THE TOP FIVE “SUPER WINES” THE MOST IMPORTANT ITALIAN WINE GUIDES ALL AGREE ARE THE BEST: SAN LEONARDO 2003, SERENADE 2004 (CANTINA DI CALDARO), SASSICAIA 2004, MONTEVETRANO 2005, TERRA DI LAVORO 2005

Now that all of the classifications have been made by the most important Italian wine guides, “the classification” of the wines that received the highest scores across the board has also been calculated by WineNews.
The five wines that earned unanimous recognition are San Leonardo 2003 from the Tenuta San Leonardo in the Trentino region, Montevetrano 2005 by Montevetrano in Campania, Terra di Lavoro 2005 by Galardi, Sassicaia 2004 from the Tenuta San Guido di Bolgheri in Tuscany, and Moscato Giallo Passito "Serenade" 2004 from the Cantina di Caldaro. These are the only wines that received top scores in all of the wine guides published in Italy for 2008: the “Tre Bicchieri” (“Three Glasses”) recognition in the ‘Vini d’Italia’ guide by Gambero Rosso-Slow Food, the “Cinque Bottiglie” (“Five Bottles”) from the Espresso guide, “Tre Stelle” (“Three Stars”) from the ‘I Vini di Veronelli’ guide, “Cinque Grappoli” (“Five Grape Clusters”) from Duemilavini by Ais-Bibenda, and the maximum point score from the ‘Annuario dei migliori vini italiani’ by Luca Maroni.
The third year of this “cross examination” conducted by WineNews has revealed a slight improvement compared to the results of the 2007 guides, which gave unanimous recognition to only two wines (Galatrona 2004 by Fattoria di Petrolo and Montevetrano 2004).
In 2006, however, eight wines were actually recognized: Gaja, Sorì San Lorenzo 2001; Casanova di Neri, Brunello Cerretalto 1999; Masciarelli, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Villa Gemma 2001; Oasi degli Angeli, Kurni 2003; Galardi, Terra di Lavoro 2003, Montevetrano, Montevetrano 2003; Sandrone, Barolo Cannubi Boschis 2001; Foradori, Granato 2003.
“But five wines are still a paltry amount” – explained WineNews director, Alessandro Regoli – “given that, on average, 15,000 wines are tasted by the guides, and this is the equivalent of 0.03%.The wines that are completely convincing are not increasing in a decisive manner among the results of the guides that, in general, can be considered to have the closest criteria for rating wines (Gambero Rosso-Slow Food, Veronelli, Ais-Bibenda, L'Espresso)".
Overall, there are 18 wines that are recognized for their excellence (but this is still just barely 0.12% of the 15,000 wines that were tasted): Gaja, Barbaresco 2004; Conterno, Barolo Monfortino Riserva 2000; Bruno Giacosa, Barolo Rocche di Falletto Riserva 2001; Massolino, Barolo Vigna Rionda Riserva 2001; Fratelli Cavallotto, Barolo Bricco Boschis Vigneto San Giuseppe Riserva 2001; Bellavista, Franciacorta Extra Brut Vittorio Moretti 2001; Tenuta San Leonardo, San Leonardo 2003; Cantina di Caldaro, Alto Adige Moscato Giallo Passito Serenade 2004; Grattamacco, Bolgheri Rosso Superiore Grattamacco 2004; Tenuta San Guido, Bolgheri Sassicaia 2004; Tenuta Col d'Orcia, Brunello di Montalcino Poggio al Vento Riserva 1999; Montevertine, Le Pergole Torte 2004; Tenuta dell'Ornellaia, Masseto 2004; Poliziano, Nobile di Montepulciano Asinone 2004; Marchesi Antinori, Tignanello 2004; Montevetrano, Montevetrano 2005, Mastroberardino, Taurasi Radici Riserva 2001; Galardi, Terra di Lavoro 2005. The production numbers of the five “super wines” are as follows: Sassicaia (200,000 bottles), San Leonardo, (90,000 bottles), Montevetrano (30,000 bottles), Terra di Lavoro (20,000 bottles), Serenade (4,500 bottles). And taking claim for two of these five wines is one of the most famous enologists world wide, Riccardo Cotarella, with Montevetrano and Terra di Lavoro. Tuscan enologist, Carlo Ferrini is the author of San Leonardo by the Marchesi Guerrini Gonzaga.
There is the historic signature of Italian enologist Giacomo Tachis who, in 1968, created Sassicaia. And a “Teutonic” touch for the Moscato Giallo Passito Serenade, which was created by Helmuth Zozin. The majority of these five “super wines” are made from so-called international grape varieties: Sassicaia is composed of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, San Leonardo is made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot, and Montevetrano is Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Aglianico. Serenade is, on the other hand, made entirely from Moscato Giallo and Terra di Lavoro is a blend of Aglianico and Pierdirosso. This year, there was also the notable absence of a wine from one of Italy’s most famous winemaking regions – Piedmont. The five guides that are now the protagonists of the Italian wine world made a relatively recent appearance on the scene. ‘Vini d'Italia’ by Gambero Rosso-Slow Food was published for the first time in 1988, the same year as the first edition of the Vini di Veronelli guide; in 1993, the publication by Luca Maroni began; in 1999, Duemilavini Ais-Bibenda began its publications; and, last but not least, the ‘Vini d'Italia de L'Espresso’ guide made its first appearance in 2002.