Wines from Tuscany

Ghiaie della Furba means "pebbles of the Furba stream" and there is a reason for this, as the vines for this wine grow on the river pebbles on the banks of this stream. It is one of the very first "Supertuscans". After an hour in the carafe, this extremely complex red reveals wonderfully clear, dark fruit, blackberries and cassis, as well as coffee notes, dark chocolate and spices. Its very good structure and personality are impressive. It is already very accessible today (with aeration), but still hides its great potential for the next decade. SUPERIORE.DE

Here is a wine that fulfils a very specific and important objective: It is exactly the bottle you want when you are sitting in front of your favourite meal with your favourite family or friends. Rosso di Montalcino Ignaccio stands for fruit, elegance, energy, good humour, accessibility and informality. It comes out of the bottle with a bright ruby red colour and exudes delicate aromas of wild berries, blue flowers and slight hints of sweet spices. There is that subtle note of freshly ground white pepper again in this vintage that you only see in cool climate Sangiovese or other wild indigenous Italian grape varieties. It is amazing how Il Marroneto manages to produce such a fruity and at the same time absolutely harmonious Rosso (6,000 bottles produced) year after year. SUPERIORE.DE

High above Sambuca Val di Pesa, just three kilometres south of the famous Tenuta Tignanello, rises the venerable Abbey of San Michele Arcangelo – a bastion of faith since the 10th century, where Giovanni Gualberto, the founder of the Vallombrosan order, once lived and died. Here, where wine of exceptional quality was already appreciated around the year 1000, only the finest Sangiovese grapes thrive on calcareous soils with clay content at an altitude of 300 metres. The historical importance of this place is documented in hundreds of volumes in the Florentine state archives – centuries of Sangiovese cultivation and rural life, preserved for eternity.

More than a hundred years ago, a white bull named Desiderio lived on the Capezzine farm in Avignonesi. He was the largest bull in Tuscany at the time – and what's more, he is one of the recognised ancestors of the Chianina breed, the noble breed of cattle from which the Bistecca Fiorentina is cut. Anyone enjoying a Florentine-style T-bone steak today is likely to have a little bit of Desiderio's DNA on their plate. It was therefore a natural choice for Avignonesi to name its most powerful red wine after him. The label shows him – and changes with every vintage. The sky, lighting mood and details in the illustration tell of the climate of the year: whether hot or cool, dry or balanced. A quiet commentary on the vintage in pictorial form.

The dark, seductive Cabernet Franc Poggio de' Colli takes its time in the glass and slowly awakens with a blend of redcurrants, peppery roses, exotic curries and a slight hint of musk that lends it gravitas. Velvety soft yet refined. Aristocratic and cool on the palate, with a powerful wave of tart raspberry fruit that feeds the palate with savoury spices and mineral notes. Leaves a layer of fine tannins and a hint of berry concentration on the final, which tapers off savoury, long and perfectly balanced. A radiant wine that will only reveal its full beauty in a few years. SUPERIORE.DE

This red classic from Montepulciano already bears its claim in its name: nobile. No other wine in Italy has this adjective written into its specifications – and hardly any other producer has honoured it as consistently in recent decades as Federico Carletti and his Poliziano winery. Founded in 1961 by father Dino, today under Federico's leadership and long since anchored in the next generation – with Francesco and Maria Stella, who have been helping to shape the future since 2019 and 2021. Poliziano has been certified organic since the 2021 harvest – not a marketing decision, but the logical conclusion of decades of work without chemical weedkillers and insecticides. Prugnolo Gentile, the local variety of Sangiovese, grows on clay and limestone soils between 300 and 450 metres above sea level. Hand-picked, careful selection in the vineyard and in the cellar, fermentation with indigenous yeasts in conical concrete vats – minimum intervention, maximum expression. Maturation in large barrels and tonneaux: the wood frames, it does not dominate.

