Veronelli

Angelo Gaja makes his wines with broad brushstrokes that form shapes of perfect harmony and grandeur, he makes them modern but never too fashionable. Rennina 2019 is a dark, lush and juicy red wine with a seamless overall integration. On the palate, bold fruit, oak spice, acidity and a well-knit tannin hold the overall composition together in an overwhelming and warm embrace. SUPERIORE.DE

Sperss is a sentimental word for nostalgia in Piedmontese and is far more than just another Barolo: it is the living testimony to a historic new beginning, when Gaja brought out a Barolo from its own land for the first time in 1992. At the time, this was a bold step after the reputation of the past – today, Sperss is a world-famous classic with a great style profile. In the glass, it has a medium ruby colour, clear and bright. The bouquet is initially closed, then unfolds with a mineral-rusty undertone, forest fruit chords of redcurrant and raspberry and lighter herbs – delicately interwoven with floral and earthy layers that merge into smoke, leathery depth and truffle notes. The palate is characterised by clear lines: structured tannins, a mineral backbone and precise fruit. The finish is dry, characterised by a salty earthiness and delicate finesse – a finish that never gets loud, but lingers for a long time.

Three words: power, intensity and concentration. With a very manageable production of less than 2,000 bottles, this is a full-throttle Tuscan wine that constantly exudes generous black fruits, spices and sweet tobacco. There is also black cherry and plum, which lend the wine soft contours and sweetness. On the palate, it is firm, well-structured and delights with a mouthfulness that is unrivalled. Take a good piece of red meat, marinate it in rosemary and olive oil before putting it on the charcoal grill and then embark on this monumental adventure. SUPERIORE.DE

As every year, the star of the house gives the Dominator in the Dal-Forno style. Dark and dense, it reveals an intense bouquet with jammy aromas of red and dark fruits, alongside spices and wood, tobacco and chocolate. At the same time, the youthful, stormy flavour is an overwhelming demonstration of power. SUPERIORE.DE

2016 was not an easy year in Valpolicella – and Romano Dal Forno still delivered. That sounds obvious, but it's not: in years like 1992, 2005, 2007 or 2014, there was simply no Amarone. That is the currency in which trust is bought here. Dal Forno Romano has its own clock ticking for the release of the large bottles: they come onto the market three years after the 0.75 litre bottle. What this means for 2016 is obvious. After six weeks of appassimento, 36 months in new barriques and long maturation in the large format, this Valpolicella has reached a level of maturity that only the large glass can appreciate.

Three years after the Annata, Romano and his sons launch a small edition of the same vintage in large formats. The 2015 Valpolicella Superiore Monte Lodoletta is a particularly elegant, pretty and typical expression of the Dal Forno style. Black cherries dipped in rum, plum sauce, brown spices and a hint of cocoa rise from the glass. Silky and polished, it seamlessly washes over the palate with ripe red and blackcurrants, while leaving minerals and a fine layer of tannins behind. Spicy acids add tension as the wine tapers off in a structured way, with notes of mocha and mentholated herbs that linger. SUPERIORE.DE

In 1991, Turriga was one of the first bottled wines ever to be exported from the island. Turriga has a 100% Sardinian soul - the famous blend of four red autochthonous grape varieties was once created by the famous OenologistGiacomo Tachis and is continued today by his "heir" Mariano Murru, technical director and Oenologist at Argiolas. The DNA of this exceptional wine sounds as simple as it is perfect: its refined blend of grape varieties gives it its unique structure, roundness, fullness, fruit and a perfectly balanced portion of tannins.

In the gentle hills of Serdiana, where the Mediterranean sun meets ancient soils, a quiet revolution took place in the 1980s. Antonio Argiolas, patriarch of a family that has been connected to the Sardinian soil for generations, dared to do the unthinkable: he brought the legendary Giacomo Tachis, the creator of Sassicaia, to the island to realise the dream of a great Sardinian wine together. Turriga was born – not just as a wine, but as a manifesto for an entire region. The name itself tells a story: Turriga comes from the Sardinian dialect and refers to the characteristic watchtowers that have guarded the island's coastline for centuries. Like these stone sentinels overlooking the sea, this wine watches over the reputation of Sardinian oenology. This cuvée from various red Sardinian grape varieties comes from the best vineyards of Tenuta Turriga – a composition that combines Tachis' genius for blending with the authentic soul of Sardinia.

Deep, dark ruby red colour. Floral nose with lots of red, warm fruit and delicate herbal notes. Smooth and elegant on the palate with wonderful depth and complexity with notes of black cherry, herbs, violets, plums and a hint of tar and leather. Saffredi literally sneaks up on you until it fades into a very long and harmonious finish with an impressive presence and finesse. One of Italy's great wines, full of elegance! SUPERIORE.DE

Crosara Breganze 2017 is a textbook Merlot: full of ripe dark fruits, blackberry pie, liquorice, chocolate, toasted oak and grilled herbs. Offering superb inner sweetness, it is both powerful and elegant, with a lush, super-soft mouthfeel. Pleasingly, a wonderfully focused mineral component saves the wine from ever being overdone. SUPERIORE.DE

This is the top wine from Il Poggione, and it is a must for anyone who collects wines from this famous vineyard. The estate's oldest parcel, Vigna Paganelli, is a 12-hectare vineyard that was planted back in 1964. It has a rich variety of old Sangiovese clones, which are used for the newer plantings.

