All roads lead to Rome. The ancient Roman Empire built a vast road network that bound the peninsula into a single empire. Among them, the Via Appia, begun in 312 B.C., is regarded as the first highway in human history. It starts in Rome, runs across the Campania Plain, and continues to the Gulf of Taranto and Brindisi on the Adriatic coast. Legion troops and supplies moved swiftly along this road, and merchants carried wine, olive oil and grain, building Rome's wealth. The road network spread like the empire's arteries, and the total length of roads radiating from Rome is said to have exceeded 100,000 kilometers.
Just as Rome connected the world with a dense road network, there is a wine that bottles the native grape varieties of five Italian regions into one. It is the Edizione Collection from the Fantini group. The Fantini group was founded in 1994 in Ortona in Italy's Abruzzo region by three partners: Filippo Baccalaro, Valentino Sciotti and Camillo De Iuliis.
In its early days, it did not own vineyards, sourcing grapes through long-term contracts with local growers. It later expanded into several regions of southern Italy and grew into a group that directly owns and operates vineyards and wineries. Fantini now employs 21 winemakers. Based in Abruzzo, Puglia, Basilicata, Campania and Sicily, it runs a range of brands and exports wine to more than 20 countries annually.
Fantini emphasizes a boutique winery ethos. Rather than mass production, it focuses on quality, and it is credited with actively introducing modern winemaking techniques in collaboration with young vintners. All grapes are harvested by hand, and blocks are delineated for separate fermentation and aging to maximize each region's character. It established an in-house unit dedicated to research and development to analyze the compounds that make up pre-harvest grape aromas and identify where concentrations are highest. It also uses 130-liter stainless steel micro fermenters to compare flavors across small plots within vineyards.
Believing in the potential of southern Italy, the Fantini group is pursuing a strategy of modern reinterpretation of native varieties. The Edizione Collection began at the suggestion of British wine critic Hugh Johnson when he visited Fantini. He said, "Let's make a special wine that shows Italy's identity," and CEO Sciotti and chief winemaker Baccalaro put the idea into action. Free from the constraints of a specific region or vintage, they created a blended wine that mixes grapes from multiple regions and years to realize the most ideal style. The resulting Edizione has been praised as "an artistic composition that captures the essence of Italy." Because it uses grapes harvested in two or more regions, it does not list a vintage.
The Edizione Collection blends representative varieties from five southern Italian regions: Abruzzo, Puglia, Campania, Basilicata and Sicily. Among them, the top-tier Edizione Signature Collection is the flagship wine, blended only from the best wines of each variety. Its label was produced in collaboration with Italian luxury menswear brand Brioni, using Brioni fabric cut for the design.
The Signature Collection is blended from Montepulciano 33%, Primitivo 30%, Sangiovese 25%, Negroamaro 7% and Malvasia Nera 5%. It shows a deep, dense garnet-ruby color with aromas of cherry, blackcurrant, herbs, cinnamon, clove, licorice, cocoa and mineral. Fresh acidity, balanced body and supple tannins come together for a long finish. It pairs well with beef steak with sauce and is also attractive on its own. At the 2025 Korea Wine & Spirits Awards, it won the grand prize in the Old World red wine category. The official importer in Korea is WINELL.