Piedmont is the realm of Italian wine of excellence. This was decreed by the 70 experts of the Gambero Rosso Wine Guide after evaluating 22.000 labels from 2485 companies that represent the flagship of the Italian wine scene. In fact, Piedmont has won 77 labels awarded with the three glasses, overtaking Tuscany (which last year had won first place instead) which has collected 76 labels.
Following, and several lengths away, were Veneto with 41, Alto Adige with 27, Friuli Venezia Giulia with 26, Lombardy and Campania with 23, Sicily with 22, the Marches with 21, the 'Emilia Romagna with 16, Puglia with 13, Trentino and Sardinia with 12, Abruzzo with 11. Below 10 labels, Umbria with 9, Lazio and Liguria with 7, Valle d 'Aosta with 6, Basilicata with 5, the? Calabria with 4 and Molise with 1.
Except for the finish line crossed by the wines of Piedmont which overturned the result of the 2017 edition, the results of this year's Guide photograph an Italy of good quality wine that is fairly stable in terms of product positioning. On the other hand, it is effervescent in terms of numbers. The 2018 Guide sees the absolute number of high quality wines grow and, this year's interesting novelty, also the number of Three Green Glasses, i.e. those produced by certified organic or biodynamic companies, which this year are 99. ?
The Gambero Rosso and Bohemia Kvetná 1794 Special Awards for the Best Wines of the Year were assigned as follows: the Red of the Year award to the company's 'Valtellina Superiore Sassella Rocce Rosse Riserva '07'? Ar. eg. eg. The White of the Year is awarded to the I Favati company with the 'Fiano d'Avellino Pietramara '16'. The 'Marcalberto Extra Brut Millesimo2mila' of the Marcalberto company receives the Bubbles of the Year award. The Sweet Wine of the Year is Carvaglio's 'Malvasia delle Lipari Passito '16'; while 'Masi' of the Boscaini family was awarded as Winery of the Year. The Best Value for Money award went to the 'Romagna Sangiovese Sup. Sigismondo '16' son of a special project of the Le Rocche Malatestian company. Stefano Amerighi was elected Viticulturist of the Year. The award for the Emerging Cellar went to the Calabrian group Spiriti Ebbri. The Award for Sustainable Viticulture at the? Ferrari of the Lunelli family, which has been committed to this sector with conviction for years.
Like every year, the Gambero Rosso Guide next to the "noble" and economically demanding wines indicates in a section the Three glasses of the cheapest wines, i.e. under 15 euros. In this edition there are 110 labels that can be found in the wine shop within this sum. This is a growing percentage compared to last year which stood at 88, almost 25% more wines. A figure that photographs the qualitative and economic competitiveness of our wine sector. It is interesting to note that 23 of these wines can even be found on the market in the 10 euro range, therefore within the reach of all budgets. In this section, Tuscany leads the ranking of the cheapest labels with 14 wines thanks to the excellent performance of the Chianti Classico and Rosso di Montalcino 2015 followed by Campania at 13, Veneto at 12, Emilia Romagna and Marche at 11 and Piedmont at ten.
And here is the list of wines under 10 euros that can appear on Italian tables in an excellent cost-quality ratio: '05035 red' by Leonardo Bussoletti (Umbria), 'Bardolino sp13' by Albino Piona (Veneto), 'Cerasuolo d' Abruzzo Fonte Cupa' by Camillo Montori (Abruzzo), 'Custoza superiore Amedeo' by Cavalchina (Veneto), 'Dolcetto di Ovada' by Turkey (Piedmont), 'Erbaluce di Caluso' by Podere Macellio (Piedmont), 'Erbaluce di Caluso Le Chiusure' by Benito Favaro (Piedmont), 'Falanghina del Sannio Janare Senete' by la Guardiense (Campania), 'Falanghina del Sannio Unveiled' by Terre Stregate (Campania), 'Falanghina del Sannio Taburno' by Fontanavecchia (Campania), 'FCO Malvasia' by Paolo Rodaro (Friuli Venezia Giulia), 'Friuli Grave Pinot Bianco 16' by Vigneti Le Monde (Friuli Venezia Giulia), 'Greco di Tufo' by Cantine Di Marzo (Campania), 'Lambrusco di Sorbara Leclisse' by Gianfranco Paltrinieri (Emilia Romagna), 'Lambrusco di Sorbara del Cristo' by Cavicchioli (Emilia Romagna), 'Offida Pecorino Artemisia' by Tenuta Spinelli (Marche), 'Reggiano Lambrusco Concerto' by Ermete Medici & sons (Emilia Romagna), 'Romagna Albana Secco I Croppi' from Celli (Emilia Romagna), 'Romagna Sangiovese Superiore Sigismondo' from Le Rocche Malatesta (Emilia Romagna), 'Shimer 14' from Baglio di Pianetto (Sicily), 'Soave Superiore di Castellaro' from the Cantina Sociale di Monteforte d' Alpone (Veneto), 'Verdicchio di Matelica Pretara' from Borgo Paglianetto (Marche), 'Traditional Vernaccia di San Gimignano' from Montenidoli (Tuscany).
