Sangiovese

1983 was the first year. Luca Martini di Cigala, who was at that time in the process of taking over an estate that was still selling its wine in bulk to Antinori and Ruffino, decided to do the opposite of what many of his contemporaries were doing: no international grape varieties, no modernisation of the label, no barriques full of vanilla. A single wine, from a single vineyard, made from a single grape variety. Sangiovese. San Giusto a Rentennano. – Percarlo made its debut with the 1983 vintage – and immediately began to rewrite the history of Chianti Classico. The wine's philosophy is that of its maker: the vineyard comes before the cellar. The grapes for Percarlo are not selected by plot; instead, every bunch of grapes is inspected, every vine, every site. The yield is one kilogram per vine. This has been the approach since 2001, because Martini di Cigala recognised how inconsistent Sangiovese can be from vine to vine, even within the same plot. The soils that give Percarlo its character date predominantly from the Pliocene – layers of sand and stones, two to five metres deep, resting on a bed of clay. Mineral-rich, well-drained, with the ability to influence the Sangiovese over the years.

Altesinos Montosoli displays the famous characteristics of this particular site, which are always characterised by a pronounced mineral intensity, with hints of crushed granite and lead pencil layers. The five-hectare vineyard has a higher concentration of Galestro clay-slate rock, and the altitude contributes to the freshness of the wine.

When you hear the story of the effort that went into the Colonia vineyard, you have to wonder if the fine people of Fèlsina are absolutely crazy. It took them two years to remove the imposing rock that had forced previous generations of the Poggiali family to practically abandon this noble location. But it is thanks to the ambitious Giovanni Poggiali that this spectacular vineyard (Vigneto Colonia) has become what it is today. It has reddish-brown soils, is rich in magnesium and iron and is therefore very different from all other Fèlsina vineyards.

There are vineyards that were planted by a father and vineyards that were planted by a grandfather. Vecchie Vigne has both. The oldest parcels of Pelagrilli – planted in 1970 by Siro Pacenti himself, still in production – make up one half of the wine. The other comes from partial plots in Piancornello, which Giancarlo's maternal grandfather planted in the 1960s and which the family acquired in 1990. Two locations, two climates, two soils: the sandy loam of Pelagrilli with its cooling westerly winds in the north; the pebbly soils over hard bedrock and Mediterranean warmth of Piancornello in the south. Siro Pacenti thus holds almost a fifth of all the Sangiovese Grosso vines over forty years old in the entire appellation. Giancarlo Pacenti applies the same philosophy to Vecchie Vigne as he does to all his wines – only with a different approach to the starting point. The berry selection is a two-stage process: optical sorter and hand-picking before and after vinification. No compromises. Fermentation in steel, then 24 months in customised French barriques, two months in concrete tanks, 22 months bottle ageing.

While the world stood still in 2020, a quiet revolution took place in the vineyards of Montalcino. On the cool north-eastern slopes where Vincenzo Abbruzzese has been cultivating his Sangiovese vines for decades, nature wrote a chapter full of paradoxes: hot summer days with temperatures of up to 40 degrees, followed by night-time cooling, which gave the grapes the crystalline freshness that makes 2020 one of the most fascinating Brunello vintages in recent history. The vintage got off to a promising start with a mild winter that replenished the water reserves – a blessing in times of climate change. The spring was dry but even, until a rainy June with 154 millimetres allowed the foliage to grow lushly. Then came the summer: 64 days without a drop of rain, a drought that Vincenzo had never experienced before in his career. But where other winegrowers despaired, the master of Valdicava proved his expertise: meticulous foliage management protected the grapes from sunburn, while the deep roots of his old vines utilised the stored water from the rainy spring. The end of August brought redemption: cooler nights and scattered rain showers gave the vines new vigour. Vincenzo waited – a decision that sets his Brunello 2020 apart from many others. While other producers harvested before the September rains, he took advantage of the cooler temperatures for a final ripening that gave his wine the balance that makes 2020 a "drink-while-you-wait" vintage.

