Wine Enthusiast Magazine’s Top Italian Wine Cellar Selections for 2010

Wine Enthusiast Magazine recently published their top 100 wines from around the world for 2010 that they consider the most cellar-worthy – i.e., the highest quality collectible wines that will require time in the cellar in order to achieve peak satisfaction. These wines were selected from all the wines reviewed by Wine Spectator in 2010.

Seventeen of the wines in this list are Italian wines, the largest number for any imported wines on the list. France was a close second with 16 wines and Spain third with 12 wines. American wines, of course, were the clear favorites and dominated the listing with 41 wines.

Barolo and Brunello di Montalcino wines dominate the list of the most cellar-worthy Italian wines, accounting for 11 of the 17 Italian wines. The majority of the remaining Italian wines on the list consisted of super-Tuscans.

Since many of these wines are highly sought after and oftentimes limited in production they tend to be expensive. The least-expensive Italian wine in this list, for example, is the '06 “Solengo” from Argiano, a super-Tuscan wine whose suggested retail price is $70. Also priced at $70 is an '06 "Costa Grimaldi" Barolo from Luigi Einaudi. The most expensive Italian wine is an '07 Vin Santo di Montepulciano, “Occhio di Pernice” from Avignonesi that retails for $237 - and that’s for a small (375 ml) bottle! The average price of the 17 Italian wines included in this listing is $118.

As with any subjectively determined “best-of” listing, one can take issue with why certain wines were included and others excluded. But that’s a fool’s game so I simply culled their list of the 100 top cellar-worthy wines for Italian wines and present them without comment for your review.

Wine Enthusiast Magazine's Top Italian Wine Cellar Selections
           The Most Ageable Wines of 2010
Rank Score Year Producer Wine Name  Wine Type Price
2 97 2006 Marchesi Antinori  Guardo al Tasso  Bolgheri Superiore $95
5 96 2006 Poderi Luigi Einaudi Costa Grimaldi  Barolo $70
17 97 2006 Vietti Brunate Barolo $130
18 94 2006 Tua Rita Giusto di Notri  Toscana $75
24 96 2004 Altesino Riserva  Brunello di Montalcino $80
33 96 2005 Eugenio Bocchino La Serra Barolo $99
43 96 2005 Gianni Voerzio La Serra Barolo $125
45 96 2006 Tenuta dell'Ornellaia Ornellaia  Bolgheri Superiore $200
46 95 2004 Corte Pavone Riserva  Brunello di Montalcino $75
52 96 2006 Luciano Sandrone Cannubi Boschis Barolo $150
55 99 1997 Avignonesi Occhio di Pernice Vin Santo di Montepulciano $237 *
59 95 2004 San Polino Riserva  Brunello di Montalcino $90
71 95 2004 Uccelliera Riserva  Brunello di Montalcino $112
79 95 2004 Le Chiuse Riserva  Brunello di Montalcino $120
80 95 2006 Fattoria Petrolo Galatrona Toscana $120
87 94 2006 Argiano Solengo Toscana $70
92 95 2004 Castello Banfi Poggio all'Oro Riserva Brunello di Montalcino $150
* 375 ml

Source: "Top 100 Cellar Selections", Wine Enthusiast Magazine (December 1, 2010), pages 37-50.

Richard Marcis
November 17, 2010

Read other selections from About Italian Wines.

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