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Slow Wine: Cantina LaSelva

Cantina LaSelva Rosa d'Oro e Gran Menzione points

Slow Wine: Cantina LaSelva, TOP WINE BEST BUY – SLOW WINE 2026 seal to the Morellino di Scansano Riserva Colli dell’ Uccellina 2022.

Grapes: Sangiovese, Merlot
Production area: Magliano in Toscana
Grape harvest: manual, in crates
Vinification: the grapes are harvested when they achieve optimal ripeness and vinified separately in small stainless steel tanks at a controlled temperature. When fermentation is completed, the Sangiovese is left in contact with the skins for another 10 days, while the Merlot is placed directly into new French oak barriques. At the end of maceration, the Sangiovese is put into French oak tonneuax for 12 months. During maturation the wines are racked twice and combined only shortly before bottling.

Flavour and aroma: ruby red. Fresh notes of red fruits and blackcurrant, finished with complex spice. The palate has a nice articulation from which emerges a lively fruitiness, pleasant tannins and balanced acidity. Good persistence.
Pairings: game, red meat, aged cheeses.

Cantina LaSelva

“Nothing taken away, nothing added”

This is the motto of Cantina LaSelva, founded in 1980 by Karl Egger.
Through his vision and work in developing LaSelva, Egger became one of the pioneers of organic farming in Europe. Karl Egger left his homeland, Munich, and moved to the south of Tuscany where he bought 7 hectares of land. Here he began to grow fruit and vegetables following the simple rules of nature: a choice that led him ten years later to give birth to the organic farming association, Naturland.
In 1984 LaSelva became the first Naturland-certified business beyond German borders.

In Maremma: Cantina LaSelva is located in a unique place, nestled in the south of Tuscany and surrounded by untamed nature. The varied landscape ranges from the woods of a regional park to medieval villages, and then on to the sea. These are places where you can discover ancient traditions and enjoy true beauty in every season. Maremma is also the birthplace of Tuscan viticulture, with its origins dating back to the Etruscans and their sophisticated civilisation.

The microclimate of the Maremma hills has always brought out the best qualities of Sangiovese grapes, which are used to make wines like Morellino di Scansano – known and loved throughout the world. The combination of minerals, lime, marl and limestone – combined with the coastal influence of the Tyrrhenian Sea – form the basis for opulent, soft red wines and for savoury white wines with a strong personality.

Strictly Organic: Even in the winery, they process the grapes without using unnecessary additives. They apply organic concepts and adopt the most advanced technologies in temperature control, fermentation, pumping over and delicate punching down.

More info?
Take a look at their website

New label Solarianne

New label Solarianne: Patrizia Cencioni‘s Rosso Toscana has a new label.

Rosso Toscana IGT Solarianne 2022

“Solarianne: a singular wine for the mouth as well as on the label.
A project that changes every year – not only in the choice of the final blend but also in its aesthetics: year by year, We choose a different bottle label together with the Sienese painter Alessandro Grazi“

– Patrizia Cencioni-

THE WINE

Grapes: 50% Sangiovese – 50% Cabernet Sauvignon
Vinification: in steel
Staying on small lees: 36 months in 2.5 oak barrels (French oak)

TASTING NOTES:

Colour: clear, deep ruby red with violet reflections.
Bouquet: floral and fruity, particularly in evidence the scent of black cherry and fresh violet.
Taste: it is a structured wine, intense and with good persistence. It is elegant and fine, well balanced between softness and tannicity.
Food pairings: red and white meats, cheeses and cold cuts.

THE WINERY:
The winery is managed by the owner Patrizia and her 2 daughters, Annalisa and Arianna. Thanks to the long family experience and the entrepreneurial skills of Patrizia, a refined feminine touch is added.
There is feminine elegance in the wines from this cantina.

THE LAND:
The vineyards date back to 1989, the year in which the company was born, which draws its origins from an ancient company in Montalcino created in the 1950s by grandfather Giuseppe Cencioni, one of the founders of the Brunello di Montalcino Consortium.
Located a few kilometres from the town center of Montalcino at about 350 meters a.s.l., overlooking the Val d’Orcia.
A total area of 50 Ha, of which 9 Ha of Sangiovese vineyards and 7 Ha of olive groves

THE WINES:
High profile wines and Sangiovese.
The azienda creates high profile wines, thanks to a very good balance between use of modern technologies and respect for the tradition. This results in a range of excellent wines. Wines where Sangiovese is the protagonist.

