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Issue 760 - November 17th - 21st 2025 - Expressly created for 3709 wine lovers,
professionals and opinion leaders from all over the world | |
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| | | “Experience” is, according to everyone, the keyword in wine tourism today. And the best Italian winery in the world, from the point of view of wine tourism and more, is, once again, Ceretto, led by one of the families that has most marked the recent history of food and wine in the Langhe, with wine, but also with hazelnut groves and haute cuisine, and which has been opening the doors of the Monsordo Bernardina Estate to visitors from all over the world since 2009. The Piedmontese winery ranks 19th in “The World’s Best Vineyards”, for the first time under the auspices of “50 Best”, which sees Chile’s Vik in first place.
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| | Italian wine continues to be highly regarded by critics in the United States, the number one market, which is positive news at a difficult time for sales in the US. Once again, the passion for Italy is evidenced by the significant presence of 20 Italian wines in the “Top 100” 2025 by “Wine Spectator”, the influential ranking of the US magazine that has an important weight on the world market, and which includes many different labels, from North to South, but with a strong presence from Tuscany (50% of the total). As in 2024, 2025 saw France triumph with Château Giscours’ Grand Cru Classé Margaux 2022 as wine of the year, with our French “cousins” catching up with us with 20 labels and the United States, unbeatable, with 33. The Italian appellation with the most labels is Chianti Classico (5), followed by Tuscany (3), and, with one each, Veneto, Lazio, Liguria, Sicily, Lombardy, Trentino-Alto Adige, and Campania. In addition to the two Italian wines in the “Top 10,” Barbaresco 2021 from Produttori del Barbaresco (No. 7) and Chianti Classico San Lorenzo Gran Selezione 2021 from Castello di Ama (No. 9), the “Top 100” also includes the Chianti Classico Riserva 2019 from Viticcio (No. 14), the Chianti Classico Ducale Riserva 2021 from Ruffino (No. 17), the Brunello di Montalcino 2020 from Camigliano (No. 21), Rocca di Frassinello with Maremma Toscana Ornello 2023 (No. 23), Chianti Classico Riserva 2020 from Carpineto (No. 25), Banfi's IGT Centine 2022 (No. 28), Marchesi de’ Frescobaldi Chianti Rufina Nipozzano Riserva 2022 (No. 31), Castello di Monsanto’s Chianti Classico San Donato in Poggio Il Poggio Gran Selezione 2020 (No. 45), Brunello di Montalcino Vigna Paganelli Riserva 2019 from Il Poggione (No. 52), Barolo Cannubi 2021 from Damilano (No. 55). And then there is the Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore 2023 from BiancaVigna (No. 61), the Montiano 2021 from Famiglia Cotarella (No. 64), Barolo 2021 from Matteo Ascheri (no. 67), Vermentino Colli di Luni-Liguria Grey Laber 2023 from Cantine Lunae Bosoni (no. 70), Etna Rosato 2024 from Graci (no. 75), Pinot Nero dell’Oltrepò Pavese Costa del Nero 2022 by Conte Vistarino (no. 78), Manzoni Bianco Vigneti delle Dolomiti Fontanasanta 2023 by Foradori (no. 80), and Taurasi Gulielmus Riserva 2018 by Tenute Capaldo (no. 92).
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| | “My colleague Martin Heydon has confirmed to me the Irish government’s decision to proceed in agreement with Italy and other European partners to review national legislation on the labeling of alcoholic beverages (“health warnings”), abandoning unilateral positions that Italy had contested. This is another great victory for the protection of our wine and production system”. This was written on his Facebook page by Minister of Agriculture Francesco Lollobrigida at the end of the Agrifish Council meeting in Brussels a few days ago in Brussels, expressing his satisfaction with one of the most recent and criticized proposals affecting wine, such as Ireland’s proposal to apply “health warnings” labeling to all alcoholic beverages, which was scheduled to come into force in May 2026 but was then postponed to 2028.
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| | | Today’s Italian cuisine is the most awarded ever, with chef Michelangelo Mammoliti winning three Michelin stars for the restaurant La Rei Natura in Serralunga d’Alba, in Il Boscareto Resort owned by the Dogliani family of the Batasiolo winery, bringing the number of three-starred restaurants in Italy to 15, ranging from Giancarlo Perbellini’s Casa Perbellini 12 Apostoli in Verona to Antonino Cannavacciuolo’s Villa Crespi in Orta San Giulio, from the Alajmo brothers’ Le Calandre in Rubano to Giorgio Pinchiorri and Annie Féolde’s Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence with chef Riccardo Monco, Uliassi in Senigallia by Mauro Uliassi, Piazza Duomo in Alba by Enrico Crippa with the Ceretto family, Dal Pescatore in Canneto sull’Oglio by the Santini family, La Pergola del Rome Cavalieri in Rome by Heinz Beck, the “Chef Mentor” 2026, Da Vittorio in Brusaporto by the Cerea family, Osteria Francescana in Modena by Massimo Bottura, Reale in Castel di Sangro by Niko Romito, Atelier Moessmer in Brunico by Norbert Niederkofler, Quattro Passi in Nerano by Fabrizio Mellino, and Enrico Bartolini at Mudec in Milan by Enrico Bartolini, Italy’s most starred chef, second only to Alain Ducasse in Europe, with 14 stars. This is the verdict of the 2026 “Michelin Guide Italy”, the second most starred in the world after France. | |
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| | | The Holy Father in the land of Sagrantino, the wine of St. Francis: Pope Leo XIV recently visited Montefalco, Umbria, to meet with the Augustinian nuns of the Monastery of Santa Chiara. Here, the Pontiff celebrated Mass and had lunch with the nuns. It was in this convent that the ancient Sagrantino vines, the symbolic grape variety of Umbria, were kept. In 1991, producer Marco Caprai, head of the Caprai winery, recovered them together with the University of Milan, and then created “Cobra”, a vineyard that is the richest database of its kind in the world. | |
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| | While Italian wine is facing difficulties, with US tariffs slowing down the number one market, historic European partners struggling, high stocks in cellars, and an abundant harvest, the numbers seem to bring good news from Montalcino, according to the Consortium, and from “Benvenuto Brunello” No. 34 (currently underway), the preview of the new vintages, on sale in January 2026, of Brunello 2021, Riserva 2020, and Rosso 2024, which speak of a “jump in the last two months of 2025 in Brunello bottling, which realigns with 2024 volumes (-0.9%)”. However, the president, Giacomo Bartolommei, clearly explains that “there is not necessarily an automatic correlation between bottled and sold” and talks about the “need to activate a promotion program to relaunch the DOCG”. | |
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| | The tricolor makes its debut on the bands of the world’s best-selling Italian sparkling wine. Prosecco Doc now has the new state mark for the authenticity and traceability of Italian Docg and Doc wines from the Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato (Italian Mint and Printing Institute), which will be applied to the special bottles for the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, unveiled in Rome a few days ago by Lorenzo Fontana, President of the Chamber of Deputies, Francesco Lollobrigida, Minister of Agriculture, and Giancarlo Guidolin, president of the Prosecco DOC Consortium. | |
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