Vinous | 95–100 Points

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

As always, the stunning Vigneti del Versante offers a spicy and seductive fruit of black cherries and plums, along with flowers, tobacco, minerals and undergrowth. The wine shows great fibre and density, with much of this power coming from the heavier soils of the selected vineyard sites. The overall impression is captivating with its intensity, yet luxurious and mysteriously dark. SUPERIORE.DE

Eucalyptus and red berries on the nose. Energetic, deep and elegant Barbaresco with a cornucopia of fruit, plus some rose petals and spices. Wonderfully polished style, one of Pelissero's great wines. SUPERIORE.DE

The Piero selection was created as a tribute to the work of Pierluigi Talenti, who has selected and worked the Sangiovese with passion over the years. A 1.95 hectare vineyard near the centre of the winery, with unique pedoclimatic characteristics, stands out from all other vineyards for its consistent quality. The gently sloping terrain is surrounded by woods rich in marl, with a south-easterly exposure at an altitude of 410 metres above sea level, where Pierluigi pursued and cultivated his personal clonal selection in the 1970s. It is a wine with an intense and persistent character, ruby red colour, fine and elegant tannins. After maturing in tonneaux for at least 24 months, it is bottled until it is released onto the market. SUPERIORE.DE

The wine bears the name of its creator – and with good reason. Andrea Franchetti, the pioneer of modern Etna viticulture who sadly died far too early in 2021, dared to do the unthinkable in the early 2000s: he planted international grape varieties at extreme altitudes on a remote lava slope in Passopisciaro with the aim of producing a wine that would not adapt but set new standards. Franchetti is made from Petit Verdot and Cesanese d'Affile in one of the highest and most radiant areas of the volcano. The lava rock, the light, the altitude – everything here seems more concentrated, more intense, magical, almost supernatural.

Just 3,500 bottles from the oldest vines of the Salco vineyard are only sold in the best vintages. In the glass, we are delighted by an extremely elegant Sangiovese with a very harmonious texture and very classic, earthy and spicy notes. SUPERIORE.DE

Marco Ricasoli-Firidolfi, the 37th generation of a family that has lived in Gaiole in Chianti since the Lombard era, dedicates this wine to an ancestor of the 10th century: Ridolfo, son of Geremia, founder of the Firidolfi branch. A wine as a family memory – and an experiment. 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 50% Pugnitello. Pugnitello, an indigenous Tuscan variety that almost disappeared from the vineyards, grows on the chalky-clay hills of Gaiole, certified organic, between 340 and 510 metres. In the blend, it gives wild cherry fruit, pepper and rusticity – characteristics, which the Cabernet frames with linearity and fine herbal depth. Hand-picked, wild yeasts, 24 months in Allier barriques and tonneau, 36 months bottle ageing. Exclusively in magnum, hand-numbered.

The name refers to the depths of the family history: Ridolfo, son of Geremia, progenitor of the Firidolfi branch, lived in the 10th century. Marco Ricasoli-Firidolfi, the 37th generation, still cultivates the same hills in Gaiole in Chianti today – and distils in this wine the most intimate expression of its terroir. 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 50% Pugnitello: internationality and tradition in equal parts. The Pugnitello, autochthonous and almost extinct, grows here organically certified on chalky-clay soils between 340 and 510 metres. It gives wild fruit, pepper and mineral depth. The Cabernet gives linearity and silky tannin. Hand-picked in three phases, fermentation in upright wooden tanks with wild yeasts, 24 months in Allier barriques and tonneau, 36 months bottle ageing. Magnum, hand-numbered, only in outstanding vintages.

When Alessandro Mori and his young family moved into the dilapidated house on the northern walls of Montalcino in 1993, there was only one habitable room. The rest was decay and promise. Today, three decades later, Il Marroneto is a monument to what perseverance and conviction can create. The building itself dates back to the 13th century – a drying house for chestnuts (marroni) that once belonged to the nuns of the small Madonna delle Grazie chapel. Here they prepared bread for weary pilgrims on the Via Francigena. Alessandro still remembers the bells ringing over the vineyards of his childhood.

