Wine Spectator

Bricco di Treiso 2021 comes from the single vineyard of the same name, one of the highest parcels in the appellation, where the vines are rooted on calcareous marl soils in a cool microclimate. The 2021 vintage brought ideal conditions: a cool spring, followed by a balanced summer and a long, dry autumn – perfect for the slow ripening of the Nebbiolo. After a long maceration period, the wine matured in large oak barrels and a small proportion of barriques. In the glass, it is garnet-red in colour with delicate orange reflections and notes of rose, sour cherry, liquorice and light spice on the nose. On the palate, it is powerful yet finely characterised, with precise acidity, cool fruit and saline depth. The tannins are present but silky and interwoven – a Barbaresco of austere beauty, great transparency and with long ageing potential. SUPERIORE.DE

Cepparello – named after the small stream that rises at the highest point of the Isole e Olena vineyards. Since 1980, this name has embodied Paolo De Marchis's revolutionary vision, at a time when 100% Sangiovese was still taboo in Chianti Classico. With this wine, the Piedmontese visionary not only created one of the first Super Tuscans, but also what is arguably the most authentic portrait of the Sangiovese grape – pure, uncompromising, unadulterated. The Sangiovese vines grow on the estate's finest plots, facing south-west at an altitude of 400 to 480 metres, on the characteristic Galestro soils. These schist-rich clay soils lend the wine its unmistakable minerality and elegance. The 2020 vintage embodies De Marchi's signature style in its purest form. Following a mild, dry winter and a sudden drop in temperature in March – which required the utmost vigilance against frost damage – a classic Tuscan summer ensued. Dry and mild until the end of August, followed by scattered showers before the weather settled in September – ideal conditions for grapes of exceptional quality and quantity.

Ornato, Serralunga d'Alba, that is: stony limestone marl, warm vats with good aeration, the south/south-west exposure ensures deep ripeness, the altitude ensures balance. Hand-picked, separate vinification in stainless steel, extended maceration time. Maturation in large barrels is supplemented by a small proportion of barriques/tonneaux – more for texture than flavour. 2020 offered a stable summer and clear nights for the harvest: ripe harvest, supple phenolics, brilliant fruit.

The single vineyard Il Bricco, situated on both sides of the hilltop, the highest point is about 410 metres above sea level. Family-owned since the 1970s, you can expect great things every year. 2020 brought a stable summer, with a precise cooling in September and cool nights until the harvest. The result is very healthy, aromatically ripe grapes with clear fruit and balanced acidity – charming on the palate, yet precise and persistent. After separate fermentation of the batches in stainless steel, the wine is matured traditionally in large barrels and a moderate proportion of barrique is used for texture.

As the Tuscan sun rises over the San Lorenzo Valley, it casts its golden light on the eighteen-year-old Pianigiani and Ricucci villas – the historic walls that gave this extraordinary Gran Selezione its name. It is a moment of silence before the story of a wine begins, which carries the quintessence of four legendary vineyards: Bellavista, Casuccia, San Lorenzo and Montebuoni. The 2021 vintage was a gift from nature to the winemakers of Chianti Classico. A rainy spring, which gave the vines the moisture they needed, was followed by a warm but not scorching summer. These climatic conditions gave the grapes a fullness and fleshiness that would later reveal itself in the glass as velvety opulence. Marco Pallanti, the driving force behind Castello di Ama since 1982 and former president of the Chianti Classico consortium, immediately recognised the extraordinary potential of this vintage.

Podernovi is San Polo's great single-vineyard Brunello. Ruby red colour with light garnet reflections. On the nose, floral aromas of violets, cyclamen and jasmine, notes of fresh fruit and spicy notes. In the mouth, round, full of harmony and with a good structure and acidity, as well as very soft tannins that show excellent persistence overall. A wine of almost endless length, depth and with a distinct character that lingers in the memory. SUPERIORE.DE

The 2020 Barbaresco Bernadot comes from one of the coolest and highest cru sites in the municipality of Treiso, whose sandy, chalky soils and exposed south-east exposure give the Nebbiolo particular precision and aromatic clarity. The year was characterised by a warm spring, followed by a stable summer with cool nights, which ensured slow, even ripening and preserved the freshness of the wine.