Avvoltore is a blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. Powerful and explosive in the glass, it possesses remarkable intensity in all its dimensions, with great fruit and equally impressive tannins. Dark cherry, leather, smoke, tobacco, liquorice and grilled herbs form a virile, imposing Maremma red wine that will need at least a few years to develop its full expressive power. Once again, Morisfarms has done a great job with its flagship wine. SUPERIORE.DE,

Every year, Renieri conjures up a lush and fruit-driven Brunello in the glass, bursting with freshness, brightness and balsamic-aromatic intensity. Its grapes come from a small, nine-hectare parcel with chalky clay soils. It offers strong cherry and blackberry aromas with delicate spice, smoke and blue flowers. The wonderfully balanced acidity propels this showpiece wine into a seemingly endless final. SUPERIORE.DE

Forty vintages. You have to let that melt in your mouth: When Pierluigi Talenti left the mountains of his native Romagna in the early 1950s and came to the hills of Montalcino, he not only found work at Sant'Angelo in Colle, but also his life's work. For over four decades, he shaped one of the appellation's most famous addresses as cellar master of Il Poggione – and is still considered one of the founding fathers of modern Brunello. He selected his own Sangiovese clones, set new quality standards and became a role model for an entire generation. In 1980, at the end of this era, he bought the Podere Pian di Conte – an old estate with a round tower overlooking the Orcia Valley – and began to press his own Brunello. Pierluigi died in 1999. Since then, grandson Riccardo has run the estate with the same tenacity, advised by Carlo Ferrini and supported by the knowledge that there is something special in these soils of sandy loam, clay and galestro.

Altesinos Montosoli displays the famous characteristics of this particular site, which are always characterised by a pronounced mineral intensity, with hints of crushed granite and lead pencil layers. The five-hectare vineyard has a higher concentration of Galestro clay-slate rock, and the altitude contributes to the freshness of the wine.

Boscarelli's Il Nocio, a Nobile di Montepulciano from a single vineyard, impressively demonstrates the true essence of the Sangiovese grape and has also been one of the region's quality leaders for years.

Montalcino has many faces. In the south, where the soil is deeper and warmer, Brunelli are produced with lush vigour and Mediterranean richness. In the north, in the Montosoli area, a different voice speaks: cooler, more mineral, characterised by a tension that defines classic vintages. Here lies Valdicava – in the Val di Cava, the valley of the quarries, at 350 metres, with a soil of galestro, limestone and clay that has given Sangiovese Grosso its characteristic structure for three generations. Bramante Abbruzzese bought the estate in 1953 and his grandson Vincenzo took over in the 1980s, turning Valdicava into what Robert Parker described as one of the three or four best Brunello addresses in Italy.

Sangiovese in purezza. Wonderfully spicy aroma, dark forest berries and cherries, some graphite and cedar wood. Silky elegance on the palate, juicy, dark berries, paired with an animating interplay of fruit and acidity that really lets the wine dance across the tongue. Percarlo has depth and length as well as potential for many years in the cellar. One of the great single-varietal Sangiovese wines of central Tuscany. SUPERIORE.DE

Luigi Veronelli would have turned one hundred years old on 2 February 2026. This is no ordinary anniversary for Castellare di Castellina, because without Veronelli, this wine would not exist. It was 1976 when he was walking through the vineyards of Castellare with Paolo Panerai and stopped at the descent to the estate's most beautiful parcel. "Paolo, call it I Sodi di S. Niccolò," he said. And then, even before Panerai could explain the choice of grape variety, he haunting: "Forget the French varieties. Sangioveto and Malvasia Nera – they are better." It was exactly what Panerai himself thought. The first harvest followed in 1977.

Altesinos Riserva is fermented in steel tanks and matures for three years in Slavonian oak barrels. The top 2019 vintage has produced generous wines that are multi-layered and rich, but also tight at their core. This wine exemplifies this, bringing plenty of tart Sangiovese fruit and freshness. Also shows an impressive richness of flavours with dried cherries, liquorice, pressed violets, balsamic herbs and dusty limestone. The palate is beautifully polished and slightly fleshy, spreading out beautifully as it progresses, compact and harmonious, salty on the impressive final, as we really only notice with Casanova di Neri. SUPERIORE.DE

The term Vecchie Vigne is not a romantic gesture for Siro Pacenti. It is an agricultural decision. The oldest vines of both family estates – pelagrilli in the north and Piancornello in the south – have been standing for up to 60 years. They are not replaced, but nurtured; where necessary, supplemented by massively selected suckers from the best mother vines. What these vines produce each year is little – but highly precise. 2021 was a year of reduction. The April frost hit vines at all altitudes, decimating the harvest and concentrating what remained on the essentials. The harvest took place under rare calm – no rain, no pressure, precise choice of harvest. What arrived in the cellar was already exceptional. Fermentation in steel, 24 months in French barriques, two months in concrete, 22 months in the bottle.

