wine

Warming Italian reds for the winter months

Sarah Heller MW shares a selection of fine Italian red wines fit for the winter months, from warming, full-bodied Amarone to Nebbiolo that can stand up to hearty plates of food

Words by Sarah Heller MW

red wine glasses by the fire

Around the time I start pulling jumpers out of storage and admiring the electric orange and scarlet subsuming my maple trees, my appetite for red wines of a certain heft also experiences a sharp uptick. Despite my general preference for wines of transparency and grace, cold days demand warming winter wines.

Italy, my year-round favourite for wine largely because it specialises in the former, also has its fair share of the latter. Most obvious is Amarone, with 100 or more days of appassimento that not only raise alcohol levels (and sometimes sweetness) to well above the Italian norm but also tease out flavours with an especially festive, autumnal bent. Witness the mushroom and honey notes of botrytis, a historical element of Amarone that was pushed to the fringes by the cleaner style typified by Dal Forno, but that is seeing a quiet resurgence, particularly in wines like Serego Alighieri’s Vaio Armaron. These exotic, slightly subversive wines yearn for a belly-filling, slow-bubbled stew to glaze with their amber hues.

Even those whose predilection for the light and bright does not wane with the shortening days will now find more to excite them in Valpolicella: these days, Amarones are more merino jumper in scale than down puffer jacket. Consultant oenologist Luigi Andreoli and a small group of producers including Corteforte, Corte Rugolin and Aldegheri have championed fruit-focused, clean and even – comparatively – delicate styles. Others in this camp include the newly revitalised institution Bertani and Secondo Marco from Speri family member Marco Speri. These hit a beautiful register – effusive and lyrical, yet anchored by a weighty sensuousness.

Moving beyond Amarone, each of Italy’s diverse regions has its richer, more generous side. In both Chianti Classico and Montalcino there is a distinctly sunny, Mediterranean flavour to Sangiovese from the southern edges: from the helpfully, though perhaps confusingly, similar-sounding Castelnuovo Berardenga and Castelnuovo dell’Abate respectively. The luminous inner glow of Fèlsina’s Rancia or the meaty robustness of Tenuta di Arceno’s Strada al Sasso make them great holiday fare. A mature vintage of Rancia sipped slowly over the course of an evening by the fire would gradually reveal its spectrum of shimmering medicinal tones. Strada al Sasso would be happiest at the table, weaving its plums and violets through a cut of something meaty and a little feral.

From further south, Giovanni Neri from single-site Brunello pioneers Casanova di Neri really captures the intensity of Sienese sunlight and is pure luxuriance, while Lisini’s Brunello Annata braces its blacker toned fruit with tense green edges and piercing acidity.

scarpa red wine in glass with corkscrew
Tettineive from Scarpa is among the Barbaresco wines Sarah Heller MW recommends drinking alongside indulgent winter dishes

Finally, it would be remiss of me not to mention the country’s most hallowed seasonal treat, the white truffle, and its natural bedfellow, the Nebbiolo grape. Though Nebbiolo is a wine that – in my experience – rarely gains weight in relation to its alcohol level, there is still a spectrum of fullness and a massive spectrum of texture. Plush tannins can give a sense of opulence to an otherwise lithe, translucent wine. Cannubi, historically prized for its southerly exposure and the resultant luscious mouthfeel of its wines, is an inspired choice for drinking when sweater weather arrives, and examples from Burlotto and Brezza, as well as Damilano’s Riserva 1752, fit the bill nicely, providing a pillowy accompaniment to plates of buttery pasta with fragrant flurries of white. Meanwhile, my attraction to darker-toned, rigidly structured wines also skyrockets as the temperature drops. I’d readily tuck into a glass of Mirafiore Barolo Riserva and Luigi Baudana’s or Ettore Germano’s Cerretta with a plate of dense braised meats, again doused in truffles.

