Vinibuoni

Vanotu is the great single-vineyard Barbaresco of the house – a wine with origin at its core and concentration in its expression. The grapes come from the historic Basarin vineyard in Neive, a cru parcel with south-west exposure and steep limestone marl soils, which not only give the Nebbiolo depth, but also structure and vertical tension. The name "Vanotu" is a dedication to Giovanni (Vanotu) Pelissero, grandfather of the current winemaker – a family foundation to which this wine owes its independence. The wine is matured with sensitivity: around 20 months in barriques, some of which are new, precisely matched to the character of the vintage. No dominant wood notes, but a framework that gives the grape variety space and direction.

Directly in front of the cantina, at an altitude of 450 metres and facing south-west, lies the vineyard that has defined Fontodi's claim to Sangiovese since 1985. Three plots, planted between 1963 and 1973, are united by a special geological feature: slaty Galestro soils that break up into characteristic platelets on the surface. Giovanni Manetti recognised early on that this soil structure gives the Sangiovese the dark fruit and volume on the mid-palate that distinguishes it from the limestone-dominated sites. The name "Sorbo" refers to a local Tuscan fruit – dry, tannic, almost like grapes themselves. What began as a Riserva in 1985 was elevated to Gran Selezione in the 2011 vintage, when the new classification was introduced in Chianti Classico. Since 2012, 100% Sangiovese, previously blended with small proportions of Cabernet Sauvignon.

Sergio Manetti, a steel entrepreneur from Florence, bottled his first wine in 1971 – a Chianti Classico from the two hectares of vines he had planted around his holiday home. A wine for friends and business associates, nothing more. He sent a few bottles to Verona for the major wine fair Vinitaly, more out of curiosity than ambition. The reaction was overwhelming. The hobby became a passion, and the passion a vocation. Until 1981, this wine bore the name ‘Chianti Classico Montevertine Riserva’. Then came the turning point. Sergio Manetti refused to blend white Trebbiano into his Sangiovese, as required by the Chianti Classico regulations. The decision cost him the DOCG – and made him a legend. From 1982 onwards, the wine was simply called “Montevertine”, without any additions, without compromise. A name that became a statement: Sangiovese in its purest, most traditional form, just as the old Chianti farmers would have pressed it before bureaucracy and commercialism dictated the rules. The wine comes mainly from a two-and-a-half-hectare plot facing south-southeast, planted in 1982 – in the year of the great upheaval.

A journey through time on five hectares: Giovanni Manetti is a man who knows how to unravel historical secrets. When he discovered drawings from the 15th century in the archives of the University of Florence that showed that the hill of San Leolino was once completely planted with vines, this was the key to an extraordinary revitalisation project. Where for centuries there had only been olive trees – with the exception of a small plot from the 1970s –the Terrazze di San Leolino were created anew. The terroir tells a different story to the famous Vigna del Sorbo: here, at an altitude of 450 metres, it is not the slatey Galestro that dominates, but the calcareous Alberese soil. This geological peculiarity gives San Leolino its unmistakable character – mineral, salty, with a freshness that immediately reminds the nose of crushed stones and earthy notes.

The "25 Anni" from Caprai has been THE ambassador for Umbria's top wines for many years. It captivates with a beguiling bouquet that combines black fruits with citrus fruits, exotic spices, a hint of oregano, menthol and a hint of cocoa. The texture is more like pure silk, delicately lapping the palate, leaving a satisfying mix of intense dark fruits, minerals and fine-grained tannin. There is so much depth and concentration to work with that even when it finishes youthfully structured and dry, it lingers for well over a minute with notes of redcurrant, sage and dark chocolate. This exceptional Sagrantino is undisputedly not only Caprai's top wine, but also one of Italy's most characterful wines, which, with a little more ageing, will give incredible pleasure and should therefore definitely be aerated for 3-4 hours when young. SUPERIORE.DE

Capitel Monte Olmi 2018 takes things to another level. It coats the glass with a deep purple glow and exudes a dark and seductive bouquet of redcurrants, sultanas, black liquorice and a hint of spiced citrus. The brooding, velvety texture is complemented by juicy acids and tart red fruits that drench everything they touch, leaving a complex layer of savoury spices, minerals and fine tannins. This wine is structured, long and full of character, but with a balance that will carry it for many years in the cellar. SUPERIORE.DE

1993 – Marco Caprai stood in his vineyards and looked back on a quarter of a century that his father, Arnaldo, had begun in 1971 with a dream: to create a world-class wine from a forgotten Umbrian grape variety. Ten years of research lay behind him: collaboration with the University of Milan, clone selection, and the daring decision to vinify Sagrantino as a dry rather than a sweet wine. To mark the 25th anniversary, he wanted to make a statement: the ultimate Sagrantino, the essence of everything he and his father had learnt. The 25 Anni was born – and the wine world held its breath. What followed is the stuff of legend. In 2000, Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones chose this wine for their wedding. Luigi Veronelli proclaimed Sagrantino to be one of Italy's greatest red wines. Montefalco was transformed from a sleepy village into a mecca for wine tourism. And the 25 Anni remained – year after year, vintage after vintage – the flagship of this Umbrian revolution. It comes from the finest plots in the Val di Maggio, the result of a meticulous clonal selection of pure Sagrantino from vines planted at a density of six to eight thousand plants per hectare.

