The Influence and Significance of the Critic

The author of the Annuario dei Migliori Vini Luca Maroni ("Yearbook of the Best Wines") is one of the undisputed protagonists of Italian wine criticism. In over 30 years of activity he has managed to establish himself as a point of reference: his ratings, evaluations and theories are now widely followed by wine enthusiasts in Italy.

He is an eclectic and truly original character with an artistic spirit. Professional taster, wine consultant, theorist of organoleptic parameters, sensory analyst, journalist and event organiser... No single definition is enough to sum up his character.

After his first steps at the end of the 1980s, working as a publicist for Luigi Veronelli, in 1993 he began publishing the Annuario, which has become one of the reference guides in Italy over the years. In 1995, with the publication of the handbook "Degustare il vino" (Tasting wine), he began to develop and disseminate a personal and original scientific tasting method, which today is the basis of his evaluations.

Thanks to this particular method and a very interesting and extravagant style of expression, full of neologisms and technical terms, the critic has made a significant contribution to the Italian public's affection for the wine scene, and has won over many newcomers.

The method of evaluation and the assessments expressed each year reveal how his preferences are given to modern productions of great taste-olfactory impact. Luca Maroni's latest Annuari have rewarded in particular many wines from the Tuscany, Puglia and Abruzzo regions, demonstrating a preference for warm, soft, textured and structured reds. Many award-winning wines are, in particular, made from overripe or slightly dried grapes.

In addition to the classic South Tyrolean wines, the white wines that received more than 90 points from Luca Maroni are becoming increasingly important in the Annuario for their intensity, smoothness and concentration. Many of these wines are popular with the general public, who find the Annuario a reliable guide in the vast panorama of Italian wine production.

Luca Maroni's Best Italian Wines: the Evaluation Method

The evaluation of Luca Maroni's best wines is based on a very original and complex tasting method, personally devised by the Roman critic. This system is based on a fundamental principle that establishes the perfect identity: Quality = Pleasantness = Fruitiness. Based on this assumption, only the taste, when sampling a food or beverage, is a sign of quality. Thus the pleasantness of the taste is the only universal indicator of quality. The extravagant way in which this concept was expressed specifies the definition of sensory pleasure: 'Pleasantness pure and first, organoleptically detected and physiologically dictated: pleasant is what pleases the sense of sensation as it pleases the functioning of the human body'.

The pleasantness of a meal would therefore be, in itself, an indication of genuineness and wholesomeness, and is directly proportional to the "maximum constitutive purity" of the drink or food. This indicates that the senses are satisfied when they perceive the product's constituent element with perfect clarity. As far as enology is concerned, maximum quality and pleasantness therefore coincide with the clear perception of the fruit of the grape, defined as Fruitiness.

The index of Quality - Pleasantness - Fruitiness is inextricably linked to three fundamental parameters: Consistency, Balance and Integrity. The link between these parameters is expressed by a formula defined as Logisma:

I Q/P/F = C + B + I

Consistency is defined as the dry matter; Balance as the perfect harmony between sweet taste and the sum of sour and bitter tastes; and Integrity as aromatic cleanliness. These three parameters can be measured and evaluated during the tasting phase with a score from 1 to 33. The sum of these scores represents the Q/P/F index, which is the final score. The maximum score therefore corresponds to wines with 99 Luca Maroni points.

It is evident, therefore, that the judging criteria relate solely to quality in the sense of sensory pleasure. All types of wine are assessed from this perspective: from the organic wines of small producers to the more famous and prestigious ones of the large producers.

On Callmewine you can find a large and constantly updated selection of wines that have exceeded Luca Maroni's prestigious 90-point rating. These are great enological expressions characterised by warmth, concentration and richness of aroma, and are available for sale at the best price on the Callmewine online wine shop.