wines

Riccardo Bruna was U Baccan – the boss, the patron, the head. That's what the people in Ranzo called him. He was the one who started bottling his family's pigato in 1970, when nobody else was doing it. He was the one who managed the terraces, repaired the walls and brought up the daughters. Francesca gave up her career as an engineer, Annamaria as a pharmacist – both returned to continue running the estate. The estate bears his name, this wine bears his nickname. The grapes for the U Baccan come exclusively from the oldest plots above Ranzo – vines over fifty years old, on soils with iron oxide and manganese inclusions, which give the soil its characteristic red colour and the wine its depth. The result, says Ian d'Agata in "Native Wine Grapes of Italy", is the paradigmatic Pigato of all: balsamic and rich. Fermentation in steel, ageing in large wooden barrels – the wood as a resting pole, not as a flavour carrier. The wine opens slowly, needs air and time.

"San Zuan" is one of the great interpretations of Friulano every year – and in the 2023 vintage it shows a slightly different facet. The single vineyard site above San Giovanni al Natisone, characterised by barren Ponca soils, benefits from a microclimate that combines warmth and alpine freshness. 2023 brought a rather unsettled spring with variable rainfall and later a hot, dry summer that put the vines to the test. However, cool September nights preserved the acidity and lent the grapes precision and flavour. The grapes were harvested in several stages at the end of September, gently pressed and traditionally matured in large, used wooden barrels. The prolonged contact with the lees gave the wine depth and a creamy but never opulent texture.

Amarone Case Vecie takes its name from the vineyard of the same name in the municipality of Grezzana in Valpantena. An exceptional plot of land where the grapes ripen slowly and consistently even in the most difficult years thanks to the altitude and exposure. The late harvest makes it possible to store the grapes in a cooler season and to carry out a slow and long drying process that develops the characteristic flavours. A wine that emphasises the natural characteristics of the high mountain climate: a true Amarone "delle vigne alte".

On 11 September 2001, a concert was to take place in the hills of Figline Valdarno. Sting was standing on the stage of his Tuscan villa when the news arrived from New York. He played anyway – not as entertainment, but as therapy. That evening, the feeling of emptiness and the search for meaning gave rise to an album two years later: "Sacred Love", a meditation on love as the only answer to a world in chaos. "We have to go back to that basic thing," said Sting at the time, "mother love, father love, husband love, wife love, child love – because when you don't have that, all hell breaks loose."

Falletto in Serralunga d'Alba is a natural amphitheatre – that compact, concentrated hillside that gives Serralunga its distinctive power. Calcareous soils, south-west to west-facing slopes, a minerality that is audible in every wine from this site. Normally, this is Nebbiolo country. Barolo country. At Giacosa, Barbera also grows here. The difference from the purchased Giacosa Barbera begins in the soil and continues in the cellar: after fermentation in steel – as with the Casa Vinicola wine – , the Falletto Barbera leaves the tank and is transferred to large oak botti for 14 months. The same vessels, the same care as for the house’s Barolos and Barbareschi. No new wood, just the slow oxygenation provided by large, neutral barrels, which gives the wine depth and integration without shaping it.

Light ruby-coloured, cherry-fruity and with a lot of character of its own. The red variety also known as Ribolla Nera has been interpreted by Ronco del Gnemiz with a great deal of character. It is soft, delicate, juicy, fruity and wonderfully precise and long. It leaves a hint of sour citrus fruit and ends with a light structure and a colour like liquid lavender. Lovers of Schioppettino will fall head over heels in love with this wine. SUPERIORE.DE

Livio Felluga's new crus are the result of massalselection. For this purpose, selected vines are reproduced in particularly favourable locations in order to renew vineyards with particularly high-quality vines and to further improve the quality of individual varietal wines. The Pinot Grigio named after the Curubella vineyard expresses the unique and very expressive terroir in a very special way.

Sansonina (Lugana and Merlot) is a strictly limited and very ambitious project by the Zenato family, in which only the best grapes from their own vineyards are used. Only a small number of these are sold in numbered bottles each year.

