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Issue 714 - December 30th - January 3rd 2025 - Expressly created for 3891 wine lovers,
professionals and opinion leaders from all over the world | |
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| | | With so many different judging criteria from different guides, finding a wine that gets just about everyone to agree is almost a “mission impossible”. As confirmed by the traditional WineNews cross-reference of the lists of the best wines from the 9 national reference guides and publications (Gambero Rosso, Slow Wine, Veronelli, Bibenda, Ais, Touring Club Italiano, Daniele Cernilli, Corriere della Sera and L’Espresso), 2025 edition. No one made the en plein: coming close, with 8 out of 9, were two sacred monsters of Italian wine, such as the San Leonardo 2019 from the Trentino-based Tenuta San Leonardo and the Bolgheri Sassicaia 2021 from the Tuscan Tenuta San Guido. | |
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| | The producer’s brand, in an increasingly competitive and crowded world of wine labels, is increasingly important. It is to the most established brands, and those that offer the most certainty to consumers, after all, that we turn in times of great uncertainty such as the ones we are currently experiencing. And if finding a single wine that gets everyone to agree is increasingly complex, among the many important wine brands in Italy there are some that, in addition to consumers, also get Italian critics to agree. As emerges from a comparison of the 9 publications, including guides and rankings, with “national coverage”, 2025 edition, released in the final weeks of 2024 (Vini d’Italia Gambero Rosso, I Vini di Veronelli, Bibenda, Guida Essenziale ai Vini d’Italia by Daniele Cernilli, Vitae by Sommelier Ais, Vite, vigne, vini d’Italia Slow Wine by Slow Food, Vinibuoni d’Italia by Touring Club Italiano, I migliori 100 Vini e Vignaioli d’Italia by Corriere della Sera and La Guida ai 1000 Vini d’Italia by L’Espresso). Thus, looking only at the highest awards received by the wines in each guide, it emerges that it is the Tuscan Fattoria di Petrolo, led by Luca Sanjust, and among the references of Val d’Arno di Sopra, the only winery with at least one wine awarded by the 9 selected guides and publications. But with 8 out of 9 guides there are gems of Italian wine such as Tenuta San Leonardo from Trentino, Tenuta San Guido from Tuscany, Tasca d’Almerita from Sicily, Ca’ del Bosco, among the jewels of Franciacorta, and Cantina Terlano from Alto Adige. And again, several wineries awarded by 7 guides (Argiano, Tenuta Sette Ponti, Capezzana, Boscarelli, Isole e Olena, Ricasoli, Poggio di Sotto, Il Borro, Coppo, Pio Cesare, Vietti, Gaja, Bertani, Brigaldara, Pieropan, Donnafugata, Girolamo Russo, Elena Walch, Cantina Girlan, Antonelli, Ferrari, Argiolas, Gianfranco Fino, Oasi degli Angeli, Torre dei Beati, Jermann, Marisa Cuomo) and 6 guides (in more detail). A good number of wineries (net of some unlikely but possible oversight in the comparison, made by now of hundreds and hundreds of labels to be verified), able to agree on the most important voices of Italian critics. And which, not surprisingly, are also the most recurring names whose references can be found on the wine lists of restaurants, wine bars and wine shops throughout Italy. | |
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| | The “heroic” vineyards of Mombarone, in Piedmont, are characterized by a strong historical and cultural value, represented by a complex system of terracing that well expresses the needs of the peasant communities of the past to make more and more areas productive, shaping entire slopes: now these Vineyard and Agricultural Terraced Landscapes, between the slopes of Mombarone and the Serra di Ivrea, officially enter the National Register of Rural Landscapes. This is the first site in Piedmont to be admitted to the prestigious list, which brings together extraordinary traditional or historically interesting rural landscapes, as well as related agricultural practices and knowledge. This was decided by Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty Francesco Lollobrigida. | |
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| | | It is a compendium of Italian wine in ten great bottles, the list of “Wines of the Year 2024: Italy” by Uk magazine “Decanter”, signed by Italy Regional Editor, James Button. And so, here is a classic of sparkling wine, such as Ferrari’s Trentodoc Riserva Lunelli 2009, and then Tuscany, with Brunello di Montalcino 2019 from Poggio di Sotto, a winery of Claudio Tipa’s ColleMassari group, and the Brunello di Montalcino 2019 from the historic Conti Costanti, among the qualitative references of the territory. And again, the brightest star of the Bolgheri territory, Tenuta San Guido’s Sassicaia 2021 from the Incisa della Rocchetta family. Flying to the Langhe, on the other hand, and to one of its most famous crus, with G. B. Burlotto’s Barolo Monvigliero 2020, just as the 2019 San Leonardo Vigneti delle Dolomiti from Tenuta San Leonardo, of the Guerrieri Gonzaga family, is an anthology wine. Can’t miss Etna, with Girolamo Russo and its Etna Rosso Feudo 2022, and then moving on to Valpolicella, in the Veneto region, with two top brands, Allegrini’s Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 2019, and the single vineyard Ognisanti di Novare Valpolicella Classico Superiore 2020 from Bertani, of the Angelini Wines & Estates group. To close, Sicily again, with Florio’s Semisecco Superiore Riserva Marsala 2001 (Duca di Salaparuta group). | |
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| | | On the one hand, the wines of Valpolicella, among the most prestigious appellations of Italian winemaking (from Amarone to Recioto, passing through Valpolicella and Valpolicella Ripasso); on the other hand, Parmigiano Reggiano, among the most beloved and sought-after symbols of the Italian agri-food industry: two excellences that come together in the “Quality Heritage of Europe” project (which will see them side by side for three years, under the aegis of the European Union), focused on promotion and communication aimed at some strategic markets, namely Italy, France and Germany. | |
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| | Veneto is increasingly confirmed as the locomotive of Italian wine and exports, with more than 2.1 billion euros out of a total of 5.9 in the first 9 months of 2024 over 2023, and a growth of +8.2%, on a national average of +5.6%. This is stated by Istat data, analyzed by WineNews, in the “stock market” of wine regions, which show an increasingly evident weight of the Veneto Region in the total. In second place, in fact, but well behind, follows Tuscany, at 908.7 million, with a growth, however, important, at +10.2%. On the podium, confirming a triptych that seems unchanging in its composition, is Piedmont, which stands at 847.9 million euros in the first 9 months of 2024, basically in line with the same period 2023 (-0.4%). | |
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| | 2024 was (again) a record year for Prosecco Doc: bottlings of the denomination registered 660 million bottles for the first time, a 7% increase over 2023, for an estimated consumer value of 3.6 billion euros. Data from the Prosecco Doc Consortium, led by Giancarlo Guidolin. Which also expresses great satisfaction with the performance of Prosecco Doc Rosé: 60 million bottles were marketed in the 12 months, marking an increase of more than 20% over 2023. | |
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