Wine

Lodano Rosso is a blend of Petit Verdot and Merlot that is seamlessly integrated with its dark fruits, blackberries and plums, which are nicely rounded off by smoke and tobacco from French oak and a smaller proportion of American oak. The Merlot comes from the winery's famous old vines, and the contemporary concentration and richness of the Lodano can be found in this wine as well as in the winery's entire portfolio. The dark fruits and spices speak in a deep baritone that calls for a juicy grilled steak, it also offers excellent value! SUPERIORE.DE

A Merlot of impressive depth and fidelity to its origins: "Ros di Buri" comes from the single vineyard of the same name near Buttrio, whose old vines are deeply rooted in the typical Ponca soils of marl and sandstone. This vineyard is one of the winery's prime locations and produces a Merlot that is far more than just an international style wine. The grapes are rigorously selected, harvested by hand and vinified in small French barriques, where the wine matures for 18 months before spending further time in the bottle to reach perfection.

Deep ruby red colour, lush notes of cherries, strawberries and sweet oak spice, vanilla and black pepper. The Sangiovese gives the blend great freshness and is in perfect balance with the silky and soft tannins of the Merlot. Overall rich, but always elegant and with great persistence. A complex, excellently structured red wine in absolute Super Tuscan quality and produced in a limited edition of just under 3,000 bottles. SUPERIORE.DE

Monprà combines equal parts Barbera and Nebbiolo from vines in Monforte d'Alba, some of which are over 50 years old, at an altitude of 300-400 metres, from sites with clayey-limestone marl soils interspersed with sandy veins. Fermentation is temperature-controlled and takes place separately for each grape variety in stainless steel, while malolactic fermentation and 18 months of ageing take place separately in French oak. Only then are the batches blended – a precise, elegant blend that combines the fullness of Barbera with the noblesse of Nebbiolo.

The small 2-hectare Sant'Eusanio vineyard is located approximately 500 metres above sea level in the highest zone of the entire Valle-Reale area. What distinguishes this vineyard from the others in Popoli is its northern exposure and the temperature differences between day and night, which can reach the lowest temperatures in the valley. These factors lead to extreme microclimatic conditions under which the grapes of Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Sant'Eusanio ripen, making it a unique wine. It is an uncompromising expression of Montepulciano from the mountains and speaks a dynamic language of acidity and freshness that contrasts sharply with the body and structure of the wines grown in the coastal zone of the region.

A Chardonnay of great typicity and fidelity to its origins, grown in the cooler Colline Teatine. The 2022 vintage was characterised by balanced ripeness and pleasant acidity - ideal conditions for balanced white wines with structure. The wine was matured partly in large oak barrels and partly in stainless steel on the fine lees. Medium golden yellow in colour with a delicate straw hue. The aroma presents ripe yellow fruit such as apple and pear, citrus notes, some pineapple and light-coloured flowers. A subtle buttery note and fine spice in the background. On the palate, it is creamy yet clear: a structured texture with integrated acidity, a fine melt and light spice. The minerality of the soil is evident in the finish with salty tension and an elegant finish. Marina Cvetic Chardonnay 2022 is not an opulent wine, but a Chardonnay with expression and plenty of character. It combines freshness and substance, origin and oenological precision. SUPERIORE.DE

Lis is a mixed blend of Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc and is one of the house's top wines. It has a wonderfully complex aroma of citrus and passion fruit, yellow apple and an initially barely perceptible flavour lead from the Sauvignon Bianco. All elements of this cuvée are equally and masterfully married on the palate, the mouthfeel is soft and round. This complex and at the same time elegant white wine, with its subtle pressure, whets the appetite for more and inevitably casts a spell over every Friuli fan. SUPERIORE.DE

Mathias is one of the top wines. Together with the Pinot Nero Riserva Matan and the Cortazo red wine cuvée, it forms the top tier of Pfitscher’s quality pyramid. A white wine that offers the most complete picture of the vineyard of the same name and the family’s philosophy. The soils on which it grows are unique: grey porphyry and sandy-limestone rock dust. Two geological worlds in a single vineyard: the volcanic depth of the porphyry and the mineral-driven precision of the Alpine limestone. As James Suckling once put it, this captures the essence: "Wild herbs, gentian root, flint, white currant – with a literally breathtaking mineral freshness on final." A Sauvignon that doesn’t scream of fruit, but speaks of its terroir.