Sauvignon Bianco Rachtl comes from a small micro-location of just 0.4 hectares. It gets its fine flint and graphite nose from the porphyry soils near Unteraicha in the municipality of Völs. Very subtle on the palate with fine saline acidity, fresh fruit and a long-lasting finish. If you can call one of the 2,000 bottles of this vintage your own, you can count yourself lucky! SUPERIORE.DE

Grattamacco was the second winery in Bolgheri in 1982 and is still a firm favourite for great, terroir-driven wines with an independent character. The Rosso Superiore comes from high, coastal hillside vineyards with an excellent microclimate and matures for almost two years in French barriques after spontaneous fermentation. The cuvée deliberately does not follow the classic Bordeaux pattern: in addition to Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, Sangiovese also characterises the wine as an indigenous soul – a sign of identity, not convention.

2021 – a Tuscan vintage for the ages. In the annals of Bolgheri, this year will be remembered as the one that revealed the perfection of the Mediterranean terroir in its purest form. A rainy winter, which replenished the water reserves for the coming summer, was followed by a growing season of classic elegance: a cool spring initially delayed budding, but when temperatures rose at the end of May, the development of the vines accelerated in an ideal way. The summer of 2021 was characterised by the Mediterranean drought that makes Bolgheri so unique – three months without significant rainfall, but the vines did not suffer. The deep, sandy soils, enriched with limestone and stones, had stored the winter moisture and continuously nourished the roots. The exceptional day-night temperature difference, which was amplified by the nearby coast, was decisive and gave the grapes the freshness that makes the 2021 so distinctive.

Palafreno 2019 is wonderfully polished and lively. Firm but well-integrated tannins form the backbone for a Merlot that is endowed with considerable energy. Spicy herbs, tobacco and wild flowers add complexity. Very nuanced on the palate, opulent to expressive, then at second glance supple, downright elegant. Almost unbeatable in complexity, depth and richness of finesse, it will reveal more and more of its first-class repertoire in the coming years. SUPERIORE.DE

Tasca got involved in Etna early on and the latest result of these years of experience are four new single vineyard wines from the Tascante estate: Contrada Rampante, Pianodario, Sciaranuova and Sciaranuova Vigna Vecchia (V.V.). The wines are delicate and profound, and despite their power, acidity and taut tannin, very elegant, finesse-rich and light-footed on the palate. Each of the four plots brings a slightly different style and personality to the wine - due to the altitude, soil composition and morphology of the historic lava flows. A high annual rainfall ensures that the soil has all the water it needs, and the temperature fluctuations between day and night support the aromatic diversity of the grapes and ultimately the ripening potential.

Sugarille is always a little darker, richer and more opulent than Rennina. Bouquet of remarkable richness. In the drink, dark red cherry, plum, smoke, liquorice and cloves fill out the wine's broad-shouldered frame well. Hints of mocha, chocolate, spices and black-fleshed fruit add the final layers of nuance. SUPERIORE.DE

Barolo Sperss 2020 shows the power, determination and strength you would expect from Serralunga d'Alba. Dark cherry fruit with cassis and wild plum, rounded off by floral aromas that lean more towards red rose than violet or blue flowers. It is a great wine on the palate, with lots of compact, dense tannins, coated in sweet enamel, multi-layered and dense, with a long build-up. Plums and liquorice on the finish with a delicate, mineral iron vein, as we know it from the Sperss. SUPERIORE.DE

Only 1,650 bottles of this 1.5 ha Cabernet Franc single vineyard "Campo di Camagi" (mainly quartz and limestone) reach the specialised trade and the menus of the best restaurants worldwide. Campo di Camagi is a very precise and focused wine. The high quality of the Cabernet Franc grape is noticeable here with every sip. Black fruits and spices are in elegant unity here and the full, racy body of this exceptional wine will only fully reveal itself in many years. Please be sure to put this bottle far away! SUPERIORE.DE

1,900 bottles of this 0.8 ha Cabernet Franc single vineyard "Campo di Tenaglia" (at an altitude of approx. 550m, mainly limestone) reach the specialised trade and the menus of the best restaurants worldwide. Impenetrable, dark wine with a bouquet of flint, crushed minerals and some chalk. The texture is rich and opulent, but always supple with a hint of minerality. Campo di Tenaglia is one of the juiciest Cabernet Francs we have ever had in the glass. Beautiful, long final and certainly great Storage potential. SUPERIORE.DE

Just 2,100 bottles of this 1.5 ha single vineyard Cabernet Franc "Campo di Magnacosta" (a former riverbed with mainly clay, gravel and crushed stone soil) reach the specialised trade and the menus of the best restaurants worldwide. The vines were planted in the mid-1990s and come from Pomerol. In terms of aromatic intensity, Magnacosta is probably the most sensually elegant representative of the house's three great site cabernets. It has great straightness, but somewhat less power and intensity. It subtly combines black fruit aromas with spicy notes, tar and antique leather. It is already silky and elegant and will certainly gain in finesse over the years. SUPERIORE.DE

Sperss. The word sounds like a sigh, like a breath of melancholy wafting over the hills of Piedmont. In the local dialect, it means nostalgia, longing, homesickness for a time that will never return. When Angelo Gaja was finally able to acquire the twelve hectares in Serralunga d'Alba in 1988, which his father Giovanni had raved about since his youth, there was only one possible name for this wine. Sperss was the fulfilment of a family dream – the first Barolo from the Gaja family, the step out of Barbaresco into the legendary terrain that Giovanni had already learnt about as a young man during the grape harvest. The Marenca and Rivette vineyards form a natural amphitheatre at an altitude of 370 metres – compact, calcareous marl that gives the wine the mineral depth and iron structure for which Serralunga is famous. Here, where the over 50-year-old Nebbiolo vines drive their roots deep into the stony soil, the wine is not a pleasant one.

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.