Vinous | 95–100 Points

Grattamacco is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Sangiovese, the latter grape variety certainly contributing to the fresh style of this wine. However, the overall picture is only complete when you realise that the vineyards used for this blend are among the best in the appellation. The Grattamacco Bolgheri Rosso Superiore is characterised by its typical aromas of leaves and Mediterranean forest, with subtle flavours of kiwi peel, cassis, paprika and chocolate. Velvety, youthful and firm on the attack, less light than the Alberello, but more tightly woven and of great elegance. Its length is astonishing, great potential! SUPERIORE.DE

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

Of the four Gulfi-Cru, this is the vineyard closest to the sea, less than 700 metres away and only 10-15 metres above sea level. With vines that grow on sandy soils. A beautiful, multi-layered wine that shows the elegant side of Nero d'Avola that few producers are ever able to present. Precise aromas of ripe red cherries, flint, orange peel, lavender and violets. Silky and juicy on the palate, with a refined but very concentrated extract that almost crushes the taste buds, yet remains lively and not at all heavy, giving the flavours of red cherries, raspberries, flowers and minerals beautiful definition and lift. The finish is very deep and long, with very soft tannins, a beguiling aroma and extreme finesse; very Barolo-like. 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.

In the vineyards of Torano Nuovo, where the hills of northern Abruzzo lie between the Gran Sasso and the Adriatic Sea, the pepfamily's Trebbiano vines are over 50 years old. Their roots burrow down through the top 40 centimetres of loamy soil into the massive limestone rock that gives this area its mineral character. The temperature fluctuations between day and night, guaranteed by the proximity to the mountain massif, promote the development of intense flavours, while the sea breezes from the Adriatic give the Trebbiano the minerality and saltiness that make it so unmistakable. This Trebbiano Abruzzese – a unique clone that is clearly different from the inferior Trebbiano Toscano – delivers in this "Selezione Vecchie Vigne" the pure essence of what the Abruzzo terroir can produce in white wine.

Every year, La Crena is one of the best and most refined Barbera wines that Piedmont produces. The vines in the Vigna del Nove parcel date back to the 1930s. This vintage will also need many years to develop its full expressiveness, but that's the way it is and we love this crazy development potential so much. La Crena is creamy and rich in the glass, dense, very concentrated with an abundance of layers of fruit that only develop fully with further years of ageing and make for an energetic, exciting wine. SUPERIORE.DE

For Siro Pacenti, the term "Vecchie Vigne" is not a romantic gesture. It is an agricultural decision. The oldest vines on both family estates – Pelagrilli in the north and Piancornello in the south – have now been growing for up to 60 years. They are not replaced, but tended; where necessary, they are supplemented with massal-selected cuttings from the finest mother vines. What these vines yield each year is small – but of the highest quality. 2021 was a year of reduction. The April frost affected vines at all altitudes, decimating harvest volumes and concentrating what remained on the essentials. The harvest took place in unusually calm conditions – no rain, no pressure, and a 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 bottle.

"The house of the blackbird" – a poetic name for one of Quintarelli's most mysterious wines. While the world looks to Amarone and Recioto, Giuseppe quietly composes a wine that follows no category and yet embodies the entire philosophy of the house. An unusual blend, an "insolito assemblaggio", as the Italians say: 85 per cent classic Valpolicella grapes – corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella – meet 15 per cent Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese, Nebbiolo and Croatina. A vinological puzzle that combines Veneto with Piedmont and Bordeaux. Vinification follows the traditional Ripasso method: after three days of maceration and initial alcoholic fermentation, the wines undergo a second fermentation on the still-warm marc of the Amarone – a noble technique that gives structure, depth and complexity without achieving the power of an Amarone. This is followed by seven years of ageing in large wooden barrels, a patience that seems almost unimaginable today ...

The winery's flagship white wine is called Studio di Bianco and is a blend of 40% Friulano, 35% Sauvignon Blanc and 25% Riesling, aged for 10 months in large barrels. It is an exceptional white wine, certainly one of the best in Italy, with a unique energy and tension that is reflected in a complex bouquet. A cornucopia of floral aromas, stone fruit, peach cake, honey and vanilla cream explode in the glass. The medium-bodied texture of the wine finishes smooth and very defined, revealing a unique complexity and elegance. The total production per vintage is just 1,900 bottles and anyone who has had this wine in their glass at least once in their life should consider themselves lucky. SUPERIORE.DE

In 1977, a 34-year-old manager from Bergamo came to the Tuscan coast. Pier Mario Meletti Cavallari had had enough of balance sheets and meetings – the wine journalist Luigi Veronelli had persuaded him that his place was among the vines, not in offices. What he found: a piece of land without electricity, without running water, overgrown and forgotten. Only the name reminded him of a distant past: Grattamacco – the slag heaps of the Etruscans, who smelted iron here two and a half thousand years ago. Five years later, in 1982, Meletti Cavallari bottled his first wine – as a simple Vino da Tavola, three years before Ornellaia even existed.