The fruit for Tenuta Nuova is harvested from a south and south-east facing slope at 250 to 300 metres above sea level. The soils are loose and mixed with gravel, which allows access to air and moisture.

Giovanni Manetti was just twenty when, in 1981, he was due to press the first vintage together with Oenologist Franco Bernabei: a pure Sangiovese, at a time when the rules governing Chianti Classico still stipulated a proportion of white wine. What began as an act of rebellion became a legend. Flaccianello della Pieve, one of the first single-varietal Super Tuscans, proved that Sangiovese can achieve world-class status without any blending. The name derives from the original vineyard, but since 2001 Flaccianello has been a selection of the finest grapes from three plots on the estate, primarily those at the highest altitudes of 480 metres, where Pietraforte soils predominate. This conglomerate of sandstone varieties lends the wine the freshness and structure that set it apart from the rest.

The single vineyard Gallina in Neive has been synonymous with powerful, broodingBarbaresco for decades. The vines grow on calcareous marl soils with a southern exposure – a terroir that characterises the Nebbiolo with lush fruit, fine spice and distinctive structure. Organic cultivation promotes vitality and expressiveness, while limiting yields ensures concentration. The 2021 vintage was characterised by an ideal balance: warm, sunny days and cool nights during the ripening phase resulted in healthy, aromatically complex grapes. After careful manual harvesting, a traditional maceration followed, after which the wine matured for around 20 months in new barriques before being bottled unfiltered.

Tenuta Nuova. The name carries weight: when Giacomo Neri acquired the land around Le Cetine, near the Abbazia di Sant'Antimo in southern Montalcino, in the early 1990s, no one had ever planted Sangiovese there. This was no oversight – it was a judgement that Giacomo Neri wanted to overturn. Not out of defiance, but out of conviction: that this terrain, this microclimate, these soils held the potential for a Brunello with a character all of its own. What followed was not a gut feeling, but a methodical approach. Systematic studies of the microclimates, the optimal exposures and the soils – clone selection, rootstock research, planting distances; everything was scrutinised, every decision made. The first result came in 1993. A few years later, the rest of the world was talking about it.

Sandro Chia had the right instinct when he acquired the very high vineyard, which his neighbours had actually advised him not to buy. Named after this single vineyard, the famous artist and his son Filippo vinified a wine here that is somewhat denser than the normal Annata. The full bouquet has lively notes of dark red cherries, spices, plums and leather. Filo di Seta is racy and lush, but still has a clearly recognisable structure and impresses with its impressive balance. Sweet floral and spicy notes lend it exciting nuances on the expressive finish. A bold and incredibly viral Brunello and a masterpiece every year! SUPERIORE.DE

A wine that made history. When Francesco Ricasoli presented Casalferro for the first time in 1993, it marked the beginning of a new era for the venerable Castello di Brolio and cemented Ricasoli's membership in the elite of Italian oenology. Today, almost three decades later, Casalferro 2019 is a prime example of how a French grape variety matures to exceptional perfection on Tuscan terroir. Casalferro is the essence of three exceptional individual vineyards: Vigna Casalferro, Vigna Pecchierino and Vigna Sodacci. These 13 hectares of Merlot vineyards between 400 and 500 metres above sea level are the result of decades of meticulous terroir studies. Each site has its own personality: Vigna Casalferro with its sandstone and limestone soils, Vigna Pecchierino on pure Alberese limestone and Vigna Sodacci on iron-rich sandstone soils. They all share the characteristic altitude, which gives the grapes the crystalline freshness and lively acidity that characterise the DNA of the Brolio terroir.

In 2001, when the Mascheroni Stianti family planted the Casanova vineyard, one of the most visionary projects in the history of Tuscan viticulture began. Between the legendary Coltassala and Balifico vineyards, on the sun-drenched south-south-east flank of Volpaia, a living museum of Sangiovese biodiversity was created – a vineyard that was to become the flagship of an entire philosophy. Il Puro is the pure essence of Chianti Classico: 100 per cent Sangiovese, 100 per cent indigenous clones, 100 per cent organic, 100 per cent Radda.

