Easter Cellar Raids - Italy

This 2018 is showing great purity of red cherry and berry fruit, supported by liquorice and clove spice. Hints of blood orange and a stony minerality add complexity, combined with the wine's chalky tannins and vibrant acidity.

The 2020 vintage is bright and alluring with great juiciness and suppleness. Red berry perfume dominates the aroma profile, with sweet spice and wild flowers evident on the palate. There is a silkiness to the core that makes this wine very quaffable.

72 year old vines. Lovely freshness here, dark fruit, tension, power, salinity and nervous energy. This is intense and powerful, with loads of salinity: so mineral, but also lots of burnt orange peel, and some almond kernal. It’s so complex and very well balanced: an astonishing Barolo from a real magician.

With fresh mountain strawberry notes, silky tannins, and so much minerality, the 2014 Ravera is simply stunning. The palate is so full of life, and there's a gorgeous coolness to the fruit. This is long and fine, with such excellent balance and drive. Brilliant.

With vineyards planted in the late 90s and early 2000s, the vines are starting to get some age and this is seemingly having a great impact on the wine with quality going up every vintage. 82% Merlot and 18% Cabernet Sauvignon this wine exudes liquorice, vanilla and clove spice combined with layers of juicy red berry fruits. The texture is wonderfully supple with chalky, firm tannins that bring focus and direction into this truly beguiling wine.

With the grapes coming from 3 different vineyards with a number of old vines, the wine takes on additional layers and weight. The 2020 combines juicy red cherry and pomegranate fruit with floral and sweet spice notes as well as an energetic core with chalky, well integrated tannins.

Made from the younger vines from within the Ravera vineyard, this Barolo is enticing with its rose floral and black cherry aromas. The crisp acidity is balanced with a juicy, ripe core and chalky, firm tannins

A blend of Verduno vineyards, this has notes of balsamic, and it has the strawberry fruit and soft, sandy tannins you'd expect from this commune. So much drive and energy: just such a delicious Barolo.

Querciabella’s Super Tuscan, the 2017 Camartina is 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Sangiovese. The trick here is the estate’s high-altitude vineyards, bringing freshness and poise alongside astonishing depth of flavour and complexity. One of Italy’s greatest wines, this shouldn’t be missed.

From a one hectare site in Baudana, in Serralunga d’Alba, and you immediately feel the difference in tannic structure. There’s saline, limestone texture, lots of purity of fruit, and a red strawberry wash across the palate. Very not, with a tonic-like note on the finish.

Sangiovese from the single Boggina vineyard, aged in Amphora. The result is as pure an expression of Sangiovese as you’ll find. Lovely grippy tannins, soaring aromatics, and a savoury, long finish. This was one of our discoveries of the year.

From a vineyard that sits within a stone's throw of Bricco Boschis, the 2017 Vignolo is slightly more savoury and broader than the wines from its more famous brother. There's such intensity and concentration here, but there's also a sense of balance and refinement. The mineral, saline finish, seems to go on for minutes.

The same soil as Rabaja, it’s the exposition here that’s key. This is very energetic, with grippy tannins, lots of minerality, and excellent balance of richness and bright acidity. A really charming Barbaresco.

Juicy, zesty, fine-boned, and moreish: this is a brilliant food wine. What more could you want from Barbera? This comes from a plot in the Ravera vineyard.

Orange peel and fresh beef tomatoes. And blueberry fruit and some violets. Lovely density: there's a weight and tannins to this, with such impressive length. Lovely acidity here, so much energy and a beautiful finish.

Montevetrano is a blend of Aglianico, with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. It's an intense, powerful wine, but what marks it out is the freshness and textured layers here. A brilliant southern Italian red.

This sees one year in old oak barrels, and shows incredible suppleness and lots of cherry fruit and orange blossom. The fruit is creamy, and that’s balanced with citrus fruit and juicy plum fruit. Sappy tannins make you reach for another glass.

2017 was a warm vintage and the wine displays a richness and concentration with cranberries, blackberries and hints of purple fruits. Tannins are firm yet there is a juiciness and concentration on the palate to balance them rather nicely.

The 2015 Monvigliero has an open-knit generosity characteristic of the warm 2015 vintage with layers of ripe strawberry, orange peel and licorice and a mouth-watering, saline finish. This is a well-crafted wine of real refinement which is at an incredible place in its development. It’s sure to continue to provide drinking pleasure over the next decade.

Gianfranco's young vine cuvée, this has notes of ripe plums, prunes, and lots of store cupboard spice. The tannins need time to soften, but put this with food and you'll be richly rewarded.

The 2019 Bricco delle Ciliegie from Giovanni Almondo is an astonishingly good expression of the Arneis grape. Incredibly complex, notes of orange blossom, rosemary, and pine needles swirl from the glass. The palate is textured and savoury, with a core of fresh conference pears, and a thread of acidity that makes this so thirst-quenching.