San Leolino was already considered a cru site 200 years ago. Above the thousand-year-old Pieve, the Romanesque chapel that has been documented since 982, terraces run through the upper part of the Conca d'Oro. In the 15th century, Giovanni Manetti found drawings in the University of Florence that proved that this slope was once completely planted with vines. What followed was a rebirth: the terraces were renewed, 4.5 hectares at an altitude of 450 to 500 metres, on Alberese limestone. These soils are fundamentally different from the slatey Galestro of the Vigna del Sorbo – here, hard limestone dominates, giving freshness, brightness and mineral precision. The pandemic years gave Giovanni the leisure to walk through his vineyards, to reflect. He realised that this parcel has its own identity, a terroir that calls for separate vinification. The first vintage was 2019, the fourth now 2022. Production remains small: only 5,000 bottles.

At an altitude of 750 metres, where the boundaries of the Etna DOC end in the cold north-west of the volcano, lies a hidden geological secret that only three of the hundreds of contrade on Etna can lay claim to. In its sandy soils, San Lorenzo bears the pure legacy of the Ellittico volcano – the ancient eruption centre whose explosive activity 60,000 years ago created a terroir purity that is now one of Sicily's rarest treasures. Giuseppe Russo is aware of this peculiarity when he cultivates the precious white vines that have been sinking their roots into these elliptical volcanic sands for eighty years among the centuries-old Nerello vines of his red Contrada wines. Here, where Etna sends its coldest winds over the vineyards and time is measured in geological epochs, white wines are produced with a minerality that only this unique combination of ancient lava and extreme altitude can produce.

Deep, bright ruby red in colour. This 100% Nero d'Avola is a captivating wine with its full-bodied, fruity and spicy aroma of blackcurrants, cherries, undergrowth, liquorice and dark chocolate. The soft but firm, multi-layered and warm flavour of ripe berries, the fine spice and the fine tannins are very appealing. SUPERIORE.DE

Ravera is considered one of the great Grand Cru sites of Barolo – majestically situated on a south-west facing high plateau of Novello. G.D. Vajra's plots here lie at an altitude of 320 to 340 metres, where the vines are deeply rooted in the calcareous and clayey marl soils of the Sant'Agata formation. This geological mixture gives the wine its characteristic depth, firm structure and mineral signature. Ravera is famous for Barolo with cool precision, rich fruit and enormous ageing potential. The 2021 vintage offered picture-perfect conditions: a harmonious growing season with no periods of extreme heat, a long, sunny autumn with cool nights and a late, perfectly ripe harvest at the end of October. Fermentation took place gently with an extended maceration period to maximise colour, structure and aromatic finesse. The organic ageing for 30+ months in large Slavonian barrels was deliberately restrained in order to preserve the powerful but nuanced personality of the terroir unadulterated.

Some vineyards carry their history within them like annual rings in an old tree. Vigna 10 on the Brancaia hill near Castellina is such a place. When Brigitte and Bruno Widmer bought the abandoned estate in 1981, they immediately recognised the potential of this plot of land – a gentle south-facing slope at 230 metres, clay soils that retain water and an exposure that allows the Sangiovese to reach full maturity without overtaxing it. Eighteen years later, in 1999, the vineyard was replanted – not with just any clones, but with five of the most promising Sangiovese selections from the ambitious "Chianti Classico 2000" research project, which has been researching and preserving the genetic diversity of this grape variety since the 1980s.

In 1981, Bruno and Brigitte Widmer from Switzerland bought an estate in Castellina in Chianti. They were not from a family of winegrowers, nor did they have any local roots – just the conviction that this patch of land held something extraordinary. The vineyard, which the estate refers to internally as "Vigna 10" or "Blocco 10" immediately caught their eye: a south-east-facing plot at an altitude of 240 to 265 metres, on clay-rich galestro soil, which gives the Sangiovese in Chianti Classico its characteristic balance between intensity and freshness. The Widmers knew this. Yet they waited. For before a vineyard can give its best, it needs vines with roots that run deep enough. In 1999, the plot was replanted – with five of the finest Sangiovese clones, which the ambitious "Chianti Classico 2000" research project had selected from across the entire Chianti region in the 1980s. This was no quick fix, but a commitment that took decades to fulfil.