On the hill of Rosazzo, where Augustinian monks were already making wine in the year 1000, lies a vineyard that understands Sauvignon like few others in Italy. Ronco del Gnemiz treats every parcel like a Grand Cru – not as a marketing slogan, but as a working philosophy. Serena Palazzolo and her husband Christian Patat, an Oenologist with a steady hand and a clear eye, have created something here that has become rare: wines that let their place speak for itself. Salici comes from a vineyard planted in 1997 on the lower slope, where lighter soils give the Sauvignon a different voice than on the heavy Ponca marls further up. The grapes are pressed as whole bunches, then the must ferments exclusively in wood – partly in barriques, partly in Liters barrels. No malolactic fermentation, no bâtonnage. Christian Patat leaves the wine alone for twelve months until it shows what it can do on its own.

Marciliano is a truly ambitious Cabernet cuvée from the Sangiovese-dominated Montecchio/Orvieto region and reflects uncompromising quality and craftsmanship. The 2019 vintage was characterised by mild but structure-enhancing weather conditions: cool nights during the harvest phase and warm days that perfectly balanced the ripeness of the aromas. In the glass, it has a dense ruby red colour with a garnet red hue. The nose intones ripe sour cherry, stewed plums, ripe wild berries, and further develops smoke, leather, hints of white truffle and a touch of vanilla and cedar wood. Powerful yet polished on the palate – clearly structured, with fine-grained, ripe tannins, lively acidity and a substrate-rich, spicy texture. The ageing in barriques was selectively dosed and supports the spiciness without masking the varietal typicity. Marciliano is a serious, mature red wine with depth and potential. Expressive, focussed and with a lasting finish – a lasting ambassador of modern Umbria. SUPERIORE.DE

Pas Operé – "not dosed" in the original sense, when it was still dosed by hand. The name is a play on words, as this Extra Brut is very well dosed, but with such restraint that the terroir shines through unadulterated. For decades, Pas Operé has been Bellavista's flagship, the wine that most clearly bears the signature of the house: classic, masculine, timeless. The 2018 Pas Operé is the result of a rigorous selection of around 25 plots on slopes and hillsides with south or south-east exposure, the vines are over twenty years old. 64 per cent Chardonnay for finesse and structure, 36 per cent Pinot Nero for depth and complexity. Half of the base wines are matured in French white oak barriques, which gives the wine its characteristic intensity. The assemblage is followed by five years on the lees – sixty months, during which flavours intensify, textures refine and perlage refines. Only then, at least six years after the harvest, does the Pas Operé leave the Erbusco winery.

Santo Spirito is one of the most striking contrade on the eastern slopes of Mount Etna – less stony than Rampante, but no less impressive. Here, at an altitude of around 700 metres, the old Nerello Mascalese vines are deeply rooted in ashy volcanic soil with a high sand content. The microclimate is cooler, the humidity higher and the east-facing exposure gives the grapes gentle morning warmth. Pietradolce vinifies the single-vineyard wine traditionally with spontaneous fermentation in wooden vats, followed by approx. 12 months of ageing in large French tonneaux.

Feudo di Mezzo is located in the heart of the northern Etna belt – one of the oldest and most traditional contrade around Castiglione di Sicilia. The vineyards are situated at an altitude of around 750 metres on ancient lava flows and iron-rich volcanic soils that produce dark fruit, mineral depth and remarkable elegance. The microclimate is cool, the exposure ideal – large temperature differences between day and night favour slow, complete ripening. Feudo di Mezzo is not considered one of the Grand Cru from the volcano for nothing. The pure Nerello Mascalese comes from vines that are over 60 years old and trained as Alberello. The grapes are harvest manually in small crates, followed by a traditional maceration with a long standing time at controlled temperatures. The wine then matures for 14 months in Liters French oak tonneaux before resting for a further year in the bottle.

