Wines from Tuscany

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.

Keir Ansonica is the white answer to Keir Syrah, which is also aged in amphorae. A wine produced in small quantities of 2,000 bottles, which is neither clarified nor filtered and is an expression of both innovation and tradition.

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

The grapes for this single-varietal Grenache come from a plot planted in 2014 at 350 metres above sea level. The rocky, calcareous clay is mixed with some soils of volcanic origin. The maceration on the skins in amphorae (called "orcio" in Italian) lasts up to five months and the stems are included. The last three months of ageing are spent in barriques, as this contributes to the natural clarification of this essentially unfiltered wine. No sulphites are added except at bottling. Just 2,000 bottles are produced each year.

The Piero selection was created as a tribute to the work of Pierluigi Talenti, who has passionately selected and cultivated Sangiovese 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.

In 2001, Luca Sanjust unceremoniously renamed his Vinsanto del Chianti "San Petrolo Passito Bianco", as he was no longer willing to put up with the uncompromising and incomprehensible views of the consortium on the specification of a Vin Santo del Chianti Classico. For some of the analytical values (sugar, acidity, alcohol content) of his exceptional dessert wine did not correspond to the rigid specifications of the regulations, which, however, did not detract from the quality of his wine. There are just 600 bottles of each vintage, but they are quite something.

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

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

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 a 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.

Marco Bacci's Brunello Riserva from the dream vintage 2016 presents itself full and generous on the nose. Cascades of violet and black fruits wash over the senses with black cherry, blackberry jam and smoked tobacco. The opulent overall impression is completed with a hint of bitter almond and subtle notes of smoke and nuts. These give the wine a deep and dark character. Very well structured on the palate and built for a long life with its well-formed acid-tannin framework. SUPERIORE.DE

The Riecine vineyard in Gaiole in Chianti has a history dating back to the 11th century. Today's vineyards grow between 430 and 600 metres above sea level on stony, alluvial limestone soils over a subsoil of pure limestone - rock that was once washed here from the Monterossi hill by the ancient Massellone river (once called "Clante", the origin of the name "Chianti"). Since 2006, La Gioia has been a pure Sangiovese, a decision that perfectly reflects the philosophy of the estate: absolute concentration on the noblest of all Tuscan grape varieties.

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.

Historically, the vineyards of Castello di Fonterutoli are located in the areas of three neighbouring municipalities of Chianti Classico: Castellina in Chianti, Castelnuovo Berardenga and Radda in Chianti. With the 2017 vintage, the Mazzei family vinified all three large vineyards separately as Chianti Classico Gran Selezione for the first time in order to recognise the diversity of the terroir: Castello di Fonterutoli, Vicoregio 36 and Badiòla.

Historically, the vineyards of Castello di Fonterutoli are located in the areas of three neighbouring municipalities of Chianti Classico: Castellina in Chianti, Castelnuovo Berardenga and Radda in Chianti. With the 2017 vintage, the Mazzei family vinified all three large vineyards separately as Chianti Classico Gran Selezione for the first time in order to recognise the diversity of the terroir: Castello di Fonterutoli, Vicoregio 36 and Badiòla.

The name says it all: wines of the slopes. Vigneti del Versante is made from grapes from the Cancello Rosso parcel and the lower part of Pian Bassolino – sites, which lie at an altitude of 350 metres and have a soil of exceptional geological diversity. Calcareous clay, slightly decomposed marl, sandstone, flysch – layers from the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods, interspersed with volcanic influences from nearby Monte Amiata. In the Cancello Rosso vineyard, an increased proportion of sand in the topsoil provides the typical spicy and nutty flavours of the berries; Pian Bassolino contributes with a calcareous density. Jan Erbach sees the Vigneti del Versante as the search for a harmony that is more than the sum of its parts – like the different voices of an orchestra that only find their sound together. Spontaneous fermentation, strict selection of grapes on the table, no technological additives, maturation in large oak barrels without filtration.

Gambero Rosso named the Giodo Brunello 2020 "The best red wine in Italy in 2026", and the reasoning reads like a silent tribute: "The sum of his experience with Sangiovese, his first love." His daughter Bianca Ferrini added what is behind the wine: "It is the first vintage in the new cellar, the first chapter together with my father."

Produced in small quantities, Vallocchio clearly stands out from pure Brunello di Montalcino. Darker, deeper and more mystical, it shows notes of ripe blackberries and plums, complemented by exotic brown spices and a hint of lemon confit. Its texture is like velvet stretching across the palate, black-fruited and ripe, underpinned by minerals and cooling herbal notes. It is youthfully monolithic and dense, revealing its austere tannin core only towards the end, where notes of black tea, liquorice and a hint of cocoa emerge. SUPERIORE.DE

Luce Brunello is dark and impenetrable, as always in its more international style. On the palate, it delivers ripe and round fruit flavours of blackberries and plums with plenty of opulence, power and breed. SUPERIORE.DE

While Tenuta Sette Ponti takes its name from the seven bridges over the Arno, Sette is named after the up to seven different vineyards that provide the fruit for this 100% Merlot wine: these are the Cypress, Salvareccio I, Salvareccio II, Poggio Sinistro, Sorbaccio, Nocetta I and Nocetta II vineyards. Aromatic and earthy, fragrant notes of cherry and cool blue fruit introduce a ripe and fresh palate that is light on its feet, vertical and balanced. The mid-palate has a stony element, while the red and blue fruits are supported by a network of tannins and good acidity. SUPERIORE.DE

Only 3,000 bottles of this wine from the highest vineyard in Montalcino are bottled. The choice of the vineyard, which is situated over 600 metres above sea level, is also due to climate change, where winegrowers are increasingly looking for cooler sites for the Sangiovese - and the result is once again a Brunello in a class of its own: leather, tobacco, small red berries and a surprisingly fresh, clearly mineral note on the nose. Although the wine appears very graceful and bright, it is powerful and long. Its grippy tannins and finely knit acidity emphasise our impression that this wine still has a long life ahead of it. SUPERIORE.DE