High above the Tanaro in the municipality of Treiso lies the Valeirano parcel – one of the most barren and steepest sites in Barbaresco. Calcareous marl soils, interspersed with fine veins of sand, and an exposed south-east exposure give the Nebbiolo here a particularly taut, vertical profile. The 2021 vintage brought ideal conditions: a steady summer, cool nights and a golden autumn ensured perfectly ripe grapes with high aromatic potential. After careful manual harvesting, the wine fermented traditionally on the skins and then matured for around 20 months in new barriques before being bottled unfiltered.

This coveted Riserva is only vinified in top vintages and comes from the highest vineyards of the winery. On the nose, the essence of dark cherries, blackberries, flowers, violets, liquorice and spices, which are then carried away on the palate by firm, structured tannins. The Brunello Riserva 2016 impresses with its remarkable fruit and a big, explosive finish. It presents itself fresh and surprisingly lively, yet very focused and balanced. A great wine that is already a real joy to drink. SUPERIORE.DE

If there is one thing Giacomo Neri has mastered 100 per cent, it is harvesting at the optimum stage of ripeness. He knows his estate and his vines better than most, and it shows. The grapes for the Tenuta Nuova are harvested from a south- and south-east-facing slope at an altitude of 250 to 300 metres above sea level. The soils are loose and mixed with gravel, which allows for good access to air and moisture.

The Vigna Loreto covers one and a half hectares. Steep, stony and east-facing – the slope faces the morning sun, not the midday sun. The soil is rich in tuff and pebbles, poor in nutrients, and unforgiving. The vines are the result of a mass selection from eight of the estate's own Sangiovese clones, which Mastrojanni has selected over decades: the estate's genetic memory is embodied in every vine. It was Gabriele Mastrojanni himself who recognised Vigna Loreto as a distinct plot – the ability to demonstrate finesse where Castelnuovo dell'Abate would otherwise impress with power. Today, every vintage confirms what the founder saw: Loreto speaks more softly than the great Brunello, but with greater precision. The east-facing aspect gives the wine freshness; the tuff lends it mineral tension; and the lean soils force concentration without overripeness. 36 months' ageing in Allier barrels ranging from 16 to 33 hectolitres – the small sizes that allow the wood to be close to the wine without dominating it.

Ridolfo was the son of Geremia, the founder of the noble family of Ricasoli in the Lombard era. His descendants called themselves "di filiis Rodulphi" – the children of Ridolfo – which over the centuries became Firidolfi. Marco Ricasoli-Firidolfi is the 37th generation. The wine is dedicated to this ancestor: not to the father, the founder – but to the son, the continuator. Ridolfo is Marco's most personal intuition: 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 50% Pugnitello – equal parts internationality and tradition. Pugnitello, an autochthonous Tuscan variety that almost died out in the 1980s, grows on these hills in Gaiole in Chianti, 340 to 510 metres, calcareous-loamy soils, certified organic. It brings wild cherry fruit, pepper, rustic character. The Cabernet gives linearity, silky tannin, fine herbal depth. Hand-picked, fermentation in upright wooden tanks with wild yeasts, 24 months in Allier barriques and tonneau, 36 months bottle ageing. Exclusively in magnums, hand-numbered, only in outstanding vintages.

In 1994, whilst Lodovico Antinori was searching for suitable land to expand his Tenuta dell'Ornellaia, he discovered, almost by chance, the hills of Bibbona, which were to reshape his destiny as a winemaker. What he found there was not just land – it was a revelation. The soils, a complex symphony of clay and the legendary Bolgheri conglomerate, the orientation of the slopes, the salty breezes from the Tyrrhenian Sea – everything spoke a different language to the familiar Ornellaia terroir. Too different, too wild, too full of character to be a mere extension. And yet too fascinating to let go of.