Terracotta is not a trend. It is the oldest wine container known to mankind – older than wood, older than stone, older than any wine culture we know by name. Elena Fucci is not looking forwards, but backwards: to a time when clay and volcanic earth were the same substance – and wine did not yet need a method to explain itself. The amphorae come from Impruneta near Florence, the centre of Tuscan terracotta craftsmanship – 700 Liters, untreated, permeable, breathing. No coating, no control over what happens: That's the point.

Located in the south of Montalcino, Ciacci Piccolomini's sprawling estate is characterised by warm, fragrant afternoon breezes from the Mediterranean. The wines are typically very fragrant and have a higher alcohol content, but also plenty of freshness and focus. In the aromas we find sun-kissed cherries and raspberries, red roses, tobacco, sage and thyme. Light-footed on the palate with grainy tannins that dissolve easily, this wine is already very accessible. It is literally fuelled by the golden light that falls on this part of Tuscany in the last hours of the day. A wine full of personality and identity. SUPERIORE.DE

The site near Buttrio, where the grapes of the autochthonous Friulano grape variety originate, is one of the Grand Crus of the Friuli Colli Orientali appellation together with Rosazzo. Not only are there no regulations here, but also a poor, loose marl soil that ensures extremely low yields every year. In good vintages, however, the rewards are all the greater: the volume and fruit concentration, the lower acidity and the unmistakable salinity of the wines will lead to enjoyable heights after a few years of bottle ageing, making lovers of complex, energetic white wines dizzy. SUPERIORE.DE

The name Cont'Ugo refers to a Tuscan nobleman named Ugo della Gherardesca, whose family has been linked to the Bolgheri area for centuries. It symbolises the aristocratic character of the Maremma, which can still be felt today in combination with the wild coastal landscape. For Marchese Antinori, owner of the Guado al Tasso winery, the name is a tribute to origin and character: noble, independent and deeply rooted. The 2022 vintage of this single-varietal Merlot comes from high-altitude, well-aerated plots with loamy soils and is matured for 12 months in French oak, partly new and partly used.

Swiss precision meets Tuscan passion: Monika and Thomas Bär-Bettschart have been realising their dream at the Antico Podere Gagliole in Castellina in Chianti since 1990. The Rubiolo 30 anni is a certified organic homage to three decades of winegrowing in one of the most beautiful terroirs in Tuscany. Made from pure Sangiovese grapes from both the historic terraces around Castellina and the famous Conca d'Oro in Panzano, this wine epitomises the synthesis of two exceptional sites. The grapes ripen on soils rich in galestro between 350 and 450 metres above sea level, facing south-west, where the centuries-old dry stone walls – uNESCO World Heritage Site since 2019 – between vines, olive trees and roses create a unique microclimate. After temperature-controlled fermentation with indigenous yeasts and 20 days of maceration, the wine matures for ten months, half in French barriques and half in concrete tanks, followed by three months of bottle ageing.

Prunotto's Barolo is a very beautiful, ethereal wine. Rose petals, spices, blood orange, mint and crushed red berry fruit keep it firmly grounded. On the palate, it is saturated and rich with dark flavours that are firmly connected to spices, liquorice and crushed blue flowers. There is power and richness deep within this wine, the well-proportioned tannin is fresh and firm, giving it energy and drive. SUPERIORE.DE

The Riserva represents the roots of Fattoria Le Pupille – it is the very first wine produced and marketed by the winery. Originally launched in 1978 as "Rosso di Pereta", it became the foundation of a terroir with the establishment of the Morellino di Scansano discipline, which Elisabetta Geppetti led to international recognition with passion and vision. As the first woman to head the Consorzio Morellino di Scansano, she not only shaped the denomination, but also the entire Maremma wine culture. Sangiovese (90%) with Cabernet Sauvignon (10%) from the La Carla, Maiano, Bozzino and Vecchie Pupille vineyards at an altitude of 50 to 250 metres. The soils vary from clayey-silty to sandy-loamy structures with a limestone marl component. After 25 to 30 days of maceration at 26 degrees, the wine matures for twelve months in Slavonian oak barrels with a capacity of 20 to 40 hectolitres.