It’s that time of the year again when the snow starts falling, mistletoe gets hung up in the most unsuspecting places, gingerbread men and gingerbread houses, stollens, mulled wine, mittens and scarves are everywhere, and yes, as sure as death and taxes, so is my annual pick of the year’s best Italian wines.

I have been compiling and publishing a similar list regularly since 2005, when I first published the D’Agata &Comparini guide to Italy’s 100 Best Wines. So yes, it’s been a long time: I am actually looking forward to celebrating my twenty-fifth anniversary next year of doing so. And it’s aways nice to be a trailblazer: Now it seems like every other wine writer is doing so too, and that’s great, because the more we talk and write about wine (clearly, when it is done in a competent, knowledgeable way) it is always a plus and a boon to everybody, those who just love the stuff and want to have fun with it, but also to all those who make their living with wine, or who have devoted their adult lives to it.

As always, my “Best of” list is not a never-ending bucket of one top-scorinng wine after another; nor is a list of the most expensive, the most desired, the most cool…no, it is not that. Yes, there are some expensive, hard to find wine unicorns in the mix: after all, they too have something special to tell us, and in so doing they help us better understand a territory, a terroir (those two are NOT the same thing), a grape variety, a vinification process, a viticulture choice… But truth is, so can a large-volume, well-made wine that is faithful to its grape, place and tradition. Therefore, price is not the differentiating factor in ultimately choosing one wine over another, but rather there are a certain set of characterizing elements that make that specific wine worth hunting down.

If there is one common denominator to my annual “Select 100 Best Italian Wines of the Year” list it is undoubtedly that all the wines I pick speak of a specific grape and place: they are all wines that boast the “somewhereness” made famous by Matt Kramer, which for me is a sine qua non of fine wine. As I have said and written many times before, wine to me is not a soft drink, a formulaic quaff that can be recreated over and over no matter what and no matter where, and independently of that “matter what and matter where”. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good cold soft drink on a hot summer day, but at the same time, I think wine should be something else. No, I do not want to taste, and much less drink, industrially made, for example, Prosecco or Pinot Grigio wines that are all the same, and that often don’t even taste like they are made with those specific grapes (in the case of Prosecco, that would be Glera, the grape Prosecco wines are supposed to be made with).

That caveat aside, the rest of the parameters I look for in the wines I choose are always the same: well-made; true to type; good value for money; not necessarily impossible to find (though some are hard to find, given the small volumes in which they are made); and faithfulness to what the territory can give. Clearly, in order to do all that, and to recognize which wines are deserving of being included in the year’s best, one needs to know about that grape variety, that terroir, that territory. And to choose the wines independently of economic considerations, or what your boss wants you to give visibility to and write about.

In this year’s list of selected best wines, you will find a good presence of Barbaresco (easy enough, given the excellence of the 2021 Barbaresco vintage) but also numerous Barolos and Brunellos from the underrated 2020 vintage. That, but a whole bunch more, ranging from wines made in the far reaches of Sicily and its islands to overlooked gems from Emilia-Romagna. I hope you enjoy reading the list as much as I have enjoyed thinking about and then writing it. As is characteristic of Italian wines, this list is crammed with wines made with very different grape varieties: you’ll find not just the well-known (Nebbiolo, Sangiovese, Glera, Nerello Mascalese, Ribolla Gialla) but also the less common but thoroughly delicious (Freisa, Grignolino, Maceratino, Marselan, Pelaverga Piccolo, Perricone, Prié, Trebbiano Abruzzese and others). I underline once again that this is NOT a list of the most expensive or more famous wines: if that were the case, outstanding bottles from Quintarelli and Miani would have found a spot very high up on the list, as they have done in many other years. But my goal with the list is, once again, to give readers a broad panorama of great Italian wines: some easy to find, some less so; some affordable, some less so; some expected, some unexpected. It’s for this reason that you will see included Tenuta San Guido’s outstanding Guidalberto red wine instead of their more famous and always stellar Sassicaia: or many excellent Valpolicella wines instead of the more prestigious Amarone wines made by the same estates. It’s not that the Sassicaia or the Amarones disappointed this year (not at all), but that the other wines in the portfolios of those wineries were, in many respects if different respects, just as good, and they deserve to be in the spotlight too (especially since they otherwise wouldn’t be). And to get a jump on 2025, I have included here a number of Brunello wines that will be available early next year but that were released for tasting to the press just a few weeks ago. Though technically not wines of 2024, they were so good that I wished to give my readers a jump start on these gorgeous wines: same goes for some outstanding 2021 Barolos. Clearly, you won’t agree with all my choices, but that’s half the fun with wine: much like going to a new restaurant or seeing a movie and then amiably arguing with everybody within earshot about the respective merits of each, agreeing to disagreeing on just how good (or bad) a wine is is a huge divertissement in and of itself. It’s human nature.

