2021 Italian Wine

Organic/Bio From deep Southern Italy comes this delicious, gutsy, but still nicely fresh take on Primitivo, the Italian cousin to Zinfandel. There’s plenty of dark black plum and blackberry preserve fruit at the core with... Read More

From the masters of Alto Adige’s traditional “Terlaner” blend – Pinot Bianco, Chardonnay and a little Sauvignon Blanc – this is one of Italy’s benchmark whites. It’s from the co-op’s... Read More

West of Montalcino, Monteccuco balances inland Tuscany warmth with altitudes of more than 1,000 feet. That balance of sunny ripeness with freshness shows nicely here in this blend of 70% Sangiovese, 15% Ciliegiolo and 15% Montepulciano... Read More

Antonio Galloni's 95 point review in Vinous is accurate enough for where this beauty was when he tasted it last summer: The 2021s were brought in from late September to early October, a pretty classic time frame by today's... Read More

Dolcetto is Piemonte’s lunchtime and afternoon red – the kind of wine you enjoy with friends and casual food when the wine’s job is to quench your thirst and make everyone smile a bit. This is that, a rich and... Read More

Organic/Bio Pre-Order Only At the very top of San Lorenzo, at 750 meters elevation, almost too high to be “Etna Rosso,” Russo farms a 0.7HA plot of vines planted in the early 1940s. Originally they were trained on... Read More

Expanding from their fine Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Icario created this super-Tuscan blend of 60% Sangiovese plus Cabernet and Merlot, all done in French oak. It's rich and deep with layers of blackberry, blackcurrant,... Read More

Organic/Bio Only from Etna do you get this captivating combination of smoky volcanic rock and crunchy-ripe strawberry/sweet cherry fruit with mouthcoating tannins that give shape and elevate the flavors without drying you out... Read More

The origin story of Ruche is muddled, but it may have evolved in France’s Haute-Savoie before finding it’s real home in Italy’s Piemonte region but was more likely born in Monferato of a crossing of Croatina... Read More

Organic/Bio Barbaresco's Serraboella vineyard – along with Montestefano – produces very “Barolo-like” wines, and here Paitin captures that power and tames it with a layer of finesses. From certified... Read More

Organic/Bio This is from a tiny, tiny, plot of vines Andrea Franchetti planted in the Passochianche contrada around 3,000 feet done in large oak. Maybe “Puligny Montrachet meets the Santa Cruz Mountains” suggests the... Read More

I never met Andrea Franchetti, who died in December 2021 at the age of 72. But this wine sums up everything I’ve read and heard from his partners at Passopisciaro. “Poetic” and “wildly visionary”... Read More

Carmignano, just outside Florence, is the forgotten region of Tuscany, but when the Medici’s ruled the region, it was their home vineyard. As Vinous says, “The Piaggia winery remains, without a doubt, the shining beacon... Read More

Organic/Bio Who knew Primitivo could be this…well, good? Wines from the Italian cousin of California’s Zinfandel are usually pruny, loaded with nail polish remover volatile acidity, and/or bursting with leather/horse... Read More

Sangiovese from Montepulciano is naturally a little darker and more powerful than from Chianti, and Poliziano leans into that with plenty of dark color and a spicy oak sheen. As Suckling says in the 92 point review, A modern Vino... Read More

Organic/Bio Aglianico is Campania’s most important red grape and examples from the Taurasi region show so much power, intensity, and cellar potential they’ve come to be called “the Barolo of the south.”... Read More

Sure, let’s sell a $60 wine from a place most don’t know and a winery NO ONE has ever heard of! But it’s just so very, very, good. The place is Valtellina in the Alpine mountains of northern Lombardy, the grape... Read More

Organic/Bio “Super-Tuscan” wines don’t have to be “super” – the term came about in the 1980s to describe wines like Sassicaia and Sammarco that failed to qualify for any Tuscan DOC label (usually... Read More

A bold, rich and lightly earthy Chianti blend of 85% Sangiovese, 10% Canaiolo and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon all aged two years in older Slavonian oak. There's plenty of ripe black cherry and strawberry fruit to go with the earth,... Read More