The Italian quality/price ratio champions

If we lived in an ideal world, but above all if you had - or had you - a bottomless wallet (like an Arab sheikh) this post would not make sense, neither for me who write it nor for you who despite yourselves have found yourself in read it.

But given that instead we all find ourselves living in a tremendously real world, in which the economic variable counts to the point of affecting and determining our lives, the issue of the quality / price ratio is always topical and of capital importance.

Also - and above all - if we talk about wine, something that, despite being a great love or passion of almost all of us, certainly does not represent a commodity of primary necessity.

Remaining in Italy it therefore seemed interesting to me to talk about the quality/price ratio champions, that is those labels that without to be so expensive can give emotions, or at least - coming out of the poetry that I like to associate with wine - brighten an evening that started badly.

There are eleven (like a football team), some representers of the most important denominations of our wine boot, other axpression of wine regions perhaps less known and mainstream but equally valid.

Clearly it’s a personal list, therefore influenced by my taste and my experience, but beyond the fact that everything is perfectible, I believe it is a group of sure value, a team that could hardly reserve you disappointments.

Enjoy the reading!

 

Ca' del Magro Custoza Superiore - Monte del Frà (€ 9-12)

A simply wonderful white, rich in nuances (due to the use of old vineyards grapes, also located inside one of the most suitable area of the appelation) but at the same time harmonious and irresistible to drink. In the best vintages, a wine that strikes and stuns, and that you could blindly compare with labels of an higher level.

Verdicchio di Matelica - Collestefano (€ 8-10)

If I had to indicate THE wine that best embodies the concept of quality/price ratio, I would most likely choose Fabio Marchionni's Verdicchio. A maximum disguised as a medium weight, as graceful as a butterfly but strong and pungent like a bee. Moreover, in the right vintages it ages to a great extent, acquiring further complexity and depth.

 

Terlaner Alto Adige - Cantina Terlano (13-15 €)

Here we enter inside the "wines of the heart". A label that defining entry-level is practically a blasphemy, since it perfectly embodies the features of the magical terroir of Terlano and the equally legendary company that produces it. A white that practically lacks nothing: freshness, roundness, complexity, progression and length. What more could you want?

 

Le Vignole Lazio - Colle Picchioni (9-12 €)

Another wine that I love, and that every time I have found it in front of me, has been able to surprise and satisfy me. Blend of Trebbiano, Malvasia and Sauvignon produced in the Castelli Romani area, it’s a white of exceptional complexity and richness, especially when compared to its price range. It's just a pity that every year that passes it is more and more difficult to find...

 

Rocca Rubia Carignano del Sulcis Riserva – Cantina di Santadi (€ 13-16)

A great Carignano del Sulcis, able to express the essence of Sardinian wines at a ridiculous price for its value. Coming from ungrafted sapling vineyards and aged in oak barrique for 12 months, it transmits importance and solemnity right from the color and aromas. Full-bodied, large and velvety, a wine that remains in the memory and hard to forget.

Duca Sanfelice Cirò Rosso Riserva - Librandi (€ 8-10)

Particular but very interesting label, for decades one of the few representer of Calabrian wine able to cross the regional borders. A “true” Cirò, very spicy and powerful, with an incredible ability to restore the characteristics of the place it comes from, a grim and harsh land but at the same time generous.

 

Maccone Primitivo - Donato Angiuli (11-14 €)

If we talk about quality/price ratio, we cannot ignore Puglia, the land of the Sun, and this bottle embodies its quintessence. A magnificent Primitivo, coming from old sapling vines (with naturally very low yields) and aged in steel. Dense, powerful but at the same time very pleasant. The demonstration that when there’s terroir, great wines can be made even without wood aging.

 

Il Repertorio Aglianico del Vulture – Cantine del Notaio (€ 13-16)

A fairly atypical Aglianico, with more pronounced rounded characters than usual, so to be honest not really my “ideal prototype of the grape”. But at the same time a product of the highest quality, which - especially in the best vintages (like 2013) really lacks nothing. Complexity and elegance on the nose, structure and harmony in the mouth. A wine of superior stature at a decidedly normal price.

Nobile di Montepulciano - Le Berne (€ 15-18)

Great wine, a pure Sangiovese (here called Prugnolo Gentile), very rich, structured and with great taste/olfactory consistency, produced by a winery that has not yet fully achieved the notoriety it deserves. It isn’t a cheap wine, but at this price - staying in the area - you are buying a Rosso di Montalcino, and any comparison would be pitiless to say the least.

 

Rosso del Soprano Terre Siciliane – Azienda Palari (€ 13-16

One of those labels for which the saying “touch me everything but not this bottle” applies. Younger brother of the more highly rated and highly praised Faro (another great product), it’s an absolute level wine, capable of combining the strength and character of the Sicilian land with an almost Burgundian elegance and pleasantness. An iron fist in a velvet glove.

 

Barolo del Comune di Serralunga - Ferdinando Principiano (€ 25-30)

Here we go up in price, but we are talking about Barolo, "the king of wines and the wine of kings", but above all we are faced with an amazing expression of the terroir of Serralunga d'Alba, the house of the most powerful, structured and long-lived Barolo. Normally excellent, in the best years (2015 and 2016 the latest) it can give versions close to the perfection.