A Barbera with a closed gaze – as if you were looking into a dark, purple-red depth from which concentrated essences rise. Scarrone Vigna Vecchia comes from vines that are decades old – partly planted around 1918 – in the Scarrone vineyard near Castiglione Falletto. In the cellar, spontaneous fermentation takes place in stainless steel, followed by around 16 months of ageing in predominantly French barriques (proportion new), where intelligent use of wood subtly helps the terroir. The 2021 vintage brought full maturity, dense fruit and clear acidity – the best prerequisites for an expressive but elegant Barbera with Storage potential.

There are wines that define a family across generations, and there are those moments when a winemaker gives his life's work a name that connects the past and the future. When Luciano Sandrone decided to rename his legendary Barolo Cannubi Boschis in 2013, he did not choose just any name, but created an acronym from the first names of his grandchildren: ALEssia and STEfano. ALESTE – a word that embodies experience, continuity and the hope that what he started in 1985 with the first bottle of Cannubi Boschis will continue in the hands of the next generation. Cannubi Boschis, the sub-vineyard at the heart of the mythical Cannubi vineyard in Barolo, is the vineyard in which Luciano invested all his savings in 1977 – directly opposite the winery, on a hill whose potential he recognised from the very first moment. Here, on optimal soils in a sheltered, sun-drenched location, Nebbiolo grows into the combination of power and finesse that has made Cannubi famous worldwide.

Complex and exotic bouquet of spices, black olive, rosemary, plum and cherry. Firm, compact and initially introverted on the palate, followed by mint, spices, dark red fruit, cassis and graphite. The flavours come to light rather in slices, with this outstanding red it is worth waiting like nowhere else to fully discover the depth and complexity of this Tuscan jewel. SUPERIORE.DE

Campo del Drago is a single vineyard of just 1.5 hectares and is located on a high plateau in the Montalcino appellation with a view of the Tyrrhenian Sea. The grapes from here are only vinified separately in the best years for the Brunello of the same name and the result is then eagerly awaited around 5 years later. Dark, concentrated colour with beautiful saturation and density. The bouquet reveals a unique minerality and complexity. The palate is intense, complex and deep. The tannins are present, but remain very elegant thanks to the Sangiovese acidity. Can still mature, but is already irresistible today. SUPERIORE.DE

It was Eugenio Campolmi who, in 1989, plucked up the courage to give his flagship the name of a wild herb that grows on the Tuscan coast. Eugenio Campolmi (†2002) was not originally from the world of wine. He came from a family of restaurateurs and should have taken over his parents' restaurant and trading business. Instead, he and his wife Cinzia Merli took a bold leap into the unknown in 1983. Paleo – a name that stands for unbending identity and the will to achieve any goal. What began as a classic Bordeaux blend found its true destiny in 2001: 100% Cabernet Franc, a revolution in the still young Bolgheri.

On the terraced south and south-east slopes of the Conca d'Oro, a wine is created that is more than just a homage – it is the materialisation of a vision. D'Alceo bears the name of its creator, Alceo di Napoli, who in the early 1990s ventured an experiment on virgin, never before cultivated soil that was to become a legend. Where olive trees once stood and stables characterised the land, the terraced vineyards that Antonio Galloni describes as the embodiment of everything that makes these slopes of Panzano so extraordinary have been created to this day.

Syrah Suisassi is rich and expressive. The bouquet is convincing with aromas of sage, rosemary, wild flowers, liquorice, violets and plums. On the palate very full and round with memories of berries, chocolate and nuts. Elegant and intellectual. SUPERIORE.DE

At the very top of the Serradenari parcel, the fruit grows for an exceptional Barolo, with which the young winemaker Giulia Negri has truly created a monument to herself. Marassio clearly benefits from the cool climate of Piedmont's high altitudes and will therefore hardly change its character even if the climate continues to change.

