This October International Wine Expo (IWE) returns to Chicago from 22-23 October, and for the first time in collaboration with Vinitaly, making its debut in the US.
Providing a dynamic platform for wine buyers, distributors and importers in America to connect with Italian wine producers, the expo will include a special Decanter World Wine Awards masterclass on Sunday 22nd October.
Led by DWWA senior judge and Italian wine expert Michaela Morris, six standout Italian wines from the 2023 competition have been selected to showcase some of the best-rated wines across Italy, and the entire competition.
An an international benchmark for wine quality, involving hundreds of leading wine experts and the broadest sample of wines from across the globe, results from DWWA are significant — highlighting the most representative and best wines to a global audience.
Tasted and rated across three stages of judging, and with a focus on regionality, International Wine Expo attendees are invited to try some of the competition’s highest scoring wines from Alto Adige to Sicily while learning about what the experts look for when awarding top scores, from one of the competition’s leading judges.
See below to discover the line-up of 97 point Platinum and Best in Show wines which will be presented.
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Masterclass wine list
Cantina Terlano, Rarity Pinot Bianco, Alto Adige Terlano, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol 2010
Platinum, 97 points
Rich, ripe and positively buzzing with honeyed pear, lime and acacia aromatics. Concentrated and intense with a sculpted, juicy texture and a harmonious, delicate acidity. Unbelievably fresh for its age and will continue to develop. A memorable experience!
Mecori, Duo, Etna, Sicily 2021
Best in Show, 97 points
The renaissance of viticultural endeavour in the high-altitude vineyards of Sicily’s Etna, on the slopes of a far-from-dormant volcano, is one of the great success stories of the modern wine world. Our judges were therefore thrilled to find this compelling blend of Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio, and to welcome it into our Top 50 Best in Show. If your image of Southern Italian reds is based on darkly coloured wines made from international varieties or raisin-sweet reds made from indigenous grapes, a wine like this will prove horizon-altering. It’s translucent scarlet in colour, with light, graceful, aerial scents of wild hedgerow bramble fruits and wild strawberries. After this seductively framed overture, the wine is graceful and poised in the mouth; those fruits now take on a perfumed sheen, and the delicate acidity is joined by plump tannins and a root-spice freshness. The flavours and tannins may be southerly, but in all other respects you might guess that this is a wine from much further north.
Carlo Giacosa, Ovello, Barbaresco, Piedmont 2020
Platinum, 97 points
Exquisite layers of aromatic red cherry, rose, sweet liquorice and tar with a decadent creamy texture and ample, well-defined tannins. Still very young and intense with a lovely fresh acidity and a long, enduring finish.
Ruffino, Romitorio Di Santedame, Chianti Classico Gran Selezione, Tuscany 2019
Best in Show, 97 points
Despite much initial criticism, the institution of Gran Selezione (at least 80% Sangiovese, with fruit coming from estate vineyards only and with an extended ageing period before sale) has been a great success for Chianti, so it was gratifying to find this attractive example competing for Best in Show inclusion this year. Classical not only in terms of its blend (since Sangiovese is complemented here with 10% from the Colorino family) but in terms of its personality, too. The wine is dark in colour, with aromas which combine fruit presence, an oak-copse freshness and a savoury refinement, without any of these elements being overstated. It’s lively and pure on the palate, the complex fruits thrown into both light and shade by a very Tuscan interplay of tannins, faint bitter notes, a bay-leaf sweetness and dark, dry forest berries. The clean, fresh finish and lingering complexities, dying away slowly like a final musical chord, complete the effect of this civilised and civilising wine.
Quintodecimo, Vigna Grande Cerzito, Taurasi Riserva, Campania 2016
Platinum, 97 points
Exemplary ripe red and black fruit on the nose with lashings of carob spread on toast and an overt backbone of firm tannins which is tempered by the characteristically lush fruit centre. Persistent, lengthy and top notch.
Tedeschi, Marne 180, Amarone della Valpolicella, Veneto 2019
Platinum, 97 points
Sultry and rich aromas of plums, black cherries and chocolate with a slurry of balsamic intensity. Vast and complex with capacious tannins, an ample meaty texture and an embrace of pervading acidity. Very long with great typicity.
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