In the end, what really matters is that all of us who love wine have even more opportunities to talk, discuss, and drink it. And to tell friends about it, and to enjoy it with different foods. And also to go comparing wines, and scoring them too, why not? In these sorry times of countries not getting along, wars, and financial unrest, my hope is that wine, and having fun with it, will offer us all an escape hatch to a better, happier place and time spent in its company. May this year’s version of the “2024 Select 100 Best Italian Wines of the Year” make you not just smile, but also realize that what Albert Camus (the 1957 Literature Nobel prize winner whose works I read and studied at length during my years attending a private French school in Toronto) once acutely pointed out in his marvelous La Chute was in fact true. In the direst times, when we find ourselves at the vertex of our potential and even likely fall (the chute, in French), that is the point when we have seen, heard and endured the worst that we could have, it is then that we see clearly that we are much better off than we thought. Because it is exactly then that we realize what the fall entails and is about, and we’ll know better, having hopefully learned our lessons, and can scramble back to safety.

If my “best of” list manages to bring a smile to your face, if even for only a few moments or for the length of a quiet afternoon, then it will also have done its job bringing you back from the edge of peril, from the precipice of a fall into oblivion, metaphorical, imaginary, real or not. Heureusement!, as Camus wrote so much more eloquently than I.

Ian D’Agata’s  Select 100 best Italian wines of the Year

1. Cogno 2019 Barolo Riserva Ravera Vigna Elena (Piedmont)
2. Terenzuola 2023 Vermentino Nero Toscana (Tuscany)
3. Benanti 2019 Etna Bianco Superiore Pietra Marina  (Sicily)
4. Caiarossa 2020 Aria di Caiarossa Toscana   (Tuscany)
5. Passopisciaro 2022 Contrada R Terre Siciliane  (Sicily)
6. Tiberio 2022 Trebbiano d’Abruzzo Fonte Canale  (Abruzzo)
7. Tedeschi 2021 Valpolicella Classico Superiore La Fabriseria  (Veneto)
8. Tua Rita 2021 Perlato del Bosco Toscana  (Tuscany)
9. Aldo Conterno 2020 Barolo Cicala  (Piedmont)
10. Argiano 2020 Brunello di Montalcino Vigna del Suolo  (Tuscany)
11. La Colombera 2022 Timorasso Il Montino   (Piedmont)
12. Burlotto 2020 Barolo Cannubi   (Piedmont)
13. Santadi 2023 Nuragus di Cagliari Pedraia  (Sardinia)
14. Paolo Saracco 2023 Moscato d’Asti   (Piedmont)
15. Uccelliera 2020 Brunello di Montalcino  (Tuscany)
16. Viberti 2023 Timorasso Derthona Colli Tortonesi  (Piedmont)
17. Tenuta Santa Caterina 2019 Grignolino Monferace (Piedmont)
18. Castiglion del Bosco 2020 Brunello di Montalcino (Tuscany)
19. Castello di Volpaia 2021 Coltassala Toscana (Tuscany)
20. Caprili 2020 Brunello di Montalcino (Tuscany)
21. Tenuta Sette Ponti 2022 Oreno Toscana (Tuscany)
22. Canalicchio di Sopra 2019 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva (Tuscany)
23. Bocale 2022 Montefalco Rosso (Umbria)
24. Tommasi 2019 Valpolicella Classico Superiore De Buris   (Veneto)
25. Tenuta di Trinoro 2021 Tenuta di Trinoro Toscana (Tuscany)
26. Lodali 2023 Nebbiolo d’Alba  (Piedmont)
27. Gianni Gagliardo 2020 Barolo Serra dei Turchi  (Piedmont)
28. Primosic 2019 Ribolla Gialla Riserva Collio  (Friuli Venezia Giulia)
29. Arnaldo Rivera 2023 Langhe Freisa  (Piedmont)
30. Fratelli Alessandria 2023 Verduno Pelaverga Speziale  (Piedmont)
31. Feudo Montoni 2022 Perricone Vigna del Core Sicilia (Sicily)
32. Tenuta Mara 2019 Sangiovese Maramia Vino Rosso (Emilia-Romagna)
33. Barone Pizzini  NV Franciacorta Brut Rosé (Lombardy)
34. Casali 2023 Lambrusco Reggiano Pra di Bosso Secco  (Emilia-Romagna)
35. Le Strette 2023 Nas-cëtta del Comune di Novello (Piedmont)
36. Ornellaia 2022 Bolgheri Superiore (Tuscany)
37. Il Poggione 2020 Brunello di Montalcino (Tuscany)
38. Castellare 2020 I Sodi di San Niccolò Toscana (Tuscany)
