Umbria, Italy

750ml

Chardonnay

97 JS | 97 RP | 96 F | 92 WS

“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. 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. Throughout its many reinventions, this is the best Cervaro della Sala I have tasted.”