Wines from Veneto

Already the famous Italian wine critic Veronelli rated the Colli Berici together with Bolgheri as one of the best growing areas for the Bordelais grape varieties. This rare Merlot is dedicated to its creator Alfredo Lazzarini, whose vineyards Inama recently acquired, and it represents the history of the Colli Berici. Dark ruby garnet, violet reflections, delicate watery rim. Spicy nuances of black cherries, ripe plums, forest floor, some jasmine and a pleasant touch of precious wood. Juicy on the palate, with good complexity and a chocolaty texture, round tannins and a discreet extract sweetness on the finish. SUPERIORE.DE

Foscarino from vines over 40 years old is matured for 12 months on the fine lees in used barrique barrels and stainless steel and is probably one of the most complex Soave Classico wines we have ever tasted. Bright straw yellow in colour with golden reflections. Elegant, inviting bouquet of light honey, dried citrus fruit, exotic flowers and a hint of ginger. Juicy and straightforward on the palate of layered stone fruit, precise and with piquant acidity, all proportions are impressively right here. Complex and multi-layered, it reveals new impressions with every glass and increasing aeration and ends in a salty finish, very exciting! SUPERIORE.DE

In Roman-medieval times, they called this sweet wine monument Acinatium – from the Latin "acinus", the grape berry. A name that encapsulates the essence of this extraordinary wine: made only from the very best and ripest individual Garganega berries, a selection of such precision that it borders on obsession. For the Tessari sisters, this rare Recioto is more than just a wine. It is the centrepiece of their family history, the wine of holidays and family gatherings, the first drop you would give a child to taste, if it were allowed and appropriate ...

In 2017, Stefano Pola was proposed to plant a vineyard in the heart of the beautiful area of the Belluno Dolomites, more precisely about 9 hectares in the Valbelluna area on a well-exposed high plateau at about 650 metres above sea level. The soil here is medium-heavy with calcareous deposits typical of mountain regions. Some layers contain solidified sands that form sandstone, and in other areas marls, i.e. old clays, are exposed. The soil structure is very stony, which provides good drainage and aeration conditions. The high lime content gives the wines a distinct olfactory finesse.

In 1886, Carlo Campagnola founded his winery in the Marano Valley, in the heart of Valpolicella Classico. In 1907, he won the first gold medal for the best Recioto at the Verona Wine Fair – since then, the family, now in its fifth generation, has continued what began as a small farm. The vineyards for this Amarone are located on calcareous slopes between 200 and 350 metres above sea level, where Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella are harvested by hand at the end of September. The traditional appassimento drying process takes around 100 days until the grapes have lost 35–40% of their weight. Gentle pressing in December, 30 days of maceration, then ageing: 60% matures for 24 months in large Slavonian oak barrels, 40% for 18 months in new Allier oak barriques.

Grave di Stecca is Nino Franco's exposed single vineyard on the slopes of the Prealpi. The south-facing vineyard is planted exclusively with the Prosecco grape Glera. Brilliantly shining white gold, gently developing perlage, a bouquet of sage with fresh fruit flavours. Very pleasantly dry flavour, silky and long – the indisputably great top-quality wine from the renowned Prosecco producer. SUPERIORE.DE

The grapes for this graceful Valpolicella Classico come from the Miniere vineyard on the Bertani Villa Novare estate, a south-west-facing site covering just 4 hectares and consisting of two terraces. Bright ruby red in colour, with a very clear nose of fresh fruit, cherry and wild berries, with elegant notes of white pepper. Spicy, juicy and flavoursome on the palate, with remarkable persistence, straightforwardness and great length! SUPERIORE.DE

Le Rive: the steep slope. In Venetian dialect, this term describes those rugged, 45-degree south-facing slopes where only the bravest winegrowers cultivate their most precious grapes. Since 1992, the Tessari family has been harvesting their most overripe Garganega grapes from ancient vines on a single hectare in the UGA Fittà – only at the end of October, when the first mists of autumn drift over the hills. What happens in these steep rows is natural alchemy: Garganega "surmatura", overripe and concentrated by months of sunshine, develops a golden complexity that few wines in the world can match. 20 days of fermentation in large French oak barrels, 15 months on the lees without a single racking, then a further 12 months of bottle ageing. Patience as a craft.

In 2017, Stefano Pola was proposed to plant a vineyard in the heart of the beautiful area of the Belluno Dolomites, more precisely about 9 hectares in the Valbelluna area on a well-exposed high plateau at about 650 metres above sea level. The soil here is medium-heavy with calcareous deposits typical of mountain regions. Some layers contain solidified sands that form sandstone, and in other areas marls, i.e. old clays, are exposed. The soil structure is very stony, which provides good drainage and aeration conditions. The high lime content gives the wines a distinct olfactory finesse.

Piera Dolza means "soft stone" and is the name of a very rare, historic dessert wine that was first produced in the traditional Prosecco region around Conegliano around 1600. It is only thanks to the initiative of 7 small local producers that it is being produced again today.

When Roberto Anselmi talks about his sweet wines, his eyes light up differently. Here, the rebel is suddenly a traditionalist – because I Capitelli stands for the centuries-old Veneto art of creating golden nectar from dried grapes. But where others at least seek DOC recognition for their Recioto di Soave, Roberto once again breaks all the rules: His Passito is simply a "Vino Bianco" – table wine. The most radical form of protest.

