Sassicaia, Rubesco Vigna Monticchio, Solaia, I Sodi di San Niccolò: the top for “Gentleman”

They are a Tuscan wine and an Umbrian label, respectively Bolgheri Sassicaia 2017 (Tenuta San Guido) and Torgiano Rosso Rubesco Vigna Monticchio Riserva 2016 (Lungarotti), the excellences among the excellences, ex aequo, in the “Top 100” of the best Italian red wines, drawn up, as per tradition, by the monthly magazine “Gentleman” of the group “Milano Finanza”, which crosses and adds up the scores of six of the most important Italian wine guides, Vini d’Italia (Gambero Rosso), I Vini di Veronelli, Bibenda (Fondazione Italiana Sommelier), Vitae (Associazione Italiana Sommelier), Annuario dei Migliori Vini Italiani (Luca Maroni) and Guida Essenziale ai Vini d’Italia (Daniele Cernilli). A ranking that on the podium sees two other great wines of Tuscany, from Marchesi Antinori and Castellare di Castellina: Solaia 2017, produced with the most selected Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Sangiovese grapes from the Solaia vineyard in the heart of Chianti Classico, and I Sodi di San Niccolò 2016, pride of the Chianti winery for having demonstrated the greatness of “Sangioveto” blended with black Malvasia and not with international varieties. This year, and it is the first time it happens, on the podium of the ranking there are the same three wines of the previous year with an inversion of the respective position between Rubesco Vigna Monticchio and Solaia.
In fourth place there is Es 2018 by Gianfranco Fino, to highlight one of the phenomena characterizing the 2021 edition of the ranking and that is the rise of Primitivo which is found with two labels in the top ten, being also in sixth position with Raccontami 2018 by Vespa Vignaioli per Passione. The fifth place is divided between Monteverro Toscana Rosso 2017 (Monteverro), produced in the estate located at the foot of the medieval village of Capalbio, in the southernmost part of the Tuscan Maremma, and Aglianico del Vulture Superiore La Firma 2015, produced in Basilicata by Cantine del Notaio, from Rionero in Vulture. It had never happened that an Aglianico from this area reached so high and that three others placed among the top 100, last year there was not even one.
In sixth place, besides Raccontami 2018, there is Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 2016 by Allegrini. It is the leader of this type of wines from Veneto which see this year five labels among the top ten and as many as nine in the ranking. In seventh place, to remark the preeminence of Tuscany with 31 labels as opposed to 12 of Piedmont and Veneto, the Bolgheri Superiore Guado al Tasso 2017 (Tenuta Guado al Tasso, again by Antinori), together with the Marche’s Kupra 2017 (Oasi degli Angeli).
In eighth position, besides Amarone of Monte Zovo - Famiglia Cottini and Pasqua Vigneti e Cantine, the first Sicilian label, Etna Rosso Riserva Contrada Zottorinoto 2016 by Cottanera. Still many ex aequo at position no. 9: from Tedeschi’s Amarone to Barbera d’Asti Superiore Alfiera 2017 (Marchesi Alfieri), from Tignanello 2017 (again by Antinori) to Maremma Toscana Baffonero by Rocca di Frassinello), to Rosso Piceno Superiore Roggio del Filare 2017 by the Marche brand Velenosi, as well as the first one from Campania in the ranking, Montevetrano 2018 by Montevetrano from the winery of San Cipriano Picentino, in the Salerno area. In tenth position, finally, together with Sant’Urbano 2016, the Gattinara Riserva 2015 by Travaglini.
The supremacy of Tuscany is also confirmed by the cross-checking of the ratings of Italian guides and the votes of foreign critics, which is another prerogative of the rankings of “Gentleman”. In fact, taking into consideration the first 50 of the ranking that results from the Italian ratings, “Gentleman” checks the scores assigned by the most authoritative international critics and magazines, namely “Wine Spectator”, “The Wine Advocate”, James Suckling and “Vinous” of Antonio Galloni. From this crossing of ratings it emerges that only 8 labels out of 50 have an evaluation by at least three international critics out of four and they are all expressions of Tuscany. They are, in order, Solaia 2017 (Marchesi Antinori) and Bolgheri Sassicaia 2017 (Tenuta San Guido), Tignanello 2017 (Marchesi Antinori) and Bolgheri Superiore Guado al Tasso 2017 (Tenuta Guado al Tasso, again by Antinori), Maremma Toscana Baffonero 2017 (Rocca di Frassinello) and I Sodi di S. Niccolò 2016 (Castellare di Castellina), with, finally, Bolgheri Rosso Superiore Dedicato a Walter 2016 (Allegrini’s Poggio al Tesoro) and Duemani 2017 (Duemani).