Tenuta San Leonardo is a name synonymous with red wine. For generations, the Guerrieri Gonzaga family in Avio, in southern Trentino, has been producing a Bordeaux blend that connoisseurs mention in the same breath as Italy's finest wines. Far fewer people are aware that the estate also produces white wine (and rosé) – and does so with the same precision. Vette di San Leonardo takes its name from the peaks that frame the vineyards. "Vette" – peaks, summits – is the image San Leonardo has chosen for this Sauvignon Blanc: high-altitude, crisp, unmistakable. The grapes come from Roveré della Luna, a village on the border between Trentino and Alto Adige, which ranks among the finest Sauvignon Blanc sites in northern Italy. With the Dolomites as a backdrop, cool nights and a long ripening process on the vine. Hand-harvested in September. Exclusively stainless steel, no oak. Five months sur lie on the fine lees – for texture and depth without external ageing.

Pecchenino, traditionally known in Dogliani for Dolcetto, ventured into Monforte d'Alba, one of the eleven Barolo villages and home to some of the appellation's most prestigious single vineyards, in the early 2000s. Today, the family cultivates plots in the three prestigious Menzioni Geografiche Aggiuntive Ravera di Monforte, Le Coste di Monforte and Bussia – sites whose names carry weight in connoisseur circles. San Giuseppe is not a single vineyard, but a composed vision: 50% Ravera di Monforte, 35% Le Coste and 15% Bussia merge to create a Barolo that combines the strengths of these different terroirs. Ravera, at an altitude of 440 metres, with its whitish marl, brings minerality and structure. Le Coste, exposed to the south-east, delivers elegance and aromatic finesse. Bussia, the largest and best known of the three, contributes strength and ageing potential. The chalky, clayey soils, the south to south-westerly exposure and the precise manual labour in the vineyard – everything follows the principle of low yields for maximum concentration.

Our team drinks this after work, our very special insider recommendation for purists: finely balanced and very elegant Prosecco Millesimato Spumante Superiore with a shiny golden colour and green reflections. Floral bouquet, fine perlage and elegant flavours of pear and white fruit, which lend the aristocratic, dry structure a great deal of elegance and length. This is not an everyday occurrence, even in the noble DOCG Conegliano Valdobbiadene! SUPERIORE.DE

In the quiet morning hours of Gallura, when the first light dances over the granite hills and the Sardinian Mediterranean scrub begins to awaken, something extraordinary emerges. Amistai – a name that means friendship and solidarity in the ancient language of Gallura – is Capichera's bold answer to the question: can a rosé achieve the same depth and complexity as the estate's legendary white wines? With the 2024 vintage, the traditional winery took a revolutionary step. Where the classic També epitomises the light elegance of Sardinian rosés, Amistai breaks all conventions. Made from the finest autochthonous grapes from selected vineyards, prolonged maceration and a vinification process that redefines boundaries – this rosé is Capichera's manifesto for a new era in Sardinian viticulture.

The grapes for the Vigna Pedale come from vines that are over 30 years old. The vines are planted in a sapling system, which allows only a few grapes per vine. The harvest does not begin until mid-October, which is very unusual for this location so far south. Purple dark red colour. Spicy aroma of cherries, thyme, wild mushrooms and earth, the typical, unadulterated flavour is strong and concentrated with a subtle sweetness. This wine is already a great pleasure today, but still has potential for the coming years. SUPERIORE.DE

Pliocene clays retain moisture. In a dry, hot year like 2020, this is not merely an agricultural detail, but a survival strategy. The clay soils of Poggio Landi, situated 300 to 500 metres above Torrenieri, provided a natural buffer against the summer drought that put large parts of Montalcino under strain that year. The organically farmed vines, with their deeper, more active root systems, played their part. The result is a Brunello full of concentration and character. Herbal and spicy notes on the nose – wild herbs, fennel and oregano – followed by sweet cherry and tamarind. Two weeks of spontaneous fermentation, 38 months in large French oak barrels, and 6 months in bottle.

Vigna San Francesco Cabernet Sauvignon is a solitaire among Sicilian red wines - not a Mediterranean outlier, but an expressive, noble representative of its grape variety, grown at an altitude of 570 metres in the cool vineyards of the Tenuta Regaleali winery in the heart of Sicily. The San Francesco parcel, planted with Cabernet since 1985, rests on calcareous clay soils whose structure and drainage lend the wine precision, depth and vigour.

Strong ruby red. Pinot Nero Case Via exudes a varietal bouquet of wild berries and pipe tobacco, which combines harmoniously with the barrel spice. The soft, characterful taste is based on the strength of the tannin and the excellent aroma structure of the Pinot Pinot Noir. SUPERIORE.DE

In the Valley of the Gods (Valpantena), Bertani has been writing perhaps the purest Amarone story in Italy since 1857. This northernmost subzone of Valpolicella is considered their secret cru, where marl-limestone on the eastern slope and clay-limestone on the western slope of the hills create a unique terroir. Here, far from the tourist trails, Corvina Veronese and Rondinella thrive on 15 to 20-year-old vines. After being harvested by hand in September, the grapes are left to rest for four months in the historic drying rooms of the Grezzana winery until the winter pressing begins. 30 months of ageing in Slavonian oak barrels and barriques give this Amarone its characteristic finesse – less opulent than the classics from Negrar, but more mineral and flavoursome.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Caterina Zardini lost her husband. What remained were ten children, a hundred hectares of land in the heart of Valpolicella Classica and a winery that her husband Carlo Campagnola had built up with passion – he had won the prize for the best Recioto in the region in 1907. Caterina could have handed over the estate. But she didn't. She took over the work and continued to run the winery with all her children, laying the foundations for five generations of a wine family that is still rooted in Marano di Valpolicella today. This Amarone bears her name, a tribute.

