Foresight and a sensitivity for beauty: here is the Winery of the Year

The Winery of the Year in Gambero Rosso’s Vini d’Italia 2026 Guide takes us to Tuscany’s most prestigious terroirs: Alejandro Bulgheroni Family Vineyards.

This is a group of wineries with a story that reaches far back in time. Alejandro Pedro Bulgheroni already owned a number of prestigious estates around the world when, in 2012, he arrived in Italy and purchased Dievole in Chianti Classico.

While his Italian origins certainly played an important role — his great-grandfather Giovanni Alessandro Bulgheroni left Olgiate Comasco in 1873 — we believe that having Alberto Antonini as a consultant (already collaborating with Bulgheroni’s South American estates) was equally decisive.

Dievole is a success story that brought us the Red Wine of the Year in the 2023 Guide, with the spectacular Chianti Classico Petrignano 2020. But clearly, for this magnate of the international energy sector, that was not enough. In just a few years he completed a series of acquisitions — between Bolgheri (Tenuta Le Colonne and Tenuta Meraviglia) and Montalcino (Poggio Landi and Podere Brizio) — that propelled him into the ranks of the great names of Italian wine.

The culture of the single vineyard

The ABFV Group has acquired estates and vineyards in highly prestigious denominations, yet the strategy remains the same: to fully express each terroir’s potential by valorising every single vineyard. Each wine follows its own path, from the row of vines to the bottle, designed to bring out its identity to the fullest — beyond fashions and clichés.

A prime example is Bolgheri Vigna Pianali, rooted in volcanic soils (rhyolites, also known as Vulcaniti di San Vincenzo), entirely dedicated to Cabernet Franc, vinified in concrete and aged in large oak casks. Here there is no need for other grapes or small barrels to express its uniqueness.

And the same could be said for countless other labels across the group’s different estates. Achievements like these do not happen by chance — nor simply thanks to great financial resources. They require intuition and passion, starting with the choice of collaborators — in this case, Lorenzo Bernini in the vineyard and Luigi Temperini in the cellar — and, above all, a sensitivity for beauty.

Qualities that Alejandro Bulgheroni certainly does not lack. Just go and admire the sunset over the sea from the brand-new, spectacular Tenuta Meraviglia winery in Bolgheri, recently inaugurated, and you will be convinced yourself.