines

Viettis Barolo Riserva with grapes from Castiglione Falletto is matured for two years in large wooden barrels, then in steel tanks and then for several years in the bottle. Classic bouquet of wild berries, cherries and rose petals. Rusty minerals are accompanied by violets and candied orange peel. Juicy on the palate and extremely fresh and agile for its age, with wonderful balance and equilibrium. An inspiring wine that still has many good years ahead of it, but is already completely convincing today. SUPERIORE.DE

Caramel-coloured Vin Santo with intense aromas of toffee and dark chocolate, enriched with acacia honey and Mediterranean herbs. Notes of freesia, candied orange peel and French pastry. On the palate, this fascinating sweet wine reveals a mixture of fig, almond and lemon flavours, followed by roasted coffee beans. The perfect balance between acidity and sweetness leads to a sensual finish. SUPERIORE.DE

The grapes for Vietti's Riserva come from the best Barolo vineyards, primarily Scarrone and Bric del Fiasc. The production is just 5,000 bottles. Opens with aromas of dried cherries, which combine with sweet spices, while a hint of truffle, dried violets and bay leaf emerge. On the palate, there is a beguiling elegance and depth with perfectly developed fruit flavours and melting tannins. The great thing is that you can drink this wine the same day you buy it. But you don't have to, because the potential is great! SUPERIORE.DE

This exceptional Recioto was matured for 6 years in Slavonian oak. Deep, dark ruby red in colour. In the nose, a beguiling extract of black cherry, dried flowers and a fine spiciness, with hints of liquorice and mint. On the palate, the fruit is uniform, extremely harmonious and concentrated to the point. Notes of gingerbread, dark chocolate and black cherry glide into an almost endless finish with an unforgettable aftertaste. SUPERIORE.DE

Sibi et paucis – for the few who understand that great wines are not in a hurry. Sandrone retains around 10 per cent of the production from each Aleste vintage and allows these bottles to mature for a full decade longer in his own cellar. What could have been released in September 2019 remains dormant until today – and is becoming something that goes beyond regular Barolo.

What comes after perfection? Gianfranco Fino has found an answer. Today, the winemaker cultivates fourteen plots of land around Manduria, each with its own character, each vinified separately. At the end of each vintage, he stands in the cellar between his barriques and tastes. He is not looking for the best – he looks for what touches him most deeply. "Che più ha emozionato", as he calls it. In 2019, there were five barrels that he couldn't let go of. These five barriques come from the estate's oldest vineyard: ninety-year-old Alberello vines, whose gnarled trunks rise barely knee-high from the red clay soil. Four hundred grams of grapes per vine – a blink of an eye yield for an explosion of concentration. After slight over-ripening on the vine, the grapes are harvested by hand, selected again in the cantina and then fermented on the skins for three to four weeks. The wine rests for twelve months in French oak before being bottled. A further forty-eight months of bottle ageing follow before a single bottle leaves the winery.

The showpiece of the Zenato winery from the terrific year 2006 with a perfect balance between expressiveness, elegance and almost infinite length. SUPERIORE.DE

If the white Annamaria Clementi is the backbone of the house, then the rosé is the colourful counterpart - a counterpart full of independence, depth and almost aristocratic discipline. The Cuvée Rosé 2015 is a sparkling wine that goes far beyond what is commonly understood by rosé sparkling wine. Pinot Nero in its purest form, vinified according to the Méthode Saignée - one of the most demanding techniques that must harmonise fruit, structure and noblesse. The 2015 vintage in Franciacorta was characterised by ripeness, density and remarkable balance. The Pinot Nero grapes come from high-altitude vineyards with limestone-rich subsoil. After a short maceration, only the free-run must is processed, fermented in small French oak barriques and matured on the fine lees for seven months. This is followed by a second fermentation in the bottle - and then patience: over 8 years on the lees before the wine is disgorged as extra brut, with minimal dosage.

This barrique-aged Passito is an absolute filet piece even for die-hard sweet wine connoisseurs and at the same time an exotic wine for the region. The Quintarelli family produces it handpicked only in the very best vintages, making it a real rarity and the small edition also, but not only, explains its price. Brilliant golden yellow with amber reflections. Candied apricot, peach, orange peel and a delicate honey note on the nose, rounded off with warm components such as sugar couleur, roasted almonds and rendered butter. Firm and ingratiating on the palate, yet retains its freshness with each sip, with great persistence and impressive, unforgettable length. SUPERIORE.DE

Dark cherry red. Complex nose with aromas of wild berries, fine spices and dried meat, combined with cedar wood and earthy notes. In the drink then powerfully after black cherry, blackberry, plum, red rose blossoms and a tender toast note. Wonderful in the long finish with hints of pepper and exotic spices. A great Riserva from a great vintage with cult potential! SUPERIORE.DE

This is a special Riserva from Michele Chiarlo that is late to the market. The Barolo Riserva Cerequio is a great wine, with particularly taut tannins and a concentrated richness that permeates its substantial textile fibre. The flavours of dark fruits such as blackberries and dried cherries are accompanied by spices, leather, tar and ashes from the bonfire. The wine shows the concentration and density of long oak ageing with tannins that definitely need more ageing before this exceptional wine will fully convince its connoisseurs! SUPERIORE.DE