Suisassi is rich and expressive. The bouquet convinces with aromas of sage, rosemary, wild flowers, liquorice, violets and plums. The palate is very full and round with memories of berries, chocolate and nuts. Elegant and intellectual. SUPERIORE.DE

Mosconi 2021 comes from one of the most renowned crus of Monforte d'Alba – a site known for its brooding, clay-limestone soils and south-westerly exposure. The terroir here gives the Nebbiolo particular depth, warmth and structural density. The 2021 vintage was almost ideal in the Langhe: a cool, slow start to the growing season, followed by a stable summer without heat stress and a dry, sunny autumn created perfect conditions for the grapes to ripen slowly with high aromatic complexity and finely polished tannins.

The Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2019 is a fully impressive creation with a unique and interesting interpretation of this classic vintage. The wine is bold and bright, with great intensity that accompanies it from start to finish. Dark cherry and blackberry flavours stand in balanced contrast to layers of spice, cumin and cardamom. Despite its intensity and richness, this Riserva is very balanced and never oversteps its bounds. The same applies to the mouthfeel. On the palate, it offers a dense, rich texture with complex fruit flavours and bright acidity. The 2019 vintage is once again an exceptional wine from this incredibly ambitious winery! SUPERIORE.DE

In Andrea Cortonesi's own words, 2019 was the first vintage since the legendary 1990 that gave him the feeling that everything was in balance. A slow start to vegetation after a rainy winter, a summer without heat peaks, even ripening until September. Harvest from 25 September – clean, healthy, concentrated. Already a stroke of luck for the Annata. For the Riserva: a perfect invitation. But not every vintage becomes a Riserva. And not every grape in the best vintage. Cortonesi only uses the oldest vines for the Riserva – planted in 1975, back when the word Brunello was hardly known outside Montalcino. Seven hectares, spread over sites between 150 and 350 metres in Castelnuovo dell'Abate, calcareous-clayey soils with marl and mineral structure. What grows here has decades of life in it.

Graci's fourth vintage Sopra il Pozzo is a "selection from the selection" and comes from the Arcurìa vineyard. It is the red archetype of an Etna Rosso, a Nerello cru with the clear DNA of the volcanic-stony terroir. Light ruby with orange reflections, candied fruit on the nose, cooling firewood, some aniseed and herbs. The palate is silky without being smooth, its subtle wood and delicate acid wire harmonise perfectly with the flanking tannin until the unforgettable, mineral-salty finish. Only 2,300 bottles were bottled. SUPERIORE.DE

The sibi et paucis project is Luciano's answer to the question of what time does to great Nebbiolo. While other wines are released on the market after the prescribed ageing period, Sandrone keeps some of his Barolo in his own cellar for ten years longer – not out of restraint, but out of the conviction that Nebbiolo only reveals its true nature after years of silent evolution. SUPERIORE.DE

Just 300 metres from Casa pepand yet a completely different world: Branella, 2 hectares acquired by Emidio pepin 1981 – a vineyard that had already been planted in 1966 and was registered in the 1984 land register. The south-western orientation differs from Casa pepdirect southern exposure, and while silt dominates there, Branella shows an extraordinary geological diversity within the plot: In the northern, higher part, classic "speckled" blue-toned marl, in the centre a pronounced sandy zone with a lower, almost neutral pH, underneath deeper deposits of clay and calcium carbonate. The sandier, cooler soils allow the roots to penetrate deeply, while the mottled lenses of precipitated limestone create a different perception of acidity and freshness. Chiara pepand geologist Brenna Quigley realised in their multi-year study that these terroir-related differences justify vinifying Branella as a wine in its own right – a wine that does not possess the exuberant power of Casa pep, but rather agility, precision and a faster rhythm.