Special Awards 2024

The point of the special awards we give in The Essential Guide that help shed light on the state of our vitienology is simple: to bring under the lens certain wines above all, but also companies, people, and projects that particularly strike us year after year.

And let's start with our best wines by category. The Red Wine of the Year is Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 2013 Bertani, a wine that to call a great classic is reductive. It represents the understated, elegant style that had been somewhat lost in Valpolicella in recent years, bringing back rigor at the expense of opulence. As White Wine of the Year, on the other hand, we awarded a great white from indigenous grapes, Valentini's 2019 Trebbiano d'Abruzzo, a wine that has been thrilling and making people dream for decades.

The Rosé Wine of the Year is the Trentino Pinot Grigio Ramato Controcanto 2021 Tenute Sajni Fasanotti, a rosé-ramato produced in the heart of Vallagarina by entrepreneur Umberto Sajni Fasanotti, who has landed in the wine world not so many years ago but with the clear goal of the highest quality. As the Sparkling Wine of Year we chose the 2008 Guido Berlucchi Franciacorta Riserva Cuvée Franco Ziliani Dosaggio Zero, from the best Chardonnay from the Arzelle vineyard, which rests 140 months on the lees. A classic method that, as Ziliani wished, "provides joy right from the first sip."

As Sweet Wine of the Year, we thought of Donnafugata's Passito di Pantelleria Ben Ryé 2020, a wine that for many-even abroad-is synonymous with Italian sweet wine. Enveloping and sunny, brought to the table it finishes in a flash. As for the Winning Debut award, dedicated to the wine that comes out on the market for the first time ever and manages to achieve an extraordinary result, we chose the Chianti Classico Riserva Ruello 2019 Boschetto Campacci. A debut both as a wine and as a company, since Luigi Frascino started making wine in Castelnuovo Berardenga with that very vintage there.

We now come to an award very dear to the public, The Wine with the Best Quality/Price Ratio, which crowns a Piedmontese, the Erbaluce di Caluso Fior di Ghiaccio 2022 Cantina Produttori Erbaluce di Caluso, a white wine of ancient tradition, little considered outside the region but truly delicious and found on sale for only 6 euros. We move on to Basilicata to find the winner of the Diffuse Quality Award, given to a wine that combines high quality with a considerable number of bottles produced, thus allowing easy availability on the market. This is the Basilicata Bianco Il Manfredi 2022 Re Manfredi Terre degli Svevi, a surprising white, aromatic and saline, from 50% Müller Thurgau, 45% Gewürztraminer, 5% Malvasia Istriana grapes, offered at a decidedly affordable price.

We continue with the other awards and move on to those dedicated to wineries. The Winery of the Year award, for the winery that has performed particularly well, goes to Tuscany this year and does not crown a single winery, but the trio headed by Claudio and Iris Tipa: Collemassari in Montecucco, Poggio di Sotto in Montalcino and Grattamacco in Bolgheri, each of the wineries presented wines of the highest level. The Emerging Producer, that is, the unknown newcomer or that little-known winery that is making leaps and bounds, is also from Tuscany. It is Tenuta Ceri, a young winery from Carmignano that proposed some really well-made wines. We are sure that Edoardo Ceri will amaze us in the future as well. Then we have the Cooperative Award, dedicated to social wineries, with the winner being the Cantina Produttori San Michele Appiano (in South Tyrolean Kellerei St. Michael Eppan), one of the most important wineries in Alto Adige in terms of history and wine quality.

And on to the awards to people. Winemaker of the Year is Roberto Di Meo, a winemaker and producer from Campania, who delights us with extraordinary wines that come out "when they are ready," which can mean even after dozens of years, as with the Taurasi Riserva Hamilton or the Fiano di Avellino Erminia. For Sustainable Vitienology, an award given to those who are committed to eco-sustainability in the most diverse ways, we felt that the topic had its champion in Stefano Casadei, owner of the Tuscan-Sardinian group of the same name, with the wineries Castello del Trebbio in the Florentine Hills, Tenuta Casadei in Suvereto and Olianas in the Sarcidano. Everywhere a precise ethical protocol is applied, which they call Biointegrale®: biodynamics in the countryside, sustainability in architecture and energy, space for animals and biodiversity.

The A life for Wine award, which is intended to highlight the role and commitment of a protagonist of the Italian wine scene, this year is awarded ex aequo to two producers who have marked the history of Italian wine: Piero Antinori, a name that needs no comment, and Carlo Guerrieri Gonzaga, soul of the Trentino-based San Leonardo winery. To counterbalance this award with this edition of the Guide, we have established another one: Next Generation, dedicated to young people who are making their way in this world with ability, preparation, passion and tenacity. The choice fell on Federica Boffa, who after the death of her father Pio Boffa for Covid, found herself, at a very young age, in charge of the famous Piedmont company Pio Cesare and is doing very well.

To conclude, for the Quality Project Award we focused on Etico by Amorim Cork Italia. A circular economy project conceived by CEO Carlos Manuel Veloso dos Santos, which involves the collection of used corks that are transformed into eco-friendly, fireproof designer furniture with very refined lines. Revenues from the collection of corks are donated to a number of non-profit organizations.

Finally, let's not forget the selection of single-vineyard wines, which we saw yesterday: among those 39 are some of the pillars of our country's wine quality. A truly formidable selection, in our opinion.

Summing up:

RED WINE OF THE YEAR

• Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 2013 Bertani, Veneto

WHITE WINE OF THE YEAR

• Trebbiano d’Abruzzo 2019 Valentini, Abruzzo 

ROSÈ WINE OF THE YEAR

• Trentino Pinot Grigio Ramato Controcanto 2021 Tenute Sajni Fasanotti, Trentino 

SPARKLING WINE OF THE YEAR

• Franciacorta Riserva Cuvée Franco Ziliani Dosaggio Zero 2008 Guido Berlucchi, Lombardia 

SWEET WINE OF THE YEAR

• Passito di Pantelleria Ben Ryé 2020 Donnafugata, Sicilia 

WINNING DEBUT

• Chianti Classico Riserva Ruello 2019 Boschetto Campacci, Toscana 

BEST QUALITY/PRICE AWARD

• Erbaluce di Caluso Fior di Ghiaccio 2022 Cantina Produttori Erbaluce di Caluso, Piemonte 

WIDESPREAD QUALITY AWARD 

• Basilicata Bianco Il Manfredi 2022 Re Manfredi Terre degli Svevi, Basilicata 

WINERY OF THE YEAR

• Gruppo Collemassari (Poggio di Sotto, Grattamacco, Collemassari), Toscana 

EMERGING PRODUCER

• Tenuta Ceri, Toscana 

COOPERATION AWARD

• Cantina Produttori San Michele Appiano, Alto Adige 

WINEMAKER OF THE YEAR

• Roberto Di Meo, Campania

SUSTAINABLE VITIENOLOGY

• Stefano Casadei (Castello del Trebbio, Tenute Casadei, Olianas) 

A LIFE FOR WINE (ex-aequo)

• Piero Antinori (Antinori, Toscana) 
• Carlo Guerrieri Gonzaga (San Leonardo, Trentino)

NEXT GENERATION

• Federica Boffa (Pio Cesare, Piemonte)

QUALITY PROJECT AWARD

• Etico di Amorim Cork Italia