When Ferruccio Ferragamo took over the dilapidated Borgo from the Duke of Savoy-Aosta in 1993, it was more than just a property purchase. It was, as he himself said, "an act of faith". Thirty years later, the flagship of the house carries this spirit in every bottle: a commitment to elegance without compromise. A meticulous geological study preceded its creation. Each grape variety was planted where the soil would best bring out its strengths: Merlot for velvety opulence, Cabernet Sauvignon for structure and depth, Syrah for freshness and aromatic lift. Separate vinification, then the marriage – a blend that bears the signature of Valdarno. The wines mature for eighteen months in French oak – the Merlot partly in larger barrels to preserve its fruit, Cabernet and Syrah in first and second passage barriques. The result is neither a copy of nor a competitor to Bolgheri or Chianti, but something completely unique.

What does it mean to elicit the highest form of expression from a grape variety? For the Ferragamos, it is the essence of their wine philosophy – and this Chardonnay is their white manifesto. In a region that, since Cosimo III de' Medici's decree of 1716, has been one of the four noblest wine zones in Tuscany, Il Borro dares to do the unexpected: a white wine that wants to compete with the great Burgundies. The vines are rooted in metamorphic soils interspersed with fossilised sea shells – witnesses to a time when water still covered the land here. At the foot of the Pratomagno, they find that balance of warmth and night-time coolness that gives the Chardonnay both ripeness and freshness. After being harvested by hand in small crates, an unrivalled ageing process begins: part of the must ferments in stainless steel, while the rest is divided between clayver, acacia and oak barriques. Maturation on the fine lees lends texture and depth – each vessel contributes its own nuance before merging into the final cuvée.

Pelagrilli is the origin – the name of the hillside north-east of Montalcino, which Siro Pacenti acquired in 1970, and at the same time the name of the flagship Brunello that his son Giancarlo has been vinifying since 1988. On sandy-loamy soils, channelling the cooling westerly winds, between 25 and 40-year-old vines, a Brunello is created here that combines Giancarlo's mathematical precision and his Bordeaux experience: fermentation in steel at a controlled temperature, 24 months in small French barriques – not for flavour, but for purity. 2020 was a warm, dry summer – sangiovese under pressure, which, where well managed, turned into concentrated, supple fruit. The northern slope of Pelagrilli absorbed the heat better than the southern sites; the harvest began in mid-September under good conditions.

Vigna San Marcellino Gran Selezione is both youthfully fresh and ripe and complexly muscular. It contains a healthy dose of the deeply coloured Pugnitello grape, and on the nose liquorice, tarragon and broom mingle with lush plum and subtle roasted aromas that are highly seductive in their complexity. Deep, taut and lively on the palate, loaded with black cherry and rich, velvety tannins. The texture is silky, while subtle chalky notes and a salty minerality give it plenty of energy and lead it into a juicy, refreshing finish. Vigna San Marcellino is a convincing wine with enormous ageing potential every year. SUPERIORE.DE

The Paesaggio Inatteso selection comes from Camigliano's 3.5-hectare "La Magia" vineyard, which has mineral and calcareous soils. Only just under 3,000 bottles are bottled. It offers a more robust style and a stronger aromatic intensity than the Annata. Bright red with an amber-coloured rim. On the nose, round notes of walnut shells, roasted hazelnuts and linseed, as well as red plums, pomegranate seeds and green olives. Traces of incense and cardamom in the background. Full-bodied, lively tannins on the palate, with hints of red berries and flowers leading to an intense and long finish. SUPERIORE.DE

Bianco Trinoro is made from 100% Semillon from a tiny sandy plot in the highest areas of the Trinoro vineyard. The plot is located at around 600 metres above sea level and covers approximately 5,000 square metres. The vineyard was partially planted in 2001 and completed in 2006 with vines from Bordeaux; here, as elsewhere on the estate, the vines are planted close together, one metre apart, in the Bordeaux style. Very aromatic with ripe, fruity notes balanced by a lovely freshness and acidity, great length and very good ageing potential! SUPERIORE.DE

With this exceptional Chianti Classico Riserva, the Mazzei family celebrates their famous ancestor Ser Lapo, in whose writings the name "Chianti" is mentioned for the first time. The upper part of the label features a faithful reproduction of one of his writings (from 1398) with beautiful calligraphy. "Don't worry about the cost of this wine, even though it was expensive: its quality will make up for it."