With the steel vats at controlled temperatures, the correct fermentation is guaranteed.
The slow aging of the wines takes place in oak barrels, with their refinement the elegance and character, already peculiar characteristics of each vintage, stand out also in the bottle.

Check the website of the winery for more info about the producer and the wines

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New barrels at Borgo Maragliano

New barrels at Borgo Maragliano: 3 ceramic-stoneware

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Event of September

Event of September: take a look at the upcoming event organised by our associated producers

“Una passeggiata tra le nuvole” – “A walk in the clouds”

Imagine this:
a gentle Sunday morning, the crisp air and a scenic walk through historic vineyards, surrounded by breathtaking views.

“Una passeggiata tra le nuvole” –
“A walk in the clouds”

It’s more than a walk; it’s a journey through history and a celebration of nature.

Sunday, September 7, 2025

10:30 AM – 1:00 PM

Torre Raone Vineyards

Settembre in Cantina Paltrinieri

Tours and tasting during the harvest

Don’t miss this unique lambrusco experience!

Saturday, September 20, 2025

10:30 AM

Cantina Paltrinieri

Saturday, September 27, 2025

10:30 AM and 3 PM

Cantina Paltrinieri

Festival Franciacorta in Cantina

During this event over 60 wineries in the Franciacorta region of Lombardy, Italy, open their doors to the public offering a variety of activities, including tours, tastings, food pairings with local dishes and other events like bike tours and visits to historical sites.

September 10 -21, 2025

Monzio Compagnoni

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Vintage’s update Zenato

Vintage’s update Zenato:

Valpolicella Superiore 2022 and Ripassa 2021 are available.

Made from vineyards in Valpolicella, this wine has an impressive lingering finish with rich flavor.

The blend is 85% Corvina Veronese, 10% Rondinella, and 5% Corvinone.

On the nose, it delivers delicate hints of almond and violet.

On the palate, it’s dry and smooth with good structure and wonderfully robust notes of cherry and prune.

As soon as the dried grapes for the winery’s Amarone have completed fermentation, a top selection of Valpolicella grapes “passes over” (ripassa) the Amarone pomace, thus resulting in a second brief fermentation.

This helps to obtain higher alcohol content, deeper color, and rich flavor and aroma. Af-ter aging in French tonneaux for 18-20 months, the wine is cellared for another 6 months in bottle before release.

The process makes for a refined and concentrated wine, extremely smooth and vel-vety, with vibrant red fruit aromas.

On the palate, it delivers fruity notes and elegant tannin with hints of chocolate and spice. Ripassa has played a highly important role in the Zenato winery’s evolution over the years.

Zenato. The soul of Lugana and the Heart of Valpolicella.

Two faces: One white, the other red, both emblems of high-quality wines that are born through a visceral passion for the land, through respect for time, through a family tradition that has championed local grape varieties for 60 years.

Zenato: the story of a family that firmly planted its roots in the land. It was made possible thanks to the passion and entrepreneurial vision of the estate’s founder, Sergio, who managed to fulfill his greatest dream: to create a winery capable of harvesting the fruits of the earth and transform them into emotions with matchless flavor.

Today, more than 60 years later, the results are testament to his extraordinary vision. A wonderful story took shape thanks to his vision and today its star is his family: Wife Carla and children Alberto and Nadia.
Their eyes and their heart continue down the path that Sergio laid out with great clarity as he steadied the course toward quality and love for their land. Over time, that land wasn’t just Lugana but also Valpolicella, with its celebrated red wines and their matchless aromas.

Taking over the Costalunga estate, in the heart of Valpolicella Classica, Sergio Zenato wanted to measure himself in a new venture, after making the most out of his Lugana vineyards: to make it a model vineyard, beautiful to look at, cared for in every detail, in which to apply modern agronomic techniques and at the same time resume the traditional methods that had defined the Valpolicella landscape.

In a thorough manner, Sergio Zenato drew the distribution on the land of the vines selected for the production of the different wines, going so far as to indicate the direction of the rows so that the vines could receive maximum benefits from the sun. He took special care to make the soil work well to achieve a dry and permeable soil without water retention.

