Tuscany’s top tier: New vintage releases
From the Maremma coast to Montalcino, James Button tastes and rates some of Tuscany's most notable wines released so far in 2025.
New releases from some of Tuscany’s top wineries reflect both challenges and innovations in winemaking. Discover wines shaped by a unique growing season and evolving production techniques.
Notes and scores for the latest releases from Tuscany below
2025’s releases of top Tuscan wines come largely from the 2022 vintage, a year in which vines struggled through a very hot and dry summer before finding relief with some August rainfall that cooled the ground and quenched the vines just in time.
Overall, quality is very high, with wines typically offering a bit more meat on the bones compared to the slightly less dense and more aromatically profound 2021s.
Facing a new climate
The best wineries in Tuscany are doing a great job of elevating their game and responding to the challenges of drier winters and hotter summers, as well as dealing with the challenges of vine diseases such as esca, peronospora (downy mildew) and flavescence dorée.
The 2020s have so far produced wines of incredible beauty and finesse despite all these challenges rewriting the way producers are approaching viticulture and vinification.
Canopy management is the new frontier in the vineyard, with the best results coming from care to ensure bunches are suitably shaded and there is enough airflow to stave off peronospera.
In the cellar, many wineries have reduced the impact of oak in recent years by moving completely or in part from new oak barriques to larger, used casks for a more neutral character.
One exception is Castello di Fonterutoli’s Siepi (below), which has actually increased the amount of new oak used and is now at almost 100%.
Export director and 25th generation of the esteemed winemaking dynasty, Giovanni Mazzei points out, however, that ‘the new oak of today is not the new oak of yesterday’.
He explains that it can be much better integrated into the wine thanks to careful treatment and lower levels of toasting than was the norm in previous decades.
A gentle touch
Generally, there is a trend towards lighter extractions and more emphasis on vessels other than wood for portions of the fermentation and ageing process, including stainless steel, amphorae, concrete and even ceramic.
This results in wines which are fresh and approachable early on but still have the structure to age well.
Below, I have collected together the latest vintage releases of Tuscany’s ‘S’ tier wines. This is a subjective list of what I consider to be among the most recognisable and sought after names in Tuscany.
However there may be a few gaps if the new vintage of a particular wine hasn’t yet been tasted.
Do you agree?
Tuscany’s top tier: Latest releases
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Approachable already, scents of dark berries, chocolate, coffee beans and meadow flowers rise from the glass. In the mouth it is exhilaratingly grippy and fresh,...
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