In 1994, when Lodovico Antinori was looking for suitable land for the expansion of his Tenuta dell'Ornellaia, he discovered the hills of Bibbona almost by chance, which were to rewrite 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 of the Tyrrhenian Sea – everything spoke a different language to the familiar Ornellaia terroir. Too different, too wild, too full of character for a simple extension. And yet too fascinating to let go.

In the past, the northern slope of Montalcino was not planted with vines, but was cultivated with cereals, olives and cherries. In this area influenced by the Apennines, the seasons are more pronounced, continental and the north wind significantly lowers the temperature in winter. It is therefore the coldest Brunello region at this time of year, but also the wettest. This northern slope is a gentle hill: a characteristic that is more reminiscent of the Crete Senesi area, right next door, than the two stiffer, steeper and warmer southern slopes of Montalcino.

This red wine in Riserva quality is dedicated to Bettino Ricasoli, who wrote down the grape variety mix of today's Chianti back in 1872. But he was much more than that: twice Prime Minister of the united Italy (1861 and 1866), founder of the daily newspaper "La Nazione", agricultural researcher and "father" of the first Chianti product specification. The creation of this wine interprets his tireless determination to create an independent Chianti style that is both traditional and contemporary to this day.

In 2012, Carlo Franchetti began producing wines from Pinot Noir grapes grown on the hillsides around San Casciano Bagni. The following year saw the creation of Sancaba, the first collaboration with his cousin, which aimed to emphasise the richness, depth and uniqueness of this grape variety in this particular terroir. In 2014, the two cousins merged their wineries and founded Vini Franchetti. Sadly, Andrea Franchetti passed away in 2021, a wine visionary who leaves a big gap. However, his two very different wine projects, one at Tenuta di Trinoro and the other called Passopisciaro on the slopes of Mount Etna, have one thing in common: bringing the characteristics of the vintage, the specificity of the terroir and the full potential of the grape variety into the glass. His wines are intuitive and poetic and always express exactly what his philosophy and vision of wine and life was.

The Romanesque Pieve di San Marcellino was built in the year 1000. It still stands today – in the middle of the vineyards of Rocca di Montegrossi, seven kilometres south of Gaiole, at the southern tip of the Chianti Classico. The vineyard bears its name. And the vines that surround it are older than most of the appellations that appear on labels today. Marco Ricasoli-Firidolfi is a descendant of Baron Bettino Ricasoli – the "Iron Baron" who defined the formula for Chianti Classico in the 19th century. Not as a marketing idea, but as a genetic link to this soil. The vineyard has been certified organic since 2010 and has been planted with Pugnitello alongside Sangiovese since 2006 – an autochthonous Tuscan grape variety that was almost extinct in the 1980s. Pugnitello deepens the colour, thickens the structure and sharpens the profile of the Sangiovese grape. Hand-picked, separate fermentation of both varieties on wild yeasts in upright wooden tanks, 24 months in Allier barriques and tonneau, bottled unfiltered. Only produced in outstanding vintages – the 2020 is one of them.

In 2012, Carlo Franchetti began producing wines from Pinot Noir grapes grown on the hillsides around San Casciano Bagni. The following year saw the creation of Sancaba, the first collaboration with his cousin, which aimed to emphasise the richness, depth and uniqueness of this grape variety in this particular terroir. In 2014, the two cousins merged their wineries and founded Vini Franchetti. Sadly, Andrea Franchetti passed away in 2021, a wine visionary who leaves a big gap. However, his two very different wine projects, one at Tenuta di Trinoro and the other called Passopisciaro on the slopes of Mount Etna, have one thing in common: bringing the characteristics of the vintage, the specificity of the terroir and the full potential of the grape variety into the glass. His wines are intuitive and poetic and always emphasise exactly what his philosophy and vision of wine and life was.