This barrique-aged Passito is an absolute gem even for die-hard connoisseurs of sweet wines and is also an exotic wine for the region. The Quintarelli family only produces it by hand in the very best vintages, making it a real rarity and the small production run also explains, but is not limited to, its price. Brilliant golden yellow with amber-coloured reflections. Candied apricot, peach, orange peel and a delicate honey note on the nose, rounded off with warm components such as sugar couleur, roasted almonds and melted butter. It is firm and enveloping on the palate, yet retains its freshness with every sip and has great persistence and impressive, unforgettable length. SUPERIORE.DE

At the end of the 19th century, Ludwig Barth, a university professor with a love of wine, built the estate of the same name in Mazon and planted the Pinot Noir grape there for the first time, with success, as it turned out. The year 2016 was very good for Pinot Noir and for the Roccolo vineyard at Ansitz Barthenau on the Mazon plateau. Particularly rich grapes from vines that are more than 70 years old and tend on the traditional pergola were to be reserved for a new top wine. They were harvested separately, pressed separately and matured in small oak barrels and are only made into the single-vineyard wine "Roccolo" in the best vintages.

Occhio di Pernice means eye of the partridge and refers to the salmon red colour of this lightly pressed Vin Santo from the red grape variety Prugnolo Gentile (Sangiovese). After 10 years of barrel ageing, it is dense and dark, rich in aromas of dates, dried plums and fruit cake. Sweet fragrance with sensual flavours of lemon, salted caramel with warm French pastry. This wine lingers in the memory long after the last sip. SUPERIORE.DE

At the beginning of the 20th century, La Fabriseria referred to the parish council of Sant'Ambrogio, the Fabbriceria, commissioned to build a new church. Grandfather Riccardo Tedeschi was one of the Fabbriceri – and it was customary for each councillor to bring his best wine to the meeting. At the end, a toast was made to God and good work. This rite sealed contracts and friendships; today it seals one of the most precious wines of the house. In 2000, the family acquired the seven-hectare vineyard in Le Pontare, between Fumane and Sant'Ambrogio, and planted it with exceptional density: 7,200 vines per hectare in Guyot training, at an altitude of 450 metres with a view of the entire valley, Verona and Lake Garda. The soil tells of the Cretaceous period: pink-white limestone marl, rich in calcium carbonate and iron oxide, interspersed with grey-yellow clay slate – a terrain that provides structure and balance, aromatic complexity and longevity.

The lily is the flower of all flowers in Valpolicella and this exceptional Riserva is dedicated to the best of them. The grapes for this new flagship of the winery, produced in very small quantities, grow on 300-metre-high soils of mainly limestone with some sandy silt in the Monti Garbi district of the municipality of Mezzane di Sotto. The vines have an average age of 40 years and produce only small yields. After harvest, the grapes are selected twice by hand. The Lilium Est is aged for three years in new Bordeaux barriques, the laths of which have been dried outdoors for 36 months. Before it goes on sale, it remains in the bottle for at least another four years.

Even if you consider yourself a Josko Gravner disciple, there is a good chance that you have never tasted or seen his epic red wine. Rujno is Josko Gravner's rarest and most age-worthy red wine: unlike the pure Rosso, Rujno matures twice as long and is only produced in exceptional vintages in vanishingly small quantities. It comes from a single old vineyard on the edge of Slovenia and consists mainly of Merlot with a dash of Cabernet, which matured for 84 months in the barrel and a further 84 months in the bottle before leaving the cellar. In total, over 15 years passed before it was released onto the market.

R.S. stands for "Recentemente Sboccato" – recently disgorged. What sounds simple is the result of a decade of patience: this Edizione rested on the lees for 10 years and 4 months before it saw the light of day. Launched in 2020, the project makes the timeless elegance of the Cuvée Prestige accessible in its most mature form. The blend combines 75% of the 2014 vintage with 19% reserve from 2013 and 6% from 2012, obtained from 149 certified organic vineyards. The grape varieties: 82% Chardonnay, 11% Pinot Nero, 7% Pinot Bianco – each grape washed and dried according to the Ca' del Bosco method. The result is a Dosage Zéro of uncompromising purity.

Some wines are created according to plan. And some are created because nature wants them to be. Il Merlot belongs to the second category – a wine that is only born when terroir, climate and sun come together in rare harmony. Maurizio Zanella, the visionary behind Ca' del Bosco, has elevated this principle to a philosophy: since the first vintage in 1990, only six vintages have been deemed worthy of being bottled as single-varietal Merlot. 2015 was one of them. That year, Franciacorta challenged its winegrowers: a mild winter spurred the vegetation cycle early, fungal pressure in early summer demanded meticulous foliage work, then sweltering heat until the end of July. Only after Ferragosto did rain bring redemption – and gave the Merlot grapes the final ripeness that distinguishes greatness from favour. The harvest began on 9 September for the three "vigne elette" in Cazzago San Martino and Passirano, whose vines, which are on average 37 years old, are rooted in the calcareous moraine soils of Franciacorta.

Even if you consider yourself a Josko Gravner disciple, there is a good chance that you have never tasted or seen his epic red wine. Rujno is Josko Gravner's rarest and most age-worthy red wine: unlike the pure Rosso, Rujno matures twice as long and is only produced in exceptional vintages in vanishingly small quantities. It comes from a single old vineyard on the edge of Slovenia and consists mainly of Merlot with a dash of Cabernet, which matured for 84 months in the barrel and a further 84 months in the bottle before leaving the cellar. In total, over 15 years passed before it was released onto the market.