“Best Buys” 2024 by “Wine Enthusiast”, 17 Italian wines in the “Top 100”, Paltrinieri No. 2

The beauty of Italy’s wine is also given by a variety and richness of styles that rhyme with uniqueness, and that are able, from North to South of Italy, to express in the glass a distinct personality and characteristics that win over the most demanding wine lover. And all this with the possibility (also) of not spending an exaggerated amount of money, another aspect that gives credit to the talent and skills of Italian wineries, able, like few, to combine tradition and innovation. It is no coincidence that there are so many, as many as 17 out of 100 (there were 17 also in 2023), labels from wine Italy present in the “Best Buys” 2024, the ranking of the American magazine “Wine Enthusiast”, which, once again, has lined up the best wines that can be found at prices up to $20 at the shelf and includes those products rated at least 90 points, inaugurating, as per tradition, the release of the great “Top 100” of international critics.
A selection that comes after an analysis of the more than 23,000 wines tasted blind last year and, among the curiosities mentioned, the high average quality is denoted, as 96 of the wines in the “Top 100” received scores of 90 points or more without forgetting that 32 wines featured are priced below $15. Wines “made in the USA” (including King Estate’s Inscription Pinot Noir 2022, at position No. 1) lead the ranking with 42 labels ahead of Italy and then France, with 12 wines. Italy, a European leader, stands out at position No. 2 with Paltrinieri’s Lambrusco Piria 2023, one of the most innovative wineries in Sorbara, a land of great Lambruscos, also conquering the “Top 10” with Renzo Masi’s Contrappasso 2020 at No. 9, a red wine that comes from the prestigious Tuscan hills. It climbs back up to Trento with Rotari’s Arte Italiana Brut Chardonnay NV (No. 17), from the Mezzacorona Group, among the leaders of the Trentino cooperative, and which is one position ahead of Saracco’s Moscato 2023 (No. 18), a leading name from the Piedmont Langhe. Position No. 32 for Piccolo Derthona Timorasso 2022 by Terre di Sarizzola, a historic winery in Sarizzola that has been producing wine since the second half of the 19th century; at No. 37 is Rosso di Domini del Leone NV, a winery that produces organic and biodynamic wine in the Veneto region; and, at No. 38, Poggio Alto 2021 by Piccini 1882, one of the most relevant groups in the Italian wine scene. The Garganega 2023 from Pieropan, the flagship winery of Soave, is at No. 44, while the Lambrusco amabile 2022 from Cantina di Puianello, a historic winery founded in 1938, is at No. 48. Also in the top 50 positions (No. 49) is Moscato 2022 from Sobrero, a winery also known for producing Barolo, while Umani Ronchi, an award-winning winery led by the Bernetti family in the Marche region and one of the most successful stories of Italian winemaking, is at No. 51 with Villa Bianchi Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico 2022. Illuminati, among the best-known and most titled wineries in Abruzzo, is at position No. 67 with Pecorino 2023; back to Tuscany at No. 69 with Poggio Argentato 2022 from Fattoria Le Pupille, a reality led by Elisabetta Geppetti, among the protagonists of the rise of Maremma enoic in the Tuscan wine scene. Position No. 72 for Peter Zemmer’s Chardonnay 2022, a well-known producer in Alto Adige, and, at No. 80, we find Banfi’s Chianti Docg Superiore 2022, a leading winery in Montalcino and the Belpaese wine and business scene. Dezzani, 90 years of history and viticulture in the hills of Asti, is in the ranking at No. 88 with the Otto Bucce 2022, while at position No. 96 is Cà Maiol’s Lugana 2022, made from Turbiana grapes and produced by the company that is part of the Marzotto family’s Santa Margherita wine group of Veneto, one of the most significant realities of the Italian wine scene.

Focus - “Wine Enthusiast”: Italian wines in the “Best Buys” 2024

2. Lambrusco Piria 2023 di Paltrinieri
9. Contrappasso 2020 di Renzo Masi
17. Arte Italiana Brut Chardonnay NV di Rotari
18. Moscato 2023 di Saracco
32. Piccolo Derthona Timorasso 2022 di Terre di Sarizzola
37. Rosso Domini del Leone NV
38. Poggio Alto 2021 di Piccini 1882
44. Garganega 2023 di Pieropan
48. Lambrusco amabile 2022 di Cantina di Puianello
49. Moscato 2022 di Sobrero
51. Villa Bianchi Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico 2022 di Umani Ronchi
67. Pecorino 2023 di Illuminati
69. Poggio Argentato 2022 di Fattoria Le Pupille
72. Chardonnay 2022 di Peter Zemmer
80. Chianti Docg Superiore 2022 di Banfi
88. Otto Bucce 2022 di Dezzani
96. Lugana 2022 di Cà Maiol