Bottle Buying Guide
A $450 White Wine From Italy? Winemakers Bet on Big-Deal Biancos
Italian reds like Super Tuscans and Barolos are usually the exports with the biggest price tags. But in recent years, some whites have been earning collectible status.
Source: Vendors
When famous Tuscan wine estate Tenuta dell’Ornellaia unveiled a white counterpart to its expensive flagship red in 2016, 400 bottles were offered via online lottery to Relais & Chateaux’s U.S. restaurants. Despite a price tag of more than $200 each, they were scooped up in minutes.
What a surprise! Italy’s white wines rarely get the same global respect or prices as its collectible reds from such regions as Tuscany (Super Tuscans, Brunello) and Piemonte, home of Barolo and Barbaresco.