Fine Prosecco Spumante Superiore from the renowned Cartizze growing zone: Brilliant silver-grey, very elegant with a fine perlage, pleasantly sweet note and fine fruit reminiscent of dewy August apples and citrus fruits. Long, creamy and persistent. SUPERIORE.DE

Cavolo Amarone is a selection of the best grapes from all the estate's vineyards. It opens with aromas of raspberry jam, dried cherries dusted with cinnamon and cocoa, and wafting notes of cedar and tobacco. The flavours of tart plums and fresh blackberries combine with bay leaf, chia spice, liquorice root and white pepper. Elegant on the palate, with fine tannins and a lively acidity that gives the wine a good basis for ageing. SUPERIORE.DE

Opera Semplice – a "simple work". But what the three sisters have created here is anything but simple: it is the logical consequence of their Trebbiano obsession, a sparkling wine so radical and uncompromising that it was not actually intended for sale to begin with. An experimental solitaire, produced only in the very best vintages with the finest grapes from their Massifitti vineyard – another milestone in their mission to rehabilitate the almost forgotten grape variety.

The distilled legacy of a legendary wine. The marc of Capo di Stato – cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Malbec from the Ferreto soils of Montello – are distilled using the traditional discontinuous method in a water bath. The gentle bagnomaria process in small copper stills preserves the soul of the Bordeaux blend that Charles de Gaulle once considered a great Frenchman.

The Andreola family winery in Col San Martino was founded in 1984 by Nazzareno Pola in the heart of the Valdobbiadene wine-growing region. In his honour, a wonderful Prosecco Superiore is produced here every year in small batches, which once again received the highest award in the Gambero Rosso for the 2024 vintage. For Stefano Pola, the Etichetta del Fondatore represents the highest expression of finesse and olfactory elegance that the Glera grape can give in the core zone of Prosecco Superiore – combined with the verticality and juiciness that the soils give it, without ever losing its lightness and drinkability.

In the heart of the Colli Berici, where one of Italy's most mysterious wine landscapes stretches between Vicenza and Padua, Stefano Inama has been writing an extraordinary chapter in the European Carménère renaissance for three decades. What began in 1991 with a nameless sip from an unmarked glass – that legendary "love at first taste" –has developed into an obsessive passion that has made Inama the leading Carménère pioneer in Europe. Carminium, produced since 2015, is the younger sister of the iconic Oratorio di San Lorenzo and epitomises Inama's vision of a more accessible, yet complex expression of this almost forgotten Bordeaux variety. The history of this wine is inextricably linked to the Oratorio di San Lorenzo – the small 16th century chapel that sits enthroned in the middle of a twelve-hectare Carménère amphitheatre. Here, where monks once lived in unspoilt nature, the Carménère vines have reached a level of ripeness after fifteen years that allows Inama to vinify the neighbouring plots separately. The terroir is characterised by the red clay soils of the Colli Berici – iron-rich terra rossa on limestone subsoil, which gives the Carménère that unique balance between power and elegance that remains unattainable elsewhere.

Brilliant golden yellow colour. Complex notes of light peach, fresh pineapple and poached apricot on the nose. Rich and creamy on the palate with accents of smoke and toasted almonds. The finish is long-lasting, mineral and herb-accentuated. This very focussed and complex white paints a beautiful portrait of the refined side of the Trebbiano di Lugana grape, which is becoming increasingly popular. SUPERIORE.DE

Amarone Selezione Antonio Castagnedi delivers high quality at a fantastic price every year. If you've ever had the opportunity to stand in old, hand-fired brick drying sheds, three storeys high, filled with hot steam, leaves tied in bundles, stacked up and up and up, you'll know what this wine smells like. It is an extraordinary odour. It smells of steam-soaked red clay bricks, of tobacco leaves, green, yellow, gold, copper-coloured, brown and of earth, spices, dust and oven smoke. It is the smell of a good Amarone.

La Grola is the eponymous, historic vineyard where Corvina, the indigenous grape of Valpolicella, is believed to have originated. The replanting of the vineyard by Giovanni Allegrini triggered an agronomic revolution and laid the foundations for the success of this wine-growing region, which today stands for convincing, great red wines from north-east Italy. With the 2022 vintage, La Grola returns to its origins: declared Valpolicella Classico Superiore DOC for the first time, it marks a new phase for this iconic wine from Allegrini. The cuvée of Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella comes from the limestone terraces of the La Grola hill, exposed to the south-east and consistently selectively harvested. After fermentation in stainless steel, the wine is matured in barriques, some new, some used.

The grapes for this high-calibre Valpolicella Classico Superiore come from the rather barren, calcareous and terraced vineyards of Tenuta Novare above the Ognisanti church. Wines of greater complexity, perfect structure and higher concentration are produced here than in most other vineyards in Valpolicella. Sparkling ruby-garnet colour. Fragrant nose with wonderful overtones of sour cherry, dried flowers and white pepper. Perfectly balanced on the palate with firm tannins and wonderful spice and depth of fruit thanks to the ageing in wood. A superior, winning wine from the heart of the Valpolicella region. SUPERIORE.DE

La Fabriseria comes across as an elegant, medium-bodied Amarone. Its intensity, tannin structure and density are hard to beat in this price range. Very juicy on the palate, full-bodied and soft, with notes of cherries, cardamom and cloves. And always with the elegant seriousness of the Tedeschi family's great flagship of the same name. SUPERIORE.DE