Top Italian Wines in Wine Enthusiast magazine's Top 100 Cellar Selections for 2009

Wine Enthusiast Magazine recently released1 its top 100 wine cellar selections for 2009. These are the wines that editors of Wine Enthusiast consider to have the greatest potential for ageing, wines that will require additional time in a cellar for maximum drinking pleasure. Keep in mind that many of these wines are not for the financially faint of heart as they carry high price tags, often hundreds of dollars, due to their limited production and/or strong market demand.

Twenty-one Italian wines are included in the Wine Enthusiast’s top 100 wine cellar selections for 2009.  Fourteen, or approximately two-thirds of the Italian wines selected, are from two regions – Tuscany and Piedmont. The Veneto is a distant third with 3 wines making the Wine Enthusiast’s top 100.

The top scoring Italian wine was Brancaia’s Super-Tuscan “Il Blu” 2006. It ranked 5th in the overall list of the top 100 wines from around the world.

It is always interesting to speculate on “top 10” or “top 100” lists or beauty contests of any kind why some make the list while others do not. For example, three Amarone wines are included in the listing, including Dal Forno Romano’s excellent Amarone della Valpolicella 2003, but Giuseppe Quintarelli’s amazing Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 2000 is conspicuously absent.  Barolo wines are well represented with versions by Vietti, Renato Ratti, Ceretto and Marcarini making the list. These are all fine wines from good vintages in the Piedmont. But one could also argue that Bruno Giacosa’s Barolo Falletto 2004 or Einaudi’s Barolo Costa Grimaldi 2005 or Bartolo Mascarello’s Barolo 2005, to name just a few, are equally good and so why were they not also included in the list?

Oh well, these are difficult questions. There is only so much real estate in a top 100 listing and so somebody has to make some tough decisions.

The Italian wines that made Wine Enthusiast’s top 100 cellar selections for 2009 include the following:

     Italian Wines in Wine Enthusiast's Top 100 Cellar Selections 2009
Rank Score Wine Price
5 94 Brancaia, Il Blu (Toscana), 2006 $50
16 94 Benanti, Serra della Contessa (Etna) 2005 $49
28 95 Masciarelli, Villa Gemma (Montepulciano d'Abruzzo) 2004 $100
37 95 Vietti, Rocche (Barolo) 2005 $125
49 94 Altesino, Brunello di Montalcino, 2004 $75
55 94 Cesari, Bosan (Amarone della Valpolicella) 2001 $85
58 95 Marchesi Antinori, Solaia (Toscana) 2006 $170
60 93 Castello  di Bossi, Berardo Riserva (Chianti Classico) 2004 $41
62 96 Tua Rita, Redigaffi (Toscana) 2006 $330
63 94 Bertani, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico, 2000 $136
65 94 Pio Cesare, Il Bricco (Barbaresco) 2004 $100
66 94 Bruno Rocca, Rabaja (Barbaresco) 2006 $100
68 94 Renato Ratti, Rocche (Barolo) 2004 $100
71 94 Poggio Antico, Altero (Brunello di Montalcino) 2004 $115
73 95 Ceretto, Bricco Rocche (Barolo) 2004 $230
78 96 Gaja, Sori San Lorenzo Nebbiolo (Langhe) 2005 $445
79 96 Dal Forno Romano, Vigneto di Monte Lodoletta (Amarone della Valpolicella) 2003 $470
84 93 Marcarini, Brunate (Barolo) 2004 $66
93 93 Giulio Ferrari, Riserva del Fondatore (Trento) 1999 $90
94 93 Gravner, Anfora Ribolla Gialla (Venezia Giulia) 2003 $120
96 93 Biondi-Santi, Brunello di Montalcino 2004 $180
Total 21 Average Price = $151
Median Price = $100

1 “Top 100 Cellar Selections 2009,” Wine Enthusiast (December 1, 2009), p. 26.

Richard Marcis
www.WineWordsWisdom.com

November 28, 2009

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