There are vineyards that are named after the place where they are located. And there are vineyards that give the place its name in the first place. Podernovi is one such case – the three hectares of Sangiovese that have been growing on this plot for over thirty years are so inextricably linked to the hill that the vineyard and district bear the same name. When San Polo bottled the first single-vineyard Brunello from this vineyard in 2015, it was less a debut than a recognition of what the soil had long known. Podernovi lies at 450 metres above sea level, facing south-east, where the view sweeps across the Val d'Orcia to Monte Amiata. The soils are a kaleidoscope of Tuscan geology: marl and galestro, the slate-like clay that gives the best Sangiovese vineyards in the region their unnerving minerality, interspersed with clay that stores water and supplies the vines even in dry summers. What sets this vineyard apart from others is not just its terroir, but the rigour with which San Polo cultivates it: four to five grapes per vine, no more – 700 to 800 grams per vine, a yield that is reminiscent of Burgundy conditions and forces the Sangiovese to achieve a concentration that it rarely reaches elsewhere.

A summer that Europe remembers as hot – and Montalcino as surprising. The vines of Col d'Orcia, deeply rooted in the calcareous, clay-poor soils of the Orcia hill, showed in 2020 what biodynamic cultivation means in years of stress: resilience. Early bud burst after a mild winter, followed by a balanced spring with well-distributed rainfall. The summer remained warm, but without extreme heat phases – sporadic downpours at the end of August cooled the soil at the last moment and allowed the grapes to develop aromatic compounds instead of simply ripening. In addition, there were pronounced day-night temperature differences in September. Harvest from mid-September, clean and structured. The result has a character that Montalcino connoisseurs describe as "captivante": simultaneously accessible and enigmatic. Maceration for 18 to 20 days, shallow 150-hl steel tanks, gentle extraction. Three years in large barrels, twelve months in the bottle: Col d'Orcia's traditional vinification process – unchanged for decades because it works.

Dark and seductive with a blend of crushed plums, brown spices, cedar and a hint of cocoa. Its textures are like pure silk bordering on velvet, with a gentle blend of ripe cherries and redcurrants, underlined by salty minerals, while notes of citrus contrast towards the end. A web of fine tannin runs through the final, creating a gentle textural pull that balances balsamic herbs and a hint of mocha as blue and violet-coloured flowers slowly fade away. SUPERIORE.DE

26 generations, since 1385 – no other winery in the wine world can boast such an uninterrupted history. And yet the Marchese Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva label is not a museum, but a living commitment: since the 2011 vintage, exclusively from the vineyards of Tenuta Tignanello, the estate between the Greve and Pesa river valleys that has shaped the Tuscan wine history of the 20th century more than any other part of Chianti Classico. 319 hectares, of which 165 hectares are planted with vines – predominantly Sangiovese, supplemented by small proportions of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.

Magistra. The Latin word for the teacher, the master – the one you learn from without her saying much. Ettore Spina has not given his oldest parcel a romantic name, but a precise one. What this scant hectare of vineyard does with Sangiovese teaches us. Planted in 1982 with the BBS11 clone of the Biondi-Santi family – the finest that Montalcino has to offer. Limestone-rich soil at 380 metres, vines deeply rooted over four decades, whose yield has always been low. Ian d'Agata describes the terroir of Sesta di Sopra, together with Montosoli, as one of the two best sites for Sangiovese in the whole of Montalcino. The Magistra site lies at the heart of this. And matures – like the Annata in its own barrel – in a single Slavonian oak vat. The result: barely 1,000 bottles per year. Even fewer in difficult years.

Since summer 2023, Chianti Classico producers have been allowed to include the eleven additional geographical indications (UGA = unità geografiche aggiuntive) introduced in 2021 on the labels of the top Gran Selezione category. For Chianti Classico winegrowers, it is a logical step to produce wines that reflect the area in which they were produced as authentically as possible. And customers can thus deepen their knowledge of the relationship between the wines and their region of origin - a real added value.

Bright, deep ruby red colour. The purity and brilliance of this wine are wonderfully evident as soon as you put your nose in the glass: precise aromas of red fruits, liquorice and minerals are lifted by an intense violet top note. Sweet and sexy on the palate, it then becomes somewhat masculine and broad-shouldered in the middle, showing impressive volume and depth with flavours of dark red cherries, menthol and minerals. Full-bodied and refined with elegant and intense tannins that draw you deep into the wine. This wonderful Riserva from the top 2019 vintage is a well thought-out and finely crafted Brunello that definitely needs a little more time to show its true greatness. SUPERIORE.DE