A passionate dedication that we read in the construction of the characteristic dry-stone walls, at first sight elegant support structures, in actual fact an efficient containment system that guarantees the vine the three fundamental elements it needs: the warmth of the sun and the ventilation of air and water thanks to the gaps existing between the stones of the walls and the flaky crumbles of the subsurface.

In the flash of an eye and the wonder of Lake Garda is all there: in the beauty of the landscape; in the naturalist, historic, and artistic value of the land; in the mild climate.

The secret of Trebbiano di Lugana, a native grape variety planted on the southern banks of Lake Garda, is hidden in its origins.

With the backdrop of this pristine setting, the gates of the Santa Cristina estate open up on to a broad road with elegant red rose bushes on either side. They are the silent sentinels to whom the Zenato family has entrusted their rows of vines.

All of the incredible things that have happened in this little corner of the world are thanks to the extraordinary intuition and entrepreneurial power of a grape grower who was in love with his land and absolutely convinced of the quality of the wines that only this land could produce. It all began with a white wine, Lugana: Sergio Zenato’s Challenge and Dream since the 1960s.

More info? Check their www
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James Suckling reviews for Klaus Lentsch

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Zenato’s awards’ update

Zenato‘s awards’ update: Yes, ZENATO DID IT AGAIN!

Nice ratings by James Suckling for theis Amarone Riserva, Amarone Archivio Storico and Lugana Riserva,

Produced only in top vintages, this graceful wine is made from a selection of Corvina and Rondinella grapes grown in the oldest vineyards in the township of Sant’Ambrogio in Valpolicella’s “classic” zone.

Following vinification, it undergoes long-term aging for at least 4 years in Slavonian oak casks.

It represents the very identity of the winery and its legacy throughout the world – a wine that can age and be enjoyed for more than 20 years.

With luminous and dense color, elegant complexity, and a wonderful touch of spice, it’s a wholehearted expression of the land where it is made.

The project: “Amarone Archivio Storico Zenato” was created to celebrate a history of caring, dedication and passion, which led to recognize worldwide the name of Zenato as a synonym of excellence and identity of a unique area: Valpolicella.

The first vintage,(2008) has rested for a decade in large oak barrels.
The milestone of this project that underlines the link to a territory in which we have believed and invested since the beginning.
This is a story of care, dedication and passion.

This Lugana Riserva is the fruit of the Zenato family’s genuine passion and a reflection of their history in the appellation.

The grapes for this wine come from the oldest vines on their Podere Massoni farm. They are harvested slightly late, around mid-October.

Fermentation takes place in oak cask (70%) and stainless steel (30%).

Light brilliant gold in color, this wine delivers intense multi-faceted aromas on the nose, with floral and citrus notes, spices, white plum, and vanilla.

On the palate, it’s rich in flavor, with great depth and balance. An ideal white for aging.

The Story: Zenato is the story of a family that firmly planted its roots in the land. It was made possible thanks to the passion and entrepreneurial vision of the estate’s founder, Sergio, who managed to fulfill his greatest dream: to create a winery capable of harvesting the fruits of the earth and transform them into emotions with matchless flavor.
Today, more than 60 years later, the results are testament to his extraordinary vision. A wonderful story took shape thanks to his vision and today its star is his family: Wife Carla and children Alberto and Nadia.
Their eyes and their heart continue down the path that Sergio laid out with great clarity as he steadied the course toward quality and love for their land. Over time, that land wasn’t just Lugana but also Valpolicella, with its celebrated red wines and their matchless aromas.

Two faces:
One white, the other red, both emblems of high-quality wines that are born through a visceral passion for the land, through respect for time, through a family tradition that has championed local grape varieties for 60 years.

Valpolicella
Taking over the Costalunga estate, in the heart of Valpolicella Classica, Sergio Zenato wanted to measure himself in a new venture, after making the most out of his Lugana vineyards: to make it a model vineyard, beautiful to look at, cared for in every detail, in which to apply modern agronomic techniques and at the same time resume the traditional methods that had defined the Valpolicella landscape.

Lugana
In the flash of an eye and the wonder of Lake Garda is all there: in the beauty of the landscape; in the naturalist, historic, and artistic value of the land; in the mild climate.
The secret of Trebbiano di Lugana, a native grape variety planted on the southern banks of Lake Garda, is hidden in its origins.
With the backdrop of this pristine setting, the gates of the Santa Cristina estate open up on to a broad road with elegant red rose bushes on either side.