Around Italy in 25 wines
Decanter’s Italy editor recommends a selection of delicious buys, from Alto Adige in the northeast all the way down to Sicily in the south, and from supermarket bargains to indulgent SuperTuscans.
The highlights:
Value pick: Tenuta Roveglia, Lugana, Veneto, Italy
Adventurous pick: A Mano, Imprint Susumaniello, Salento, Puglia, Italy 2021
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Berlucchi, 61 Extra Brut, Franciacorta, Lombardy, Italy
Berlucchi was the first to make a traditional-method Franciacorta sparkling wine back in 1961, however this wine is a modern extra brut style – a...
BerlucchiFranciacorta
Elena Walch, Beyond The Clouds, Alto Adige/Südtirol, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy, 2020
From one of Italy's most exciting winemakers comes this flagship field blend. Primarily Chardonnay with about 20% of other grapes from the Castel Ringberg vineyard,...
2020
Elena WalchAlto Adige/Südtirol
Vie di Romans, Flors di Uis, Friuli, Isonzo, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy, 2020
An unoaked blend of 70% Malvasia Istriana, 20% Riesling and 10% Friulano from three vineyard sites in Isonzo, late-picked at low yields. Gloriously fresh and...
2020
Vie di RomansFriuli
Cantina Tramin, Pinot Grigio, Alto Adige/Südtirol, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy, 2021
91
If you're expecting standard Pinot Grigio, think again. From one of the region's top cooperatives, this provides juicy apple, pear and melon scents followed by intense, ripe and very fresh flavours. It's so well balanced and deliciously quaffable, with a fragrant and stony Alpine finish.
2021
Cantina TraminAlto Adige/Südtirol
Cantine Belisario, Vigneti del Cerro, Verdicchio di Matelica, Le Marche, Italy, 2021
91
The Cantine Belisario cooperative farms 300ha organically in total, but this Verdicchio di Matelica is from a single vineyard, located at 360m on east-facing slopes in the Apennine foothills. It's a wine full of salinity, with white flowers, white peach, green apple and a touch of hay. Intense and long with good acidity, pair it with creamy chicken dishes or an avocado salad.
2021
Cantine BelisarioVerdicchio di Matelica
Cantine Lunae Bosoni, Etichetta Nera Vermentino, Colli di Luni, Liguria, Italy, 2021
91
A selection of the estate's best Vermentino from hillside vines, this intense white appeals immediately with its aromas of lime peel, apple and touches of hay and honey. Broad and juicy, floral and apple flavours are joined by peach and grapefruit and carry through to a long finish.
2021
Cantine Lunae BosoniColli di Luni
Feudi di San Gregorio, Pietracalda, Fiano di Avellino, Campania, Italy, 2021
Fiano di Avellino is floral and inviting as well as ageable, and Feudi di San Gregorio's benchmark expression of the volcanic soils of Irpinia is...
2021
Feudi di San GregorioFiano di Avellino
Tenuta Roveglia, Lugana, Veneto, Italy
90
Lugana is an underrated wine, grown around the southern part of Lake Garda. Intense, zippy and very saline, this non-vintage blend provides all the character you'd expect: juicy white peach, pear, white flowers and a pithy twist. Very fresh and focused – great value.
Tenuta RovegliaLugana
Di Filippo, Farandola Trebbiano Spoletino, Umbria, Italy, 2020
89
Di Filippo has been certified organic since 1994 and now practices biodynamic farming techniques, too; 400 geese provide pest control for the 4ha of vines. This wine is bright and fresh, showing lemon and apple aromas and flavours with a lovely leesy texture to balance the acidity. There's a touch of spice on the long finish.
2020
Di Filippo
Gianni Tessari, Scalette, Soave, Classico, Veneto, Italy, 2021
89
This delightful single-vineyard, unoaked Soave from Garganega and Trebbiano di Soave has a reductive smoky, struck-match aroma with some stone fruit and green fruit touches. Soft melon and pithy grapefruit are joined in the mouth by a herbal character then a mineral feel on the finish. A good food wine.
2021
Gianni TessariSoave
Feudo Disisa, Lu Bancu Catarratto, Monreale, Sicily, Italy, 2021
88
Catarratto is more than simply a blending grape for Marsala. This dry example has a bright lemon nose with apple and herbal interest. Textured and leesy, with bold apple, lemon and floral flavours, it's buoyed by fresh acidity and a fragrant background.
2021
Feudo DisisaMonreale
Tormaresca, Calafuria, Salento, Puglia, Italy, 2021
89
Made by none other than Renzo Cotarella, head winemaker and CEO of the Antinori group, which established the Tormaresca winery in Puglia in 1998, this unoaked Negroamaro rosé features ripe strawberry and raspberry with a floral overtone. A hint of petillance and a tight, steely character is followed by creamy red fruits and good acidity. Bright and fresh, with enough body to make it a good food rosé.