39. Conti Zecca 2020 Salice Salentino Riserva Cantalupi (Puglia)
40. Alois Lageder 2023 Gewürztraminer Alto Adige (Alto Adige)
41. GD Vajra 2020  Barolo Bricco delle Viole (Piedmont)
42. Ettore Germano 2020 Extra Brut Alta Langa (Piedmont)
43. Tenuta San Guido 2022 Guidalberto Toscana (Tuscany)
44. Fuligni 2020 Brunello di Montalcino (Tuscany)
45. Giovanni Rosso 2020 Barolo Serra (Piedmont)
46. Malvirà 2023 Roero Arneis (Piedmont)
47. Tenuta Perano 2022 Chianti Classico (Tuscany)
48. Gemin 2023 Valdobbiadene Superiore Rive di Santo Stefano Extra Brut Pioniere (Veneto)
49. Planeta 2021 Etna Rosso (Sicily)
50. Casale del Giglio 2022 Bellone Anthium Lazio (Lazio)
51. Castello di Verduno 2023 Verduno Pelaverga (Piedmont)
52. Giorgio Carnevale 2022 Grignolino d’Asti (Piedmont)
53. Diego Morra 2020 Barolo Monvigliero (Piedmont)
54. Speri 2020 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Vigneto Sant’Urbano (Veneto)
55. Mauro Marengo 2023 Nas-cëtta del Comune di Novello  (Piedmont)
56. La Magia 2020 Brunello di Montalcino (Tuscany)
57. Cigliuti 2021 Barbaresco Bricco di Neive Vie Erte (Piedmont)
58. Livia Fontana 2020 Barolo Villero  (Piedmont)
59. Sartarelli 2020 Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Superiore Balciana (Marche)
60. Marchesi di Gresy Cisa Asinari 2020 Barbaresco Riserva Gaiun (Piedmont)
61. Talamonti 2023 Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo Rosè (Abruzzo)
62. Giacomo Conterno 2022 Barbera d’Alba Cerretta (Piedmont)
63. Villa Sandi 2023 Cartizze Vigna La Rivetta (Veneto)
64. Bruno Giacosa 2023 Roero Arneis  (Piedmont)
65. Köfererhof 2021 Sylvaner R Valle Isarco Alto Adige  (Alto Adige)
66. Le Ragnaie 2020 Brunello di Montalcino Vecchie Vigne (Tuscany)
67. I Fabbri 2021 Chianti Classico Riserva (Tuscany)
68. Cantina degli Astroni 2023 Falanghina Colle Imperatrice Campi Flegrei (Campania)
69. Bartolo Mascarello 2020 Barolo (Piedmont)
70. Pasqua 2016 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Mai Dire Mai (Veneto)
71. Castello di Ama 2019 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione San Lorenzo  (Tuscany)
72. Colli di Lapio/Clelia Romano 2023 Fiano di Avellino (Campania)
73. Albino Rocca 2020 Barbaresco Ronchi (Piedmont)
74. Vignedimare Caravaglio/Meteri 2022 Malvasia Salina Abissale (Sicily)
75. Ceretto 2020 Barolo Bricco Rocche (Piedmont)
76. Chiara Condello 2020 Sangiovese di Romagna Riserva Predappio Le Lucciole (Emilia-Romagna)
77. Gerardo Cesari 2019 Amarone della Valpolicella (Veneto)
78. Di Meo 2023 Fiano di Avellino (Campania)
79. Trediberri 2020 Barolo Berri  (Piedmont)
80. Lorenzo Mattoni 2018 Montefalco Sagrantino (Umbria)
81. Terlano 2021 Pinot Bianco Riserva Vorberg (Alto Adige)
82. Cantina Montisci Vitzizzai 2021 Cannonau di Sardegna Ghirada Foddigheddu (Sardinia)
83. Marchesi di Barolo 2020 Barolo Coste di Rose  (Piedmont)
84. Tenuta delle Terre Nere 2022 Etna Rosso Guardiola (Sicily)
85. Col d’Orcia 2018 Moscadello di Montalcino Vendemmia Tardiva Pascena (Tuscany)
86. Fontanavecchia 2019 Aglianico del Taburno Riserva Vigna Cataratte (Campania)
87. Boroli 2020 Barolo Villero (Piedmont)
88. Montefabbrello 2022 Aleatico Passito Elba (Tuscany)
89. Antano Milziade 2020 Montefalco Sagrantino (Umbria)
90. La Dolce Vigna 2021 Mandrolisai (Sardinia)
91. Cantina Edomé 2022 Etna Rosso Aitna (Sicily)
92. Vietti 2021 Barolo Castiglione  (Piedmont)
93. Antonio Camillo 2021 Ciliegiolo Vallerana Alta Toscana (Tuscany)
94. Benito Ferrara 2021 Aglianico Irpinia Vigna Quattro Confini (Campania)
95. Adanti 2020 Montefalco Sagrantino Passito  (Umbria)
96. Rizzi 2019 Barbaresco Riserva Rizzi Vigna Boito  (Piedmont)
97. Sorrentino 2023 Caprettone Vesuvio Benita 31 (Campania)
98. Cave Mont Blanc de Morgex et La Salle 2023 Blanc de Morgex et La Salle (Valle d’Aosta)
99. Redalmo 2023 Marselan Veneto  (Veneto)
100. Podere Sabbioni 2022 Ribona della Famiglia Colli Maceratesi  (Marche)