This wine is what we term a 'cleanskin', or the Italian, an Edizione Limitata. It's a top-quality wine with minimal information on the label – part of the deal of getting 5-star Brunello at a great price. What we can say is that it comes from a beautiful estate in Castelnuova Berardenga, in the south of Chianti Classico. The Romans were the first to plant vines here, while its buildings date back to 1099.

The current owners purchased it in 1984 and, in a very short time, have made its wines some of the most sought after of the region. It is 100% organic and solar powered too. From the warm 2017 vintage, this Brunello offers a panoply of ripe cherry, plum, rose and violet notes, with polished tannins. Open early and decant or cellar.

A region that offers “undreamed-of character and potential,” and “reds that give you a lot of wine for your money” (Decanter).

It comes to us courtesy of the legendary Feudi di San Gregorio, one of Puglia’s finest estates, renowned for being among the first modern wineries to champion the region’s native grapes. It regularly garners 90+ point scores from the likes of The Wine Advocate and top critic James Suckling, and their wines are literally fine pieces of art.

Ognissole Primitivo hails from the prestigious Gioia del Colle DOC (“jewels of the hill”) and the 400-metre-high plateau it sits on is considered to be the homeland of the Primitivo grape. Organically grown, the fruit enjoys beautiful breezes from the Adriatic and Ionian seas which give the grapes much needed relief from the warm Italian sun, creating rich, velvety and intense wines. The result is a lusciously decadent red packed with sumptuous berry fruits, a mouth coating texture and delicious spice kick.

All biodynamically grown in prized Maremma, it's "a bright and articulate entry-level wine from this top-level estate" (Wine Advocate).

Wine Enthusiast calls Amarone “one of the 15 icons in Italian wine”. They are certainly some of the most prized reds from Italy, made by the ancient tradition of sun drying grapes before fermentation. This gives them an amazing richness, a glorious combination of power and complexity that cellars well, too. No wonder they are prized the world over. This 2017 from the renowned Cantina Negrar is named after the 18th century poet Bartolomeo Lorenzi, whose epic poem celebrating rural life made Valpolicella wines famous. The grapes are from the ancient dry stone terraces of the cool Marano Valley, where they ripen slowly. They are then air dried for 120 days to intensify flavours. A superb bottle to enjoy now with hearty dishes or to cellar.

Antonio Federici is a small, 3rd-generation cellar in Lazio, just south of Rome. As you'll taste here, its wines are both authentic and exceptionally delicious.

Normally, they only supply their meagre output to top restaurants in Rome. But with most shut in 2020 and 2021, we managed to gain a small allocation of this superb, cherry-scented red.

On fine limestone soils (the rocks of which were used to build some of Rome's most famous buildings) they grow some of Italy's most characterful native grapes. From these they make a small range of highly awarded, rule-breaking wines.

No doubt the skill of top Italian consultant Franco and Matteo Bernabei come into play, as well as the commitment and passion of the family.

A great pizza or pasta red.