Best Italian Wines of 2021 selected by Wine enthusiast and Wine spectator Magazines
December is the time for that annual ritual of looking back over the course of the year – chaotic as it has been in this case – with various organizations pontificating on the best of various things be it books, high-performing stocks, movies or in this case, wines.
It’s a time when wine cognoscenti and wine-focused organizations pause to look back and rank the wines they liked, or disliked in some cases, over the course of the year.
What it comes down to is an attempt to quantify the qualitative experience of drinking and enjoying wines. If done independently and with unbiased resolve, the rankings can help the wine-buying public make sense and assign some order to the thousands of wines released each year and perhaps encourage one to try some previously-unknown but high-scoring labels. And besides, who doesn’t love buying a wine selected as one of the world’s best especially when it hails from an unlikely corner of the world?
And, so it goes with Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast, two prominent wine-centric magazines with world-wide circulations. Each December they publish their annual lists of the top 100 wines from around the world released that year. Both magazines’ choices of the top 100 wines are based on surveys of the wines reviewed by their respective staffs over the course of the year.
Their published rankings are closely followed since they can have a significant impact on a wine’s popularity and, hence, price and the producing winery can bask in the reflected glory of the wine’s high rating and popularity.
Despite the Covid-19 handicaps imposed this year on group social interactions and return to normal work routines, both magazines managed to release their lists of the world’s best wines released in 2021 – and they did it on schedule. So, they’re to be complimented for this achievement.
Both periodicals’ selections of the best wines of 2021 include a number of Italian wines and it’s interesting to review what wines they selected and compare their choices.
Unlike some previous years, no Italian wine managed to take the #1 position in either magazine’s rankings. The highest-rated Italian wine in Wine Enthusiast’s Top 100 is a white wine that occupies the #2 position while the highest-rated Italian wine in Wine Spectator’s Top 100 is a Brunello di Montalcino that is ranked #5.
Wine Enthusiast’s Top 100 Selections
The staff of Wine Enthusiast (WE) cumulatively reviewed upward of 22,000 wines from around the world in 2021 in preparation for its selection of the world’s best. Only those wines that received an initial minimum rating of 90 on WE’s 100-point scale are considered for inclusion in its Top 100 wines of the year.
On a country-by-country comparison basis, the U.S. comes out on top with 33 wines included in WE’s Top 100, 3 more than the year previous. The majority are from California (21) but Oregon and Washington also well represented with 5 each and New York with 2.
Italy is well represented with 18 wines in WE’s Top 100, the second-highest country total, followed by France with 15 and Portugal a distant 4th with 6.
You can view the complete list of WE's Top 100 wines along with price, vintage and individual reviews in PDF format at Wine Enthusiast’s Top 100 Wines of 2021.
WE’s top-rated wine of the year is a 2018 Bordeaux from Chateau Siran located in the southern part of the Margaux appellation. It is a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon with a splash of Petit Verdot that sells for a refreshingly low price – at least by Bordeaux standards - of $38.
The highest-rated Italian wine in WE’s Top 100 is a white wine, specifically a 2019 Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Superiore from the Bucci winery in the Marche region. Made entirely of Verdicchio, it is ranked #2 and retails for $26.
The 18 Italian wines included in WE’s Top 100 are widely dispersed throughout geographic Italy, from Alto Adige in the north to Sicily in the south. The Veneto, Piedmont and Alto Adige regions each tallied 3 wines in the top 100 followed by 2 each from Tuscany and Sicily while the Lombardia, Campania, Sardinia, Abruzzo and Marche regions each have 1 wine in WE’s Top 100 for 2021.
Unlike previous years, the vast majority of the Italian wines in WE’s Top 100 wines of the year are white. Specifically, 11 wines or almost two-thirds of the total are white, several of which are sparkling wines.
While the average price of the Italian wines in WE’s Top 100 is a relatively modest $34 there is considerable variation in prices ranging from $17 to $90. The 2017 “Ravera” Barolo from the G D Vajra winery (#5) is at $90 the most expensive Italian wine in WE’s Top 100.
But at the time of this posting, a retail price has not yet been set for Ferrari’s 2012 “Perlé Nero” Extra Brut Riserva (#74). This highly-regarded Blanc de Noirs is aged for 6 years on the lees and the price, when released, is sure to give G D Vajra’s 2017 Barolo stiff competition as the most expensive Italian wine in WE’s Top 100.
The least expensive Italian wine is Peter Zemmer’s 2020 Pinot Grigio priced at $17 (#99). Half of the 18 Italian wines are priced under $30 while only 3 are priced above $50.