Since the exceptional 2019 harvest, Luca Sanjust has taken another step towards "quality without compromise" with his Boggina C. The yields per plant have been reduced even further and the selection of grapes from the identified parcel has been made even stricter. This led to a reduction in the number of bottles available to around 3,000. The same meticulousness was also applied in the cellar by selecting the most suitable 7 hectolitre barrels for ageing "sur lie". Great attention was paid to their wood grain and toasting in order to achieve the harmony and flavour that a pure Grand Cru Sangiovese should have.

The Riserva Poggio Lombrone is produced according to traditional winemaking methods and organically. Distinctive bouquet of red fruits, roses, violets and sweet spices. Polished, rich texture on the palate, full of finesse, juicy and with balanced tannins. A great Sangiovese full of character with good ageing Storage potential. SUPERIORE.DE

The De Ferrari brothers select their Riserva from the oldest vines on the estate's best plots. Ruby red in colour with a garnet hue. The wine opens discreetly with subtle but captivating hints of sage, leather and allspice. On the palate, it is supple and agile and feels confidently extracted, with firm, straightforward tannins, but not overdone. The wood supports rather than imposes on the wine, and the vibrant acidity of the vintage comes through nicely. Long, seductive and delicately spicy on the final. SUPERIORE.DE

The wine icon, rare every year and very highly rated, presents itself in a shiny, rich ruby. On the nose, crisp berry fruit, ripe dark cherries, sweet plums and delicate notes of cinnamon. In the mouth it is full-bodied and firm, very juicy, unfolds a finely woven tannin and glides in a wide arc into a powerful, long final. A great wine full of tension and elegance. SUPERIORE.DE

Pacenti's flagship Brunello di Montalcino Vecchie Vigne 2017 is a blend of equal parts fruit from the north and south of Montalcino with great texture and resonance. The aromas are dark and textured through and through. Dark red fruits and stone fruits, new leather and cedar gradually open up in the glass, but it needs time to fully develop, partly because the Vecchie Vigne has slightly more new oak than the Pelagrilli. A powerful, spicy representative of the appellation that will only reach its true top form with a few years of bottle ageing. SUPERIORE.DE

The Aleatico grapes for this very small edition (< 500 hand-numbered bottles) dry slightly on the vine when they are harvested. They are then subjected to further drying in well-ventilated rooms for about 45 days, as in the production of Amarone. The first fermentation takes place in stainless steel, the further course then in new small wooden barrels of medium toasting.

Ai Suma is Braida's epitome of exceptional Barbera – ai Suma, which means "We did it" in the Piedmontese dialect, was first created in 1989 by a lucky coincidence: a late harvest that gave the wine enormous maturity and complexity. Since then, Braida's top Barbera has only been vinified in outstanding years, from hand-picked grapes from old vines in sun-drenched vineyards around Rocchetta Tanaro. The 2021 vintage benefited from a harmonious vegetation cycle: a mild spring, warm but balanced summer months and a dry, sunny harvestthat lasted well into October. These conditions allowed for a late harvest with perfectly ripe berries that characterise the wine. Careful fermentation is followed by the classic ageing period of around 15 months in French barriques, followed by a longer period of rest in the bottle, which brings structure and flavour into full harmony.

There are words that tell more than entire stories. Sgarzon: In the ancient dialect of Campo Rotaliano, it means "young shoot", "sapling" and embodies the essence of youthful vitality and the impetuous vigour of new beginnings. This name is the programme for a Teroldego that revolutionises conventional ideas about this powerful grape variety. Just one kilometre from the famous Morei vineyard as the crow flies, but completely different in character, is the 2.5-hectare Sgarzon vineyard. Here, the Noce River has deposited sandy sediments over thousands of years, creating a cooler, more open microzone. While other Teroldego vineyards are already harvesting their grapes, the Sgarzon berries ripen a week longer – a decisive difference that gives this wine its exceptional finesse.

The Rosso di Montalcino comes from slightly younger Brunello vines and is matured for 12 months in large oak barrels. It undoubtedly bears the signature of the top winery Biondi Santi: delicately sweet, open flavours of red berries, flowers and cloves. Like all of the winery's other wines, the Rosso is classic and firm in style, with a bombastic structure and a brilliant, long finish. True to the house, it also has a long ageing and maturation potential and can compete with some of the Brunello wines of the appellation today and in the future. SUPERIORE.DE