Best Italian Wines

When compiling