Classic Italian Reds Tasting Kit

The terraced organic vines of Filetta, one of the original and highest sites of Chianti Classico at 600 metres, produces wine of rare fragrance and finesse and well-balanced silky flavour. Violet floral notes combine with bright blueberry and plum flavours, concentrated yet elegant with graphite on the fine finish.

A classic blend of grapes almost unique to Etna's slopes - nerello mascalese and nerello cappuccio, this perfumed red really shows its volcanic origin. With bright red-berry and floral notes on the nose, there is an underlying earthy graphite note on the elegant vibrant palate. A great example of the reds coming from this unique terroir.

Made by Andrea Lonardi MW, this is a more modern style of Amarone, with a shorter drying time, and less oak the result is much fresher yet still with a distinctive richness. From a great vintage in this part of Italy, this wine is showing plenty of spicy bramble-fruit notes that are pure on the full-bodied palate.

This cherry and rose-scented Barolo of great promise and spiced length comes from the great Bussia vineyard in a great vintage of very fine, firmly structured wines. They've benefited from five years ageing and are coming delightfully into their own. Silvano Bolmida, maker of this wine, has an infectious and endless passion for healthy living soils; once he starts talking about it, he’s unlikely to come up for air for a very long time. His vision of a vineyard is ‘not merely a collection of vines but rather a complex ecosystem comprising various species working in harmony.’ Together with his wife, son and daughter, their dream is ‘to leave the land in better condition for future generations than how we found it.’ With the funds from our Climate and Nature Programme, the Bolmida family will be increasing the diversity and complexity of plants – and therefore life – in their vineyard ecosystem, which in turn will make it more resilient to climatic pressures. This is a two-pronged initiative which involves firstly establishing an organic, living mulch in the vineyards via cover cropping with thirteen species, and rolling these plants with a new mulching roller; and secondly planting native forest trees in the areas adjacent to the vineyards.

A beautifully concentrated and layered Brunello. From the charmingly open 2020 vintage, this exudes ripe red berry fruit, wild herbs and savoury spice, underpinned by juicy acidity and framed by granular, gripping tannins. Sourced from Val di Suga’s three vineyards in Montalcino – 40% from Vigna del Lago in the cooler northeast bringing elegance and freshness in this warm vintage, 30% from Poggio al Granchio in the southeast bringing breadth and an iron-like complexity, and 30% from Vigna Spuntali in the southwest – this is brilliantly balanced and drinking well now. Val di Suga’s style is focused on fruit expression and purity and runs through this wine – a modern interpretation of Brunello. Picking earlier than many producers, they opt for a shorter maceration and a shorter maturation. This has been aged for two years in large Slavonian oak casks, giving the tannins chance to soften while preserving ample fruit character.

From a high-altitude vineyard in the heart of Chianti Classico country, the 2023 of this fine and elegant red is especially luminous, with pomegranate and dried-spice perfume on the nose and bright, tangy cranberry and redcurrant fruit on the palate. As always with Volpaia, there is a beautiful fruit purity and finesse, with well-integrated tannins and a refreshing, almost crunchy, acidity this vintage.