The Bussia comes from vines around 30 years old from certain south west facing plots (Cicala, Romirasco and Colonnello) within the famous and highly regarded Bussia vineyard. from the Cicala, plots within the Bussia vineyard. 2019 is a year for the Nebbiolo lovers, a vintage that showcases the grape perfectly and has been described by many as a classic vintage. Expect wild flowers, cherries and liquorice spice and concentration that is supported by firm, chalky tannins.

Only 1,000 bottles made. From 45 year old vineyard. This is very pure and mineral on the nose. There’s dark fruit, and there’s a core of wild herbs and lot of minerality. There’s also an almost citrus, pomegranate character. This is nicely complex and very finely judged.

A blend of 30% from La Morra’s Rive vineyard, bringing flesh and body, 30% from Castiglione Falletto’s Scarrone, giving an earthiness and savouriness, and 40% from Serralunga d’Alba’s Baudana & Broglio, bringing tension and brilliance.This is pale and translucent, with pure fruit, silky tannins, and stunning energy. This is a brilliant wine, and is not to be missed

Gramolere is the most celebrated vineyard of the estate, and the 2017 doesn’t disappoint. Really pure fruit, feel the sweetness here, but it’s so well balanced, with amazing tannic purity. There’s amazing length, with strawberry fruit and then also that salinity on the finish, and then lots of grip. With time this will be outstanding.

A charming, elegant wine from a brilliant producer in Valtellina, this is a wonderful wine. There are notes of wild thyme and plenty of strawberry fruit, and a long, defined finish. A charming bottling.

With only 6000 bottles produced, this 2019 sparkling is precise and very linear. White blossom, crushed shells as well as a nervy acidity produce a wine that is razor focused. At only 4 grams dosage, the wine is savoury and rather refreshing.

Nascetta is an indigenous variety of Novello and produces this delicious white that displays yellow fruits with herbs and ginger spice. There is an attractive note of reduction and the palate is crisp and refreshing.

2019 is a great Barbaresco vintage, and this has cool fruit and plenty of acidity. There’s a tension here, and lots of rippling energy, with flavours that develop on the palate. Very impressive indeed.

From plots throughout the estate, generally sited on cooler terroirs, the Barolo is selected from more approachable barrels. In 2017 it’s full of precision and poise, with wonderfully fresh fruit, rose petal, and a hint of tar on the finish. This is a classic Barolo, with everything in perfect balance. Very good indeed.

50% Chardonnay and 50% Pinot Bianco, aged in barrel for 10 months (10% new), a wine that stands out from other Italian whites and is more Burgundian in style. There is a richness and ripeness to the palate as well as a breadth, yet the core is pithy and saline and gives energy to this beautiful wine.

From the Baudana cru in Serralunga, this is nervy and ethereal, with notes of grapefruit and peach skin, and so much lift on the palate. Very Serralunga, with the refined, mouthwatering tannins we’ve come to expect from Clerico.

Manuel’s Dolcetto is getting better every vintage thanks to pulling back somewhat on the opulence and tannin extraction. Expect bright violet and blue plum aromas with bramble fruits and crushed gravel. Tannins have a wonderful suppleness to them.

Mario decided that the 2018 Monvigliero needed less time in barrel, and felt it won’t age quite as long as some vintages, so this isn’t a Riserva this year. This is so refined, pure, and energetic, with lovely finesse, and sumptuous tannins. This is pure Monvigliero, and such a delight already.

A really charming expression of Barbera, this shows black fruits and then spice, and there’s just a hint of dried herbs, too. The tannins are fine, and there’s a juiciness here, too. Very nice indeed.

With a few years of bottle age, this is hitting its stride. Pithy and mineral, with just a hint of honey and freshly cut herbs, the price of this is astonishing. Complex, long, and stunningly delicious.

Sourced from a 2.5 hectare parcel at the top of Falletto, the red label Le Rocche del Falletto Riserva is one of Barolo’s most iconic wines. Dark and layered, the 2017 iteration of the wine offers up an aromatic intensity that’s perfectly wrapped in suave, impeccably judged tannins. This year's top Barolo from Bruno Giacosa is outstanding, and yet again it’s well worth seeking out.

Undoubtedly the standout wine of the Roero zone, the 2017 Bricco delle Ciliegie doesn't disappoint. There's richness and roundness here, that comes from some clay in the soil, but also stunning tension and coolness to the fruit. The texture on the saline finish is wonderful - it has you reaching straight for another glass.

There’s a lot of freshness to the 2017 Monvigliero Riserva, and also a very silky palate, despite the challenges of the vintage. This has grip and grows on the palate, and there’s notes of sea spray and red fruits, and then some balsamic. Very complex, with time this will blossom into a wonderful wine.

Casa Maté is always a more structured expression from Grasso, and this treads a beautiful line between richness and freshness. There's notes of rose petal and tar - this is classic, classy Nebbiolo - and the finish is long and incredibly mineral. A real beauty in the making.