The table below presents the 18 Italian wines included in WE’s Top 100 wines of 2021 along with some relevant information for each wine.
| Italian Wines in Wine Enthusiast's Top 100 Wines of 2021 | ||||||||
Rank |
Score |
Producer |
Wine |
Vintage |
Region |
Price | ||
2 |
95 |
Bucci | Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Superiore | 2019 |
Marche |
$26 |
||
5 |
97 |
G D Vajra | "Ravera" Barolo | 2017 |
Piedmont |
$90 |
||
7 |
96 |
Collosorbo | Brunello di Montalcino | 2016 |
Tuscany |
$55 |
||
15 |
94 |
Pieropan | Soave Classico | 2019 |
Veneto |
$24 |
||
18 |
95 |
Abbazia di Novacella | "Praepositus" Kerner Valle Isarco | 2019 |
Alto Adige |
$29 |
||
21 |
96 |
Rivetto | "Vigna Lirano" Nebbiolo d'Alba | 2019 |
Piedmont |
$30 |
||
29 |
94 |
Ca' del Zago | Prosecco di Valdobbiadene | 2020 |
Veneto |
$30 |
||
32 |
93 |
Francesco Cirelli | Montepulciano d'Abruzzo | 2018 |
Abruzzo |
$22 |
||
34 |
93 |
Vigne Surrau | "Branu" Vermentino di Gallura | 2020 |
Sardinia |
$20 |
||
39 |
95 |
Ettore Germano | Extra Brut | 2017 |
Piedmont |
$45 |
||
40 |
94 |
Graci | Etna Rosso | 2018 |
Sicily |
$35 |
||
43 |
94 |
Castello dei Rampollo | Chianti Classico | 2018 |
Tuscany |
$37 |
||
59 |
92 |
Feudi di San Gregorio | Fiano di Avellino | 2020 |
Campania |
$20 |
||
68 |
92 |
Tasca d'Almerita | "Leone" White Blend | 2020 |
Sicily |
$20 |
||
74 |
95 |
Ferrari | "Perlé Nero" Extra Brut Riserva | 2012 |
Alto Adige |
NA |
||
75 |
92 |
Ottella | "Le Creete" Lugana | 2020 |
Lombardia |
$27 |
||
87 |
93 |
Cesari | Amarone della Valpolicella Classico | 2016 |
Veneto |
$55 |
||
99 |
90 |
Peter Zemmer | Pinot Grigio | 2020 |
Alto Adige |
$17 |
||
| Average Price | $34 |
|||||||
| Source: Wine Enthusiast Magazine, December 31, 2021 | ||||||||
Wine Spectator's Top 100 Selections
The staff of Wine Spectator (WS) each year reviews more than 11,000 newly-released wines. Of these, WS winnows its potential 100 list to approximately 5,000 wines that initially score 90 points or higher on WS’s 100-point rating scale.
WS bases its final selections on considerations such as quality (as indicated by their staff’s scores), value (judged by the wine’s release price), availability (determined by the number of cases either made or imported into the U.S.) and a cryptic “x-factor” that they define as “the intensity of interest the wines generated by way of their singularity or authenticity.”
WS’s Top 100 represent a wide range of varietals, appellations and prices from a large number of countries. As in past years, wines from the U.S. dominate and account for approximately one-third of the total awards. While California wines comprise the majority of the U.S. total, wines from Oregon and Washington are also well represented.
You can view WS’s complete list of the Top 100 wines with price and vintage data at Wine Spectator’s Top 100 Wines of 2021.
WS’s top-rated wine of the year is from Dominus Estate in California’s Napa Valley. It is a Bordeaux-style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot from the highly-regarded 2018 vintage. It retails for an eye-popping $269.
Italian wines did exceptionally well this year in WS’s Top 100 list. Twenty-two wines from Italy, 3 more than the year previous, are included in the top 100. Italy’s total is second only to the U.S.
Of the 22 Italian wines in WS’s Top 100, 17 are red, 4 are white and 1 is a sparkling Rosé.
The highest rated Italian wine in WS’s top 100 is a 2016 Brunello from the Le Chiuse winery. It is ranked #5 and retails for $99. The 2016 vintage was excellent in Tuscany in general and the Montalcino area in particular. Warm temperatures over an extended period enabled grapes to be harvested at optimal ripeness presaging wines with good structure and ageing potential.
Tuscany and Piedmont each had 6 wines included in WS’s list of the top 100 wines and together accounted for slightly more than half of Italy’s total. The Tuscan wines include 3 Brunello di Montalcino, all from the highly-acclaimed 2016 vintage; 2 Chianti Classico; and 1 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. The Piedmont region’s total includes 3 Barolo, 2 Barbaresco and 1 Barbera wine.
The other Italian wines in WS’s Top 100 include 2 each from the Veneto, Sicily and Campania regions and 1 each from Sardinia, Alto Adige, Friuli and Lombardia.
With a retail price of $100, G. B. Burlotto’s 2016 “Monvigliero” Barolo (#63) is the most expensive Italian wine in WS’s Top 100 list although Le Chiuse’s 2016 Brunello di Montalcino (#5) is close behind at $99.
The least expensive wine is the 2019 “Terra Alpina” Pinot Grigio from the Alois Lageder winery (#51) in the Alto Adige region that retails for a very modest $16. The average price of the 22 Italian wines in WS’s Top 100 is $43. Six wines are priced below $30.
It is interesting to note that the only Italian wine included in the top 100 by both WE and WS is the 2018 Etna Rosso from the Graci winery in Sicily. It ranked #40 in WE and #90 in WS.
The table below presents the wines and relevant information for all Italian wines included in WS’s Top 100 wines of 2021.
Although it was a tough year, it nonetheless was a great year for Italian wines on the competitive world stage.
Return to About Italian Wines
©Richard Marcis
December 1, 2021
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