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B-21 Top Recommendation
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When we're talking collectible Italian wines, the conversation is almost always centered on the reds of Piedmont and Tuscany, but true Italian aficionados know the spectacular white wine gems that await savvy collectors, starting with Italy's undisputed benchmark Chardonnay, Cervaro della Sala from Antinori.
"...this is the best Cervaro della Sala I have tasted." - Monica Larner, Wine Advocate
The soon-to-be-released 2023 Cervaro follows the magnificent 98-point 2022 with great fanfare already in the critical press. This double 97-point stunner builds on the wine's lofty reputation as one of the world's great Chardonnays from anywhere.The historic Castello della Sala estate is the white-wine jewel in the Marchesi Antinori crown, its ancient, marine limestone soils suited to several varietals, especially Chardonnay. The Cervaro is the estate's true tête de cuvée, crafted explicitly to be a cellar-worthy treasure that can age with class alongside the best of white Burgundy. "Classic Burgundian style," notes James Suckling, and Vinous' Eric Guido calls it "pure elegance in the glass." The 2023 growing season was near perfect for the development of the Chardonnay, and the Cervaro shows it in spades, with its classically primary nose and exquisitely precise palate that show a winemaking team at the top of its game.
With the pedigree and collectible upside of many wines two or three times its price, the 2023 Cervaro della Sala is once again one of the sharpest buys in the market for reference-point, age-worthy Chardonnay. |
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The most impressive aspect of the Castello della Sala ethos is its ability to reinvent itself. This latest edition of Umbria's headline white is a true delight. Renzo Cotarella and his team have created an Italian masterpiece that is reminiscent of the great whites of Burgundy. The 2023 Cervaro della Sala opens to an elegantly reductive note of flint or crushed granite before sliding gracefully into silky fruit sensations, breakfast pastry and crème fraîche. It offers carefully balanced richness and textural importance. Winemaking is moving away from 500-liter barrels to embrace larger foudre. No bâtonnage is implemented. The wine is mostly Chardonnay, with a smaller part (between 5% and 10%, depending on the vintage) of Grechetto that has been further reduced in order to avoid any rustic tones from the Italian grape. Part of the Chardonnay does malolactic fermentation, but the Grechetto does not. This gives energy and verve to the final results. Castello della Sala has recently planted more Chardonnay (now totaling 80 hectares) for flexibility in choosing the best clusters. Throughout its many reinventions, this is the best Cervaro della Sala I have tasted.
97 points, Monica Larner, Wine Advocate (Nov 2025)
Classic Burgundian style. On the nose white chocolate, pink grapefruit, lemon zest and white flowers. Full-bodied, it shows weight, vibrancy and tension, with a silky texture and a salted citrus finish. Amazing balance in this vintage, with lemon peel bitterness in the aftertaste adding an extra dimension. Drink or hold.
97 points, James Suckling (May 2025)
Youthfully coy, the 2023 Cervaro della Sala blows off an air smoky reduction to reveal depths of crushed yellow apples, sesame seeds, pine shavings and nuances of vanilla custard. This is pure elegance in the glass, as silken textures envelop the palate. A bump of residual acidity maintains energy throughout, even as the 2023 tapers off tannic and potent, with a resonance of mineral-infused apricots. This is a suburb rendition of Cervaro della Sala.
95 points, Eric Guido, Vinous (Oct 2024)
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