Italy for the cellar: A DWWA collection
Italy's vineyards have long captivated wine lovers and the results from Decanter World Wine Awards 2025 serve as a timely reminder of just how much excellence, and value, the country continues to deliver.
Italy is a treasure trove of cellarworthy wines that often provide great value for their high quality, and a host of top medals at the Decanter World Wine Awards 2025 showcased gems to seek out in several regions.
In northern Italy, Piedmont is a melting pot of wine styles, not to mention its gastronomic delights, and winemakers’ skill with the Nebbiolo grape variety in the Barolo region’s patchwork quilt of vineyards delivers wonderful wines that display characteristics ranging from red berry fruit to rose, black tea and truffle.
Strong recent vintages only enhance the picture. Italy’s best-known styles can combine superb, ageworthy wines with compelling relative value, too, from Barolo to the Sangiovese strongholds of Brunello di Montalcino and Chianti Classico in Tuscany.
Discover 14 top awarded Italian DWWA winners worth having in your cellar
This also applies to Amarone della Valpolicella in the Veneto region, which is known for long-lived styles that combine intensity with harmony.
Meanwhile, Italy’s fine wine dynamism is evident in several regions, such as modern takes on Aglianico-powered Taurasi – sometimes dubbed the ‘Barolo of the south’ – and on the Tuscan coast, thanks to producers’ prowess with ‘Bordeaux’ grape varieties such as Cabernet Franc.
All collectors should explore Italy’s rich vinous landscape, and DWWA’s rigorous judging process, overseen by leading experts, is the ideal treasure map.
Explore the full results from DWWA 2025 at awards.decanter.com
Best in Show
Fratelli Serio & Battista Borgogno, Cannubi Riserva, Barolo, Piedmont 2019
Best in Show, 97 points
£66.95 Uncorked, US$60-$65 Rye Brook, The Cellar d’Or, Wine Exchange
Are the extra ageing stipulations for the Riserva categories of classic Italian reds such as Barolo and Brunello di Montalcino truly necessary? It can often seem as if younger versions have the edge on older, ‘grander’ wines, since they show brighter fruit structures. This 2019 Riserva shows the benefits of extra age. It’s pale, now, with some gentle bricking; the aromas are refined, packed with red fruits, autumnal warmth and oak-copse charm, as if the wine was evoking the landscape in which it came into being. It’s still quite grandly structured and has further development ahead; look behind those succulent if ample tannins, though, and you’ll find beautifully articulated fruit supported by deft redcurrant acidity. Grand Barolo from this outstanding vintage. Alcohol 14.5%
Tenuta Meraviglia, Maestro di Cava, Bolgheri Superiore, Tuscany 2020
Best in Show, 97 points
£89.99 92 Or More
The adventure of Cabernet Franc in Bolgheri is an exciting one, since this is one of relatively few zones around the world where this much-courted variety not only flourishes and gives wine with greater poise than Cabernet Sauvignon and more freshness and lift than Merlot, but more importantly retains flesh and succulence as it does so. This opaque, black-red wine from 2020 tells the vintage story well: brisk and alluring on the nose, with soft leather poise behind the svelte fruits; then intense, deep and long on the palate, with mellow tannins, watchful acidity and ample inner energy. It’s a luxurious glassful of red, but it contrives to be fresh and appetising, too. This formerly despised and mosquito-ridden coastal zone of Tuscany continues to surprise. Alc 14%
Campania
Donnachiara, Taurasi Riserva 2020
Platinum, 97 points
£55 Alivini
Pristine dark cherry fruit, vanilla and coffee notes. Polished and compact, with a finely tuned texture and lush, velvety tannins kept in check by refreshing acidity. Plenty of ageing potential. Alc 13.5%
Piedmont
Casa E di Mirafiore, Lazzarito, Barolo 2021
Platinum, 97 points
£75 Bancroft
Immediate and engaging, with intense purity setting the tone: lively red cherry and raspberry fill nose and palate. A stately structure and finely etched tannins. Bears the distinct hallmarks of the 2021 vintage. Alc 15%
Fontanafredda, Vigna La Rosa, Barolo 2021
Gold, 95 points
Appetising red forest berry, black tea and mint blossom aromas pervade the nose and palate, sustained by a unifying acidity and finely tuned tannins. Long and tactile. Alc 14.5%
Luigi Baudana, Cerretta, Barolo 2021
Gold, 95 points
£88.99 Berry Bros & Rudd
Powerful yet well-honed notes of black and red cherry, black tea and eucalyptus surround the smoky tannins and streamlined acidity. Long, savoury and spicy. Alc 14%
Paolo Manzone, Riserva, Barolo 2019
Gold, 95 points
£70.50 Amathus Drinks
Charming red floral and violet aromas lead to a solid core of succulent red and black fruit that coats the palate, along with herbal tannins and lipsmacking acidity. Alc 14.5%
Scarpa, Tettimorra, Barolo 2020
Gold, 95 points
£61 Lloyd’s Wines
Evocative floral and forest berry characters punctuated by a savoury truffle note. Firm and mineral, with chewy tannins and bracing acidity. Svelte and delicious. Alc 14.5%
Tuscany
Capanna, Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2019
Platinum, 97 points
£126.70 Friarwood
Glossy ripe red plum interweaved with floral, herbal and spicy tobacco notes. Gloriously concentrated and statuesque on the palate with a rippling texture, fine tannins and acidity perfectly in tune. In fine fettle. Alc 15%
Mastrojanni, Vigna Schiena d’Asino, Brunello di Montalcino 2019
Platinum, 97 points
£148 Lay & Wheeler
Enticing notes of blueberry, black cherry and cassis meet the charred oak backbone on the palate and meld around the firm, fine structure. All rounded off by a white pepper finish. Alc 14.5%
Terre del Marchesato, Maurizio Fuselli, Toscana 2022
Platinum, 97 points
Heady violets, blackberry and mint chocolate. A bewitching density of structure and tannins. Smoky and complex with cleansing acidity tapering to a tingle of dried herbs on the finish. Alc 14.5%
Banfi, Poggio alle Mura, Brunello di Montalcino 2020
Gold, 96 points
£59.20 Millésima
Luxurious smoky vanilla, espresso and earthy clove aromas swell over an opulent frame of peppery, mouthcoating tannins and ripe cherry acidity. Intensely long and elegant. Alc 15%
Poggiotondo, Vigna delle Conchiglie, Chianti Riserva 2021
Gold, 96 points
£54.99 Hedonism, The Fine Wine Co, Vinvm
Lavender and rosemary aromas enlivened by a juicy red berry succulence. Firm and smooth with a long chocolate, vanilla finish. Alc 14%
Veneto
Monte Tondo, Amarone della Valpolicella Riserva 2017
Gold, 95 points
£59-£71.50 Astrum Wine Cellars, Bowland Forest Vintners, Hackney Essentials, North & South, Phoenix Wines, Sociovino
Crammed with ripe Morello cherry, plum and raspberry. Mouthcoating and rich, with striking acidity. Alc 16.5%
See all DWWA 2025 winners
