2022 Cervaro della Sala, Antinori, Umbria, Italy

While Antinori's Tignanello broke the mould for Tuscan reds, the family's Cervaro della Sala was among the first Italian whites to undergo malolactic fermentation and ageing in barriques when the 1985 vintage was released. A blend of Chardonnay and a small portion of unoaked Grechetto, it has a rich and bold scent of tropical fruits, spice, wood and white peach. The spicy, toasty, nutty wood is upfront in the mouth, carrying ripe flavours of apricot and mango and nuances of banana, white peach, and apple. Nutty and sapid, and with gum-tingling acidity, this wine will benefit from further cellaring to allow the oak to harmonise.

Drink 2024 - 2037

The 2022 Cervaro della Sala opens with a seductive bouquet as vanilla bean and crushed almond evolve into a blend of yellow apples, chamomile, mint and cardamom. It floods the palate with silken waves of ripe pit fruits and spices. Tactile mineral tones build tension over a core of brisk acidity. Balanced and refined, the 2022 cleans up beautifully structured and long with a citrusy concentration and salty flourish that lingers long. This is a stunning Cervaro della Sala built for the cellar despite its deeply alluring state.

Drink 2025 - 2034

This is Marchesi Antinori's top white wine, and it comes from the region of Umbria.

The Castello della Sala 2022 Cervaro della Sala is based on Chardonnay and has a small part of the local grape Grechetto in the blend. The nose opens to a reductive note of flint or matchstick, but it lifts quickly to reveal soft orchard fruit, white peach and minty apple. There are delicately applied toasted notes with a hint of pecan or macadamia nut. To finish, you also get salty mineral notes that underline the bouquet's extremely vertical or lifted personality.

Renzo Cotarella tells me that tweaks to winemaking in recent years have attempted "to slim down the wine and not make it any bigger." This was a hot vintage, but Cervaro della Sala remains true to its leaner and meaner blueprint. However, given its accessible personality, we could expect a shorter drinking window for the 2022s.

Drink 2024 - 2035