The Essential Guide to the Wines of Italy with the 2024 edition turns 10 years old and we are all very proud of it. In ten years we have seen a lot and grown. It’s not the age of majority but it’s a good milestone.
I remember, of course, the first meeting that Daniele Cernilli convened to inform us that the idea of making “our” guidebook had gone through. We had talked about it occasionally, almost in jest, but actually the decision was quick. The main thing seemed, at the time, to be finding a strong enough publisher to allow us to start, and a deal had been made with Mondadori, so we felt we were ready to go.
The first meeting I mentioned was actually the operational meeting. We had to inform our external collaborators, find other reliable ones, “assign” the different zones, define the modus operandi (we are the only guide who tries to limit sample requests as much as possible, preferring to taste on public occasions or at consortia), determine what was the style of reviews plus have a computerized management system implemented to handle, precisely, the considerable amount of data that would soon begin to arrive. In short, we hadn’t even left yet and already we were feeling behind schedule, because there were a thousand things to do, and although Daniele Cernilli’s experience as a guidebook editor was unquestionable, for us in the editorial staff it was a “first time.”
Somehow we made it, in those first two years with Mondadori we cut our teeth and then we were able to fly on our own, becoming our own publisher.
Ten years later, we can say that the bet has been won; the number of companies writing to us so that they can send samples for tasting is growing exponentially (by the way, contact your relevant consortium), readers follow us numerous, just as there are many enthusiasts who come to our presentations with the opportunity to taste the best Italian wines coming out on the market.
Coming to this new edition, which will be presented in Milan on the weekend of Sept. 30-Oct. 1 and in Rome on Sunday, Oct. 8, we have a new, more modern and easier-to-read layout, and we have a new special award: Next Generation, dedicated to young people making their way in this world with skill, preparation, passion and tenacity. And with that comes 16 special awards, representing wines, companies, people, projects that particularly impressed us that year.
Alongside these, we have the awards to the best single-vineyard wines, and there are 39 of them. Then the much-loved ranking of the best 10 wines for value for money. And finally, we have the wines that got the triple fac et (i.e., the score of 99 or 100/100) and there are 13, and those that got the double facet (corresponding to 98/100) and there are 46. The “little face,” for those who still don’t know, is the recognition to those wines that have scored 95/100 and above in the tasting, and we call it that because director Cernilli “puts his face on it,” exposing himself to guarantee the absolute quality of that wine in that particular vintage.
These are the cornerstones of our guide, which remains essential in that it prefers a rigorous as much as drastic selection of the companies reviewed and the wines selected, which is not easy, given the high level achieved by our quality oenology. This year we have 1,254 producers with 3,189 wines. You will find out all the prizes awarded starting tomorrow, to accompany you in a sort of countdown to the presentation in Milan.
In the meantime, mark the dates of the big tastings:
- Milan, Hotel Principe di Savoia
Saturday, September 30 – Sunday, October 1, h. 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. award ceremony (by invitation only), h. 14:30-19:30. - Rome, Spazio Novecento
Sunday, October 8, h. 13:30 press conference (by invitation only), 14:00-19:00 press and trade, 15:00-19:00 consumers.
