Here’s where and when Italy’s largest wine tasting will take place

The wines that have earned the highest recognition in the Vini d’Italia 2026 guide by Gambero Rosso (the Tre Bicchieri), the labels and producers honoured with the Special Awards, and the Rare Wines will once again be the stars of a major tasting scheduled for Sunday, 12 October (4–8 p.m.) at the Roma Convention Center La Nuvola — an event designed for all wine lovers as well as industry professionals. This marks the first stage of a tour that, as usual, will feature further appointments across Italy and around the world.

All the Tre Bicchieri

A total of 508 wines have been awarded the coveted Tre Bicchieri this year, selected from thousands of labels through our rigorous blind tastings.
What portrait of Italy’s wine landscape emerges from this extensive work that took us from the Alps to the heart of the Mediterranean? It is a complex and dynamic panorama: there have been excellent vintages in many classic areas — such as 2019, 2020, and 2021 for Tuscany and Piedmont — but also in other regions.
In our cellars, experimentation continues, with investments in modern technologies alongside the revival of ancient traditions, reinterpreted with a fresh perspective — as seen in the use of amphorae, cocciopesto, ceramic containers, and new-generation concrete vats. In the vineyards, we are witnessing both the comeback of ancient grape varieties and the spread of new resistant ones.

Many producers now use satellite technologies and drones to monitor vineyards and protect them from disease, ensuring treatments with minimal environmental impact. This is viticulture 4.0, a new relationship with the environment based on sustainability and balanced development — where wineries are increasingly integrated into and engaged with local territorial policies.

The Announcement of the Special Awards

As we often like to say, the best way to fully grasp the philosophy of the Guide is by browsing the Special Awards — those wines and people who have particularly moved and inspired us during these months of travel, tasting, and retasting.

This year’s Guide includes a new Special Award dedicated to the Young Producers of the Year, strongly supported by Banca di Asti, the creator of an important credit programme aimed at agricultural and wine-producing enterprises.

The other awards — for the best wines of the year in various categories, for sustainable viticulture, for social projects, for the emerging winery, for the best value for money, for the winemaker, for the winery, and for the cooperative winery — will be announced on the morning of 12 October during the award ceremony (an event reserved for the press).

The Journey to Discover the Rare Wines

For the second consecutive year, the tasting will also feature the 50 labels from the Carta dei Vini Rari — a section of the Guide dedicated to Italian wines of excellence produced in limited or extremely limited quantities, telling stories of risk-taking, vision, radical choices, and the intuition of their creators.

Red wines take the lion’s share among the selected labels, followed by whites, but the list also includes one Cerasuolo, three sparkling wines, and seven sweet meditation wines — a category often overlooked by the market yet encompassing some truly exceptional bottles.