Fayé – is the old dialect name for Faedo. The place that is the focus of everything here bears its oldest name in this wine. And the wine embodies the place: on the labels, in the terroir, in the choice of grape varieties blended here. 50% Cabernet Sauvignon sets the framework: structure, dark fruit, longevity. Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Lagrein fill it out – and that is the crucial point. For Lagrein is no international guest. It is indigenous, at home exclusively in Trentino-South Tyrol, and it gives Fayé an identity that no pure Bordeaux cuvée could ever have. A red wine that is rooted in the international scene yet remains deeply rooted in its local terroir.

Le Baròncole – the little manors. The name refers to the feudal division of this land in the Middle Ages, to landowners who were small enough to be forgotten, yet large enough to leave their mark on the landscape. Today, Le Baròncole is the name of San Giusto a Rentennano's finest Chianti Classico – a Riserva produced only in years when the terroir warrants it. The estate overlooks the upper Arbia Valley at an altitude of 270 metres. The soils are varied – sand, clay, limestone and mineral-rich deposits – and characterised by a microclimate that experiences marked temperature fluctuations between day and night. In such locations, Sangiovese ripens differently to elsewhere: more slowly, with greater tension, and with a freshness not found in the Maremma or the lower Chianti region. 97% Sangiovese, 3% Canaiolo, harvested by hand in September, when the Martini di Cigalas are ready. Aged for 16 to 20 months in large oak casks and French barriques, depending on the vintage, followed by a further six months' bottle ageing.

Monprà consists of equal parts Barbera and Nebbiolo – two Piedmontese character grape varieties that together paint a picture of fruit, tension and fine contours. They grow in Monforte d'Alba at an altitude of 300-400 metres on soils of calcareous marl with sandy and clayey veins that lend minerality and structure. Both grape varieties are fermented separately, undergo malolactic fermentation and then mature for around twelve months in used French barriques. Only then are they blended – this preserves the characteristics of both varieties and creates a harmonious whole.

It was almost a silent revolution when Michele Satta decided to set the stage for Sangiovese in Bolgheri. While all around him his illustrious neighbours – sassicaia, Ornellaia, Guado al Tasso – were dancing the international Bordeaux party, the non-conformist from Varese dared to do the unthinkable: he planted the pure Tuscan soul in an appellation that was supposed to breathe French elegance. Cavaliere – the knight – does not bear this name by chance. It is Michele Satta's personal crusade for the grape variety that he reveres as "Tuscany's emblem of elegance and nobility". Today, he is the only producer in Bolgheri who takes on this challenge with the same passion as the international varieties.

The grapes for Clerico's entry-level Barolo come from younger vines in the top vineyards of Pajana, Ciabot Mentin and Percristina (Mosconi). The 2021 vintage is considered one of the best of the last decade: a balanced vegetation cycle with warm, sunny days and cool nights promoted even ripening and preserved the concise acidity structure. In the glass, it shines a rich garnet red with ruby-coloured reflections. The nose reveals a clear, complex aroma of ripe cherry, dark plum and dried rose, complemented by hints of violet, tobacco, liquorice and a fine, balsamic note. Powerful and precise on the palate, with juicy fruit, present, well-integrated acidity and taut, fine-grained tannins that promise a long development. The 2021 still needs to develop a little, but the essential components are already very convincing today. SUPERIORE.DE

1975 – two years after Riecine’s first Chianti Classico – john Dunkley decided that some years and some grapes deserve more than the usual. The Riserva was born. Since then, it has only been produced when the selection allows: the best vineyards, the oldest vines, two stages of selection – in the vineyard and on the sorting table – before the grapes enter the cellar. The vines for the Riserva are between 25 and 45 years old. After selection, the must is transferred to unglazed Nomblot concrete vats. There, the must is initially kept cool with dry ice for four to five days before spontaneous fermentation begins – slowly, naturally. After fermentation, the wine spends a further ten days on the skins, with the cap submerged. Then comes the centrepiece: the entire Riserva production is transferred to a single large oak cask from Grenier. Untoasted – no toasty aromas, no vanilla, no foreign character. Just the neutral, breathable structure of the wood. 22 months. Then back into concrete for natural stabilisation and clarification. Finally, three months in bottle.