The Special Prizes

We have focused on several wines and on the work of certain individuals to give our Guide a point of view on the world of Italian wine. Of eleven special prizes, six are for wines and five for people - or for wineries, which are teams of people. Now let’s proceed.

The prize for the best red wine of the year went to Perillo’s Taurasi Riserva 2007, a truly extraordinary wine that came on the market after ten years of aging. Among the whites, the best, in our view, was Castelli di Jesi Verdicchio Classico Villa Bucci Riserva 2013, produced by the wine world institution Ampelio Bucci. The prize for sparkling wine went to that great classic Trentodoc Giulio Ferrari Riserva del Fondatore 2005 from Cantine Ferrari. There is nothing to add to recall the role that the Lunelli brothers have in the production of qualityItalian bubbly.The sweet wine of the year, which is not sweet but a wine you have to think about, is the greatest that has every come on the market. We’re talking about Marco De Bartoli’s Vecchio Samperi. We are quite moved to give this award to Marco considering what he has represented for winemaking in his area. The wine with the best quality/price ratio this time was from the region of Lazio: Tellus Syrah 2015 from Falesco, a modern estate that combines high production with top quality and good prices.

We also have a prize for a top-quality wine that is produced in quantity. This year’s winner was practically the only one running, a wine famous the world over and which for decades has been emblematic for a land the whole world knows: Chianti Classico Grand Selezione Riserva Ducale Oro from Ruffino.

And lets ahead with the estates. Alto Adige’s Cantina Terlano/Terlan was the estate of the year. This is an estate that every year amazes us with the high level of quality of all its wines and we had to make an effort to limit the number of ‘faccini’ hedcuts, this year three, we give them. The prize for the up-and-coming estate came from a more than classic area but one where it is always possible to find something new and interesting. The winner was the Vallepicciola estate in Chianti Classico, a corner of paradise in the province of Siena where “even the angels drink wine”. The prize for the best wine cooperative went to a giant of this sector: Cavit. The Trentino cooperative produces over 60 million bottle a year, or three-quarters of all the wine produced in the province of Trento, with great skill and professionalism.

The enologist of the year was Doctor Lorenzo Landi, a Tuscan from Pescia who, while he been established for years, continues to travel the world to study and update himself, especially in France. And the results are self-evident: the wines he produces are always well-made and reflect the area where they are made as well as the philosophy of the producer without emphasizing the contribution the enologist made. This is something we see as a plus.

Our last prize was for sustainable winemaking, which this year went to Professor Attilio Scienza for the work he has done in applying the principles of cis-genetics to winegrowing. In medicine this involves altering genes in the human genome that cause disease. In wine-growing, this technique can be used to correct the genome of the vine to produce plants that have a greater natural resistance to certain diseases, like powdery and downy mildew. This is not transgenetics, or GMO, but cis-genetics that does not add but modifies genes that are already present in the plant’s DNA.

Here is the list: 

Red wine of the year: Taurasi Riserva 2007, Perillo, Campania

White wine of the year: Castelli di Jesi Verdicchio Riserva Classico Villa Bucci 2013, Bucci, Marche

Sparkling wine of the year: Trentodoc Giulio Ferrari Riserva del Fondatore 2005, Cantine Ferrari, Trentino

Sweet wine of the year: Vecchio Samperi, Marco De Bartoli, Sicilia

Best quality/price ratio: Tellus Syrah 2015, Falesco, Lazio

Wide spead quality: Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Riserva Ducale Oro, Ruffino, Toscana

Winery of the year: Cantina Terlano / Terlan, Alto Adige

Emerging producer: Vallepicciola, Toscana

Cooperation prize: Cavit, Trentino

Oenologist of the year: Doctor Lorenzo Landi

Award for sustainable viticulture: Professor Attilio Scienza

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