Finally, Barbaresco – typically (though not always) home to the dazzling, lyric soprano Nebbiolos that I gravitate towards throughout the year – has its spinto and dramatic stars too. Though we can’t always plump for Gaja’s Sorì Tildin or Sorì San Lorenzo (even during the holidays), Rabajà from the illustrious Produttori and Tettineive from Scarpa bring a potency to Barbaresco that makes them ideal cold weather sippers long after the last truffle has been shaved.

20 warming Italian red wines to enjoy in the winter months

Producer Name Vintage Region Subregion
Serego Alighieri, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Vaio Armaron 2016
Veneto , Amarone della Valpolicella Classico
Serego Alighieri Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Vaio Armaron 2016 Veneto Amarone della Valpolicella Classico
Aldegheri, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva 2011
Veneto , Amarone della Valpolicella Classico
Aldegheri Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva 2011 Veneto Amarone della Valpolicella Classico
Corte Rugolin, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva Monte Danieli 2013
Veneto , Amarone della Valpolicella Classico
Corte Rugolin Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva Monte Danieli 2013 Veneto Amarone della Valpolicella Classico
Corteforte, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Vigneti di Osan 2015
Veneto , Amarone della Valpolicella Classico
Corteforte Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Vigneti di Osan 2015 Veneto Amarone della Valpolicella Classico
Felsina, Chianti Classico Riserva Rancia 2011
Tuscany , Chianti Classico DOCG
Felsina Chianti Classico Riserva Rancia 2011 Tuscany Chianti Classico DOCG
Tenuta di Arceno, Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Strada al Sasso 2021
Tuscany , Chianti Classico DOCG
Tenuta di Arceno Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Strada al Sasso 2021 Tuscany Chianti Classico DOCG
Casanova di Neri, Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Giovanni Neri 2018
Tuscany , Brunello di Montalcino DOCG
Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Giovanni Neri 2018 Tuscany Brunello di Montalcino DOCG
Burlotto, Barolo Cannubi 2019
Piedmont , Barolo DOCG
Burlotto Barolo Cannubi 2019 Piedmont Barolo DOCG
Brezza, Barolo Cannubi 2019
Piedmont , Barolo DOCG
Brezza Barolo Cannubi 2019 Piedmont Barolo DOCG
Damilano, Barolo Riserva 1752 Cannubi 2015
Piedmont , Barolo DOCG
Damilano Barolo Riserva 1752 Cannubi 2015 Piedmont Barolo DOCG
Ettore Germano, Barolo Cerretta 2019
Piedmont , Barolo DOCG
Ettore Germano Barolo Cerretta 2019 Piedmont Barolo DOCG
Casa E. di Mirafiore, Barolo Riserva 2016
Piedmont , Barolo DOCG
Casa E. di Mirafiore Barolo Riserva 2016 Piedmont Barolo DOCG
Gaja, Barbaresco Sorì Tildin 2020
Piedmont , Barbaresco DOCG
Gaja Barbaresco Sorì Tildin 2020 Piedmont Barbaresco DOCG
Gaja, Barbaresco Sorì San Lorenzo 2020
Piedmont , Barbaresco DOCG
Gaja Barbaresco Sorì San Lorenzo 2020 Piedmont Barbaresco DOCG
Produttori del Barbaresco, Barbaresco Rabajà 2017
Piedmont , Barbaresco DOCG
Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Rabajà 2017 Piedmont Barbaresco DOCG
Scarpa, Barbaresco Tettineive 2019
Piedmont , Barbaresco DOCG
Scarpa Barbaresco Tettineive 2019 Piedmont Barbaresco DOCG
Bertani, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 2015
Veneto , Amarone della Valpolicella Classico
Bertani Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 2015 Veneto Amarone della Valpolicella Classico
Secondo Marco, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 2015
Veneto , Amarone della Valpolicella Classico
Secondo Marco Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 2015 Veneto Amarone della Valpolicella Classico
Lisini, Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2018
Tuscany , Brunello di Montalcino DOCG
Lisini Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2018 Tuscany Brunello di Montalcino DOCG
GD Vajra Luigi Baudana, Barolo Cerretta 2019
Piedmont , Barolo DOCG
GD Vajra Luigi Baudana Barolo Cerretta 2019 Piedmont Barolo DOCG