2021
TormarescaSalento
Pasqua, 11 Minutes Odi Et Amo Rosé, Trevenezie, Veneto, Italy, 2021
88
An intriguing blend of Corvina, Trebbiano, Syrah and Carménère, this rosé takes its name from the 11 minutes the juice spends in contact with the grape skins: the result being a pale colour with fresh and light red fruit flavours. It has an appealing strawberry and herbal character; light, fresh and quaffable, with a bitter pink grapefruit finish that begs for a top up.
2021
PasquaTrevenezie
Castello di Fonterutoli, Concerto, Toscana, Tuscany, Italy, 2020
The 2020 Concerto shows even more finesse and harmony than in previous vintages. Since 2019, the time in oak has been reduced by three months,...
2020
Castello di FonterutoliToscana
Nino Negri, Vigna Fracia, Valtellina, Superiore Valgella, Lombardy, Italy, 2018
Vigna Fracia is Nino Negri's historic vineyard, a cool site below a glacier at the end of the warm Valtellina valley. 100% Nebbiolo (Chiavennasca locally)...
2018
Nino NegriValtellina
Tenuta San Guido, Guidalberto, Toscana, Tuscany, Italy, 2020
Guidalberto 2020 is a blend of 50% Merlot and 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, matured for 15 months in oak (20% new), including a small percentage of...
2020
Tenuta San GuidoToscana
Adnams, Barolo, Serralunga d’Alba, Piedmont, Italy, 2015
From the ripe 2015 vintage, this Barolo, from Paolo Manzone's Meriame vineyard in Serralunga, is juicy and open with aromas of red fruits, undergrowth and...
2015
AdnamsBarolo
Castello di Gabiano, Il Ruvo, Grignolino del Monferrato Casalese, Piedmont, Italy, 2020
91
From a historic producer, this 100% unoaked Grignolino is from low-yielding, hand-harvested vines. Perfumed and earthy, it's full of autumnal scents cradling pure, ripe red berries. On the lighter side, it's really fine and elegant – a combination of grape, steep slopes and soil. It finishes with sweet strawberry notes and exotic spices.
2020
Castello di GabianoGrignolino del Monferrato Casalese
Antonella Corda, Cannonau di Sardegna, Sardinia, Italy, 2021
This Cannonau (aka Grenache) begins with a super-aromatic petal and white pepper fragrance joined by some red berry notes. Intense in the mouth, plenty of...
2021
Antonella CordaCannonau di Sardegna
Bertani, Valpolicella, Veneto, Italy, 2021
90
A truly delicious, focused and well-balanced Valpolicella for drinking now from this highly respected estate. It showcases light and vibrant strawberry flavours with floral overtones on a softly textured palate, a gentle vein of freshness lifting the finish.
2021
BertaniValpolicella
A Mano, Imprint Susumaniello, Salento, Puglia, Italy, 2021
89
Californian Mark Shannon and Friulian Elvezia Sbalchiero have been making wine in Puglia for nearly 20 years. This, from the indigenous Susumaniello grape ('little black donkey' – referring to either it's heavy load of grapes or to its stubbornness, nobody is quite sure) features aromas of crunchy dark berries, rain on tarmac, earth and plenty of peppery spice. In the mouth, a juicy line of plummy fruit emerges, alongside berry, earth and spice notes.
2021
A ManoSalento
Concettina, Terre degli Osci, Molise, Italy, 2020
89
This blend of 60% Montepulciano, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Syrah from the small region on Italy's central Eastern coast is soft and easy-drinking, combining Montepulciano's supple plummy fruit with some menthol and black fruits from the Cabernet and black cherry, raspberry and a hint of spice from Syrah. A good-value midweek drop.
2020
ConcettinaTerre degli Osci
Monte del Frà, Bardolino, Veneto, Italy, 2021
89
This simple yet delightful midweek or lunchtime option offers tangy raspberry and herbal bitters aromas leading to a soft and initially creamy palate which becomes stonier and brighter, displaying ripe, fresh cherry and raspberry fruits and a touch of spice.
2021
Monte del FràBardolino
Masseria Borgo dei Trulli, Lucale Appassimento Primitivo, Puglia, Italy, 2021
88
This appassimento uses 'il giro del picciolo' (twisting the stem) on half of the bunches once fully mature, preventing further nutrients reaching the grapes, which then dry while still on the vine. Rich and aromatic, its red and black berry scents are joined by sweetly ripe and textured fruits along with a subtle wood and vanilla character from one quarter of the wine spending eight months in French and American barriques.
2021
Masseria Borgo dei Trulli
Martinez, Superiore Riserva Dolce 5 Year Old, Marsala, Sicily, Italy
90
This Sicilian fortified speciality is a blend of wood-aged wines, giving spicy notes to the coffee, leather, dried fruits and nut aromas and flavours. Despite the 110g/L of residual sugar, the acidity cuts like a knife, giving a clean and mouthwatering finish with a splash of lime and plenty of spice. A great-value fortified pick.
MartinezMarsala
