Known by fans simply as ‘Edizione’, this wine was the response to a challenge issued to Valentino Sciotti and Filippo Baccalaro (CEO and winemaker of Fantini respectively) by wine journalist Hugh Johnson. The mission was to create an extraordinary wine that was a true representation of the regions of southern Italy. The first wine was Edizione 1, and Johnson’s response was “There’s everything in this wine! The warmth, the aromas, the flavours of southern Italy… millennial of winemaking tradition, that’s exactly what we were dreaming of!”. Each bottling is a new edition, the number representing the edition rather than the vintage.
Cinque Autoctoni translates as ‘five natives’, and so this is Fantini’s finest selection of their native Italian plantings of Montepulciano, Sangiovese, Primitivo, Negroamaro and Malvasia Nera. Fruit is sourced from the regions these grapes are synonymous with, and all within the Fantini estate. Sangiovese and Montepulciano represent the Abbruzzi hills, while the deep south of Puglia contributes Primitivo, Negroamaro and Malvasia Nera. Grapes are destemmed and pressed before maceration and fermentation. Maturation is in new French and American oak, and the parcels are all blended just before bottling
Consistently a wine with depth and intensity balanced with velvety richness, this has clear aromas of ripe black fruit, dried cherry and vanilla. On the palate it has almost syrupy weight and texture, offering more dark-fruited flavours, cocoa, cloves and liquorice, supported by balanced freshness and firm but velvety tannins. The finish is long and gently spiced.
Edizione 23
5 Grappoli, Bibenda 2026
Edizione 21
Concours International de Lyon, Gold Medal
99 points, Luca Maroni
Edizione 19
99 points, Luca Maroni
