San Marzano Sessantanni 2019

Ever wanted to try Italy’s Greatest Wine™ but didn’t quite fancy shelling out hundreds for a rare Super-Tuscan or a single-cru Barolo?

Then you’ll want to get your hands on the just-landed 2019 San Marzano Sessantanni Primitivo di Manduria – back on our shores for the first time in a year, and already flashing a fresh 99-point score from Luca Maroni (which, for context, is the equal-highest score an Italian wine can receive).

We’ve never seen a wine quite like this one. It’s got a way of pulling people in – part magic, part sheer hedonism – and we’ve honestly never found anything that stops people in their tracks quite like it. Just look at the awards this one vintage has racked up!

Tre Bicchieri® – Vini d’Italia Gambero Rosso 2024
5 Grappoli – Bibenda 2024
Best Absolute Italian Wine (99 points) – Luca Maroni, Annuario dei Migliori Vini Italiani 2024
Gold Medal – The WineHunter Award 2024 (Merano)
Gold Medal – Korea Wine Challenge 2024
Gold Medal – SAKURA Japan Women’s Wine Awards 2024
91 points – James Suckling

Sure, most Aussies fall in love with the big, bold reds of South Australia – and fair enough. But then this beauty walks in, all sun-drenched swagger and Southern Italian charm, and shows us there’s a whole other world out there. One where richness meets vibrancy, and silky tannins wrap around layers of spice, dark fruit and chocolatey power.

Think of it as the final stop on your red wine journey – the full-flavoured endgame that starts in the Barossa and winds its way down to the sunbaked soils of Puglia.

And in the world of Primitivo, this is the big boss. 

San Marzano is often called the ‘Penfolds of Italy’, and this is the top of their tree. Their icon wine. Their showpiece. Over the past decade, it's racked up a jaw-dropping run of 99-point scores from Italy’s own James Halliday, Luca Maroni – again, the equal-highest score he gives to any Italian wine. It’s also regularly taken out the title of ‘Greatest Red Wine of Italy’, and wears it proudly.

But wait till you taste what’s actually in the bottle.

It pours like a black hole – inky, dense, brooding – and leaves the glass clinging with the scent of its own legend. There’s cinnamon, clove, vanilla, tonka bean. Then wave after wave of dark cherry, plum, prunes and Armagnac, with toasty oak humming underneath. It’s bold, it’s plush, it’s unapologetically big – but somehow still elegant. The sunshine of Southern Italy wrapped up in a bottle.

If you’ve had it before, you know the spell. If not, this is your shot. But be warned: once you’ve tasted the Sessantanni, you’ll never forget it.