Four bottles that argue for Italy at the very top
Italy spent decades being treated as the value alternative to France — very good wine, sensibly priced, not quite the top table. That framing is thirty years out of date. The four bottles here compete with anything from Bordeaux or Burgundy at the same money, and they do it in four completely different registers: a Merlot from a blue-clay hillside, a single-vineyard Sangiovese, a Cabernet planted in Barolo country as an act of provocation, and a Valpolicella made with more ambition than most producers bring to their flagship Amarone. What unites them is not a grape or a region. It is that each one is the product of somebody deciding their patch of ground deserved to be taken seriously.
Cabernet Sauvignon • $185
Angelo Gaja planted Cabernet in Nebbiolo country and his father called it darmagi — "what a pity." The gamble became Italy's benchmark Cabernet. Cassis and blueberry wrapped in tree bark, graphite and violets: a Cabernet with a distinct Piedmont accent, silky and light on its feet where a Napa equivalent would reach for power. At $185 it is by some distance the most affordable way onto this list.
Sangiovese • $350
Cerretalto is a single vineyard, and the wine argues for site above everything — Brunello's answer to Grand Cru Burgundy. Black cherry, graphite and violet blossom with a purity and aromatic lift that is genuinely startling in Sangiovese. Vibrant and velvety, with mineral-toned tannins framing a radiant core. The 2019 collected multiple 99- and 100-point scores elsewhere, and it earns them.
Corvina • $375
Dal Forno makes the most serious Valpolicella in the world, and this outclasses most producers' Amarone. Dark bramble fruit and blueberry over cold coffee, dark chocolate and turned earth; 36 months in barrique give it a density that borders on architectural. Powerful tannins, crisp acidity, and a 99-point balance of monumental extract against real freshness. Nothing else here tastes remotely like it.
Merlot • $495
Italy's answer to Pétrus, grown on a blue-clay hillside in Bolgheri that genuinely cannot be replicated elsewhere. Concentrated red berries and dark stones with sage and cocoa — a Merlot of unusual gravity and lift at once. The 2022 balances a warm vintage against striking freshness, and the tannins are polished to a sheen that makes it the easiest of these four to open young.
Buy the Gaja Darmagi if you want the most wine for the money and a genuinely good story to tell over dinner. Buy the Cerretalto if you want to understand why people talk about Sangiovese in the same breath as Pinot Noir. The Dal Forno is the connoisseur's choice and the least conventional bottle on this site — if someone tells you Valpolicella is a light summer red, open it and watch them reconsider.
Get our top pick — Dal Forno Romano Valpolicella Superiore Monte Lodoletta 2018 · $375Affiliate Disclosure: We may earn a commission from your purchase at no extra cost to you.
The background on what is in these bottles.