The 55th edition of Vinitaly will take place this 2-5 April in Verona, and bringing together the world’s largest wine exhibition with the world’s leading wine competition, Decanter will host a special Decanter World Wine Awards masterclass at the trade fair on Tuesday 4th April.
Led by DWWA Regional Chair and Italian wine expert Richard Baudains, 10 standout Italian wines from the 2022 competition have been selected to showcase some of the best-rated wines across Italy, and the entire competition.
An an international benchmark for wine quality, involving hundreds of leading wine experts and the broadest sample of wines from across the globe, results from DWWA are significant — highlighting the most representative and best wines to a global audience.
Tasted and rated across three stages of judging, and with a focus on regionality, Vinitaly attendees are invited to try exemplary classics from Alto Adige to Sicily while learning about what the experts look for when awarding top scores, from one of the competition’s longest-standing judges.
See below to discover the line-up of 95- to 97-point wines which will be presented…
Book tickets now
Masterclass wine list
Masottina, R.D.O. Rive di Ogliano Levante Extra Dry, Prosecco di Conegliano Valdobbiadene Superiore Rive, Veneto 2021
Platinum, 97 points
The wine shows complex and creamy aromatics with notes of elderflower, lemongrass, and golden apple skin. The palate opens with a fi ne mousse that wraps the nectarine and tangerine flavours. The finish is bright, with mouth-watering acidity.
Mandrarossa, Fiano, Terre Siciliane, Sicily 2021
Best in Show, 97 points
Drunk as long ago as the thirteenth century (by Emperor Frederic II) yet abandoned and almost extinct by the 1970s, the Campanian variety Fiano’s story prefigures that of the Northern Rhone’s Viognier. There’s a similarity in profile, too, notably the variety’s captivating scent, which is much in evidence in the irresistibly floral aromas of this Value Best in Show from Sicily. In the mouth, though, Fiano often has an acidic poise and freshness all of its own, combined with haunting flavours of citrus, nougat and grenadine – and more of those fresh aromatic flowers. All of those notes are packed exuberantly into this energetic young wine. Submissive and shy it isn’t – but there’s Italian class here too.
Tiefenbrunner, Feldmarschall von Fenner, Alto Adige/Südtirol 2020
Gold, 95 points
This is a really immaculately tailored wine with a savoury, chewy, nutty, stone fruit and apple nose. It’s full-bodied, just dry, and rich, with vibrant acidity, elevated concentration, floral-toned green fruit flavours and juicy acidity. The overall impression is of polish and class. Poised and very fine with sizzling length.
Muzic, Stare Brajde, Collio, Friuli-Venezia Giulia 2020
Platinum, 97 points
Lovely youthful freshness of floral-toned and fragrant green and yellow fruits. Highly nuanced flavours of citrus and stone fruits, balanced by precise acidity and decent concentration. There are accents of liquorice, fennel, and Mediterranean herbs on a long and aromatic finish.
Oinoe, 4.0 Rea Malvasia, Colli di Parma, Emilia-Romagna 2020
Platinum, 97 points
An evolved, honeyed, oxidative nutty wine with plenty of character. The palate is still so fresh, with an enticing mineral component throughout. Fulsome, polished, almost oil-textured stone fruits with a dry chewy finish. An intriguing wine with plenty of interest and distinctive varietal character.
Chessa, Cagnulari, Isola dei Nuraghi, Sardinia 2020
Platinum, 97 points
The varietal overlap between Sardinia and Spain is a fascinating story in its own right, and too complicated a matter to discuss here. What we have got the space to say, though, is that this Cagnulari (the same variety as Spain’s Graciano) manages to achieve an aromatic poise and lively complexity on the palate which many in Spain would envy. It’s dark black-red in colour, and the scents may remind you of forest resins and oily Mediterranean scrub leaves, with a quiet, beefy undertow of dense black fruits. As in Spain, the wine is vital and bright on the palate, and there are more of those resins and scrub plants lending a haunting, perfumed austerity to the bright fruits. Clearly a wonderful variety to use here for the warmer years to come.
Riecine, Vigna Gittori, Chianti Classico Gran Selezione, Tuscany 2019
Best in Show, 97 points
For all the grumblings, Gran Selezione has been a resounding success for Chianti: a straightforward and recognizable way for estate owners to offer the world their “best wines”. Often lovely wines: here’s a great example. When Chianti sings, nothing could be more civilised, more refined, more elegant: one sniff of the settled fruits, the cypress and bay leaf, the oak copse and dried cep that your nose can intuit in this glass makes the case. It’s fresh, sustained and intricate in the mouth, weighty yet almost weightless thanks to its impeccable balance. Hard not to think of Old Master paintings – or the eye-soothing landscapes of Tuscany itself – once you have this beautifully vinified Sangiovese waiting patiently in your glass.
Ciabot Berton, Roggeri, Barolo, Piedmont 2017
Best in Show, 97 points
The fiercely warm 2017 vintage was not an easy challenge to surmount, but this articulate Barolo has done just that with a wine which is not merely beautiful and characterful in its own right, but which also conveys the style of the vintage without travesty or falsehood. It is relatively dark in colour, and the aromas are rich, earthy and generous, using oak sagely to lend equilibrium to the boisterous fruits. On the palate, it is intense and deep, structured and detaining, and once again the oak here serves to give the fruit a charm, lift and fragrance it might not otherwise have. It is a wine which will be better in four or five years, but there is still much to enjoy here now on a winter’s night with a fine meal.
Zenato, Sergio Zenato, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva, Veneto 2016
Best in Show, 97 points
This remarkable Amarone won the very highest acclaim from its original judging panel and then sailed through every subsequent judging stage, to the extent that its appearance in our Best In Show collection was never seriously in doubt. It’s already over five years old, but is still very dark in the glass — and it’s a wine of remarkable aromatic complexity, too. Amarone-lovers will know just how many allusions these wines are capable of evoking, and it’s not hard to make out mushrooms, forest underbrush, truffle, Havana leaf and even woodland violets as well as the more usual confit cherries and plums in this wine’s aromatic profile. In the mouth, the wine is remarkably concentrated yet elegant, carrying that bundle of allusions effortlessly and seamlessly through the palate. Fine-beaded tannins lend support, and the concentration of fruit is such that any overt acidity is almost an afterthought.
Tenuta di Capezzana, Riserva, Vin Santo di Carmignano, Tuscany 2014
Platinum, 97 points
Very dense, but with pinpoint freshness and cohesion. Extremely rich layers of apricot jam, dried apricots, and honey with a lovely texture and intensity on the refreshing finish.
Register to attend
Vinitaly 2023 | Room A – Hall 10, 1st floor
Tuesday, 4 April 2023
15:00 • 16:30 (CST)
