Marchesi Antinori’s Cervaro della Sala 2024 is the flagship white from Castello della Sala, the family’s Umbrian estate near Orvieto. The vineyards sit on rolling hills (roughly 220–470 meters) with clay and fossil-rich limestone soils and marked day-night temperature shifts—conditions the estate credits for slow ripening and preserved acidity. First made in 1985 and named for the Monaldeschi della Cervara family, Cervaro helped set a modern template for Italian whites by using small French oak barrels and malolactic fermentation for its Chardonnay component.

The 2024 is an Umbria IGT blend of predominantly Chardonnay with a small portion of Grechetto, a local variety fermented separately without oak. Antinori reports early-morning harvesting and a brief cold maceration (around four hours at 10°C) before fermentation. Chardonnay is fermented in French barriques with partial malolactic, then later blended with the stainless-steel–fermented Grechetto, followed by additional bottle aging prior to release. The listed alcohol is 12.5%.

In the glass, the house style is meant to balance richness with cut. Antinori describes a “clear straw-yellow” wine with citrus, elderflower and chamomile, alongside a “flinty mineral” note, finishing with “toasty almond” and the structure “to evolve…in the years to come.” The 2024 growing season, according to the producer, combined ample spring moisture with a warm summer moderated by diurnal swings; Chardonnay was picked in late August and Grechetto about three weeks later, bringing what the estate calls a strong “balance of sugar and acidity.”

Critical reception is already strong. Wine Spectator (92 points) calls it “a creamy white that expands nicely on the palate,” “buoyed by bright acidity and a salty underpinning,” with “macadamia nut and vanilla pastry” depth and an “elegant” profile. They recommend drinking it “now through 2039,” underscoring Cervaro’s reputation as an ageworthy, serious Italian white.