There are wines that are more than just wines – they are statements of intent. When Luigi Moio created his Grande Cuvée after twenty years of tireless work in the vineyards of Irpinia, he produced not only his flagship white wine, but a testament to his philosophy. This exceptional blend of 40% Greco di Tufo, 40% Fiano di Avellino and 20% Falanghina brings together Campania's three great indigenous grape varieties in a composition of rare harmony and complexity. The Greco comes from the finest plot of the Giallo d'Arles vineyard in Tufo, where marl-sand soils with a high clay content and valuable limestone deposits at an altitude of 400 metres create ideal conditions. The Fiano is selected from the finest plots of the Exultet vineyard in Lapio – here, at an altitude of 600 metres, porous layers of lapilli permeate the clay-rich subsoil, ensuring a constant water supply to the vines. Finally, the Falanghina thrives on the loose, clay-rich soils of the mid-slopes of Mirabella Eclano, where the west-facing aspect ensures optimal ripening conditions.

One may wonder whether Luigi Moio is a professor wearing a winemaker's hat or a winemaker wearing a professor's hat. His vintage presentations are academic in tone, his tasting room is run with the rigour of a lecture theatre, and his vineyards are planted according to criteria that only a mathematician or scholar could fully understand. Quintodecimo's winemaking philosophy, on the other hand, is relatively simple. The best vineyard sites are selected for each individual wine. Soils, sites and microclimates are researched with great care. Nothing is taken for granted.

Deep, shiny red colour. A beguiling blend of dark cherries, plums, mocha, liquorice, leather and cloves on the nose. Very compact and powerful fruit on the palate, characterised by deep intensity, dense layers and a velvety texture. Very focussed, balanced and certainly needs a few more years to develop fully. Outstanding elegance and length. In short: an absolute beauty! SUPERIORE.DE

Mazzei's top wine Siepi is not only an outstanding Tuscan wine every year, but also a 6-hectare vineyard in the middle of dense oak forests with an ideal altitude and a unique climate. The sunshine is optimal throughout the day and a constant breeze from the west prevents excessive heat and creates a mild, Mediterranean climate. The oak forests also provide an ideal protective barrier against extreme weather conditions. Rocky soils of marl, limestone and clay from the Pliocene period ensure a special balance of elements in this geological complex.

Black cherry red with a violet rim. On the nose, notes of spices such as ginger, cinnamon, dried coriander and vanilla pod, rounded off with fruit aromas of pomegranate and cherry, and floral nuances such as geranium, lavender and rose. On the palate, fresh rose sugar and graphite, accompanied by raspberry, cherry, fresh plum and cranberries. A long finish with a subtle hint of cassis. SUPERIORE.DE

A distinctive expression of southern elegance, shaped by the terroir of the Maremma and a cuvée that ingeniously blends Syrah and Grenache. The vines for the Tinata grow on loamy, calcareous soils on a hillside, not far from the Tyrrhenian coast near Capalbio. The 2021 vintage was balanced and almost ideal: a moderately warm summer, without any drought stress, followed by a long, sunny autumn – perfect conditions for fully ripe, aromatically complex grapes.

There are wines that define a region. Saffredi is one of them. When Elisabetta Geppetti, in 1987 – in her mid-twenties and driven by a vision to bring the sleepy Maremma to world fame – created this wine together with the legendary Giacomo Tachis, nobody could have imagined that a Super Tuscan was being born here, one that would rival Sassicaia and Tignanello. The name is a loving tribute to Fredi, Elisabetta's father-in-law Alfredo Gentili, who sparked her passion for wine and, in the 1980s, planted the five-hectare vineyard from which the grapes for Saffredi are still sourced today. The Saffredi single-vineyard plot near Pereta lies at an altitude of 250 metres, facing south-west for the old vines and south-east for the newer plantings. The soil is the result of millions of years of geological processes: of sandstone origin, rich in calcareous marl and iron minerals, low in organic matter, with clay layers only appearing from a depth of 30 centimetres. On clear days, the view from here sweeps across the hills to the Mediterranean, 25 kilometres away – a proximity to the coast that lends the wine its distinctive freshness and vibrancy.

Three generations bear this name: The grandfather, who always encouraged Giampaolo Motta in his wine dreams. The son who carries on the torch. And in between, this wine, the highest expression of a man who left the leather goods business of his Neapolitan family to create his Bordeaux in the Conca d'Oro of Panzano. The "Golden Basin" – cultivated since 1490, planted with Merlot and Cabernet for almost 400 years – became Motta's stage in 1992. He experimented with Chianti Classico for ten years, then the break: he left the Consorzio because the rules stood in the way of his vision. "I wasn't really happy with the result after ten years of work," he explained laconically. What followed was pure consistency – and, since 2008, a partnership with Stéphane Derenoncourt, perhaps the most influential consultant on the right bank of Bordeaux.

Romano Dal Forno started out in 1983 with a proposition that he has proven every vintage since: a Valpolicella can compete with the greatest wines in the world. He learnt this from Giuseppe Quintarelli. He internalised it in the Val d'Illasi, where his vines grow on alluvial gravel and clay, at up to 450 metres, with a planting density that makes every yield a rarity. Valpolicella Superiore does not begin fermentation – it begins with six weeks of appassimento. Corvina, Corvinone, Croatina, Oseleta and Rondinella dry slowly in the air of the lodoletta, losing water and gaining soul. Then: controlled fermentation in steel tanks, 36 months in new French and American oak barriques, years of ageing in the bottle.