“The Enthusiast 100” 2023: lots of Italy, with Piedmont and Langhe at the top (but not only)

Like every year-end, the big international wine rankings keep coming. And now it's the turn of “The Enthusiast 100” 2023, the American magazine’s wine of the year ranking (whose tasting signatures from Italy are Jeff Porter and Danielle Callegari). A ranking that, if it sees at No. 1 overall Duckhorn’s 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Monitor Ledge Vineyard, from Napa Valley, counts 16 Italian labels, mainly from Langhe, with lots of Barolo, a few sparkling wine gems between Franciacorta and Conegliano, and excursions to Valtellina, Emilia Romagna and Tuscany, without, however, the great appellations such as Chianti Classico, Brunello di Montalcino and Bolgheri, but with Nobile di Montepulciano and a peculiar Igt, which comes from a Spanish grape variety.<&V>
But let’s go in order. First of the Italians, at No. 2 in the ranking, is a great classic such as Ratti’s Barolo Serradenari 2019, followed, still in the “top 10”, by a surprising Franciacorta CruPerdu Grande Annata Extra Brut 2016 from Castello Bonomi (of the Casa Paladin group), at No. 7, ahead of another Langhe must, such as Ceretto’s Barolo Bricco Rocche 2019, No. 8. It remains in Piedmont, but moving to the Colli Tortonesi with Borgogno’s Derthona 2021 (from Oscar Farinetti’s Fontanafredda group) at No. 18, while it moves down to Emilia Romagna, at position No. 25, with Vigneto Saetti’s Lambrusco dell’Emilia Rosso Viola 2021. Then Langhe again, with another great classic such as Vietti’s Barolo Lazzarito 2019 at No. 31, and with Pertinace’s Barbaresco Marcarini 2020 at No. 33, before returning again to Emilia, with Terrevive’s Stiolorosso Nv sparkling red wine at No. 39. And, remaining in the top half of the ranking, at No. 48 is Valtellina Superiore Valgella Vigna Fracia 2018 by Nino Negri of Gruppo Italiano Vini - Giv (and the only Italian winery, along with Ratti, also awarded by the similar “Top 100” by “Wine Spectator”, albeit in both cases with different wines, ed.)..
Again, in the second half of Wine Enthusiast’s rankings, Italy ranks at No. 53 with Fontanafredda’s Barolo Vigna La Delizia Lazzarito 2019 (with Farinetti’s group placing two labels in the rankings, ed.), while at No. 57 there is another excellence of Italian sparkling wine, such as Rotari’s Trentodoc Metodo Classico Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut 2019 (of the Mezzacorona group). Again, at No. 58 another big name from Piedmont and Langhe such as Sandrone, but with Barbera d’Alba 2021, while at No. 73 more bubbles, “Unesco-branded”, with Borgoluce’s Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Rive di Collato Extra Brut 2021. Closing the Italian list, at No. 75, is Tuscany’s first standard bearer, the Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2019 from Salcheto, a winery led by Michele Manelli that has given a decisive boost on the sustainability front to the entire territory, and then again the Piedmontese gem represented by Emilio Vada’s Moscato d’Asti Camp Bianc 2022 at No. 84, while, at position No. 99, there is the Igt Toscana Rosè di Tempranillo Fresco di Nero 2021 by Pietro Beconcini, who planted one of Spain’s most famous native varieties in the hills of San Miniato, in the province of Pisa.
And, interestingly enough, Italian hands are also the ones producing the No. 56 wine in the ranking, namely the Octagon 2019, produced by Barboursville Vineyards, in Virginia, a winery that, for many years, has been owned by Zonin1921, in the territory, Charlottesville, that the same “Wine Enthusiast” awarded as “Wine Region of the Year”.
“Discovering great new wines of all kinds from around the world is what drives Wine Enthusiast’s team of reviewers: we have blind-tasted more than 23,000 bottles over the past 12 months, and for “The Enthusiast 100” we have narrowed them down to the following elite list of exceptional wines. This year’s 100 wines are not simply the highest scoring or most expensive bottles: these are wines that have opened our reviewers’ eyes and stimulated their imaginations. They include grape varieties ranging from Albariño to Zinfandel, grown in 14 different countries and five American states. A Petite Arvine from Mendocino, California, a dry Furmint from Tokaji, Hungary, and an Italian, non-Spanish Tempranillo rosé give an idea of the breadth of choice The average price is $56, with 31 wines costing $40 or less”, explains Wine Enthusiast magazine.

Focus - Italy in “The Enthusiast 100” 2023
2 - Barolo Serradenari 2019 di Ratti
7 - Franciacorta CruPerdu Grande Annata Extra Brut 2016 di Castello Bonomi
8 - Barolo Bricco Rocche 2019 di Ceretto
18 - Colli Tortonesi Derthona 2021 di Borgogno
25 - Lambrusco dell’Emilia Rosso Viola 2021 di Vigneto Saetti
31 - Barolo Lazzarito 2019 di Vietti
33 - Barbaresco Marcarini 2020 di Pertinace
39 - Emilia Stiolorosso Nv di Terrevive
48 - Valtellina Superiore Valgella Vigna Fracia 2018 di Nino Negri (Gruppo Italiano Vini)
53 - Barolo Vigna La Delizia Lazzarito 2019 di Fontanafredda
57 - Trentodoc Metodo Classico Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut 2019 di Rotari (Mezzacorona)
58 - Barbera d’Alba 2021 di Sandrone
73 - Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Rive di Collato Extra Brut 2021 di Borgoluce
75 - Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2019 di Salcheto
84 - Moscato d’Asti Camp Bianc 2022 di Emilio Vada
99 - Igt Toscana Rosè di Tempranillo Fresco di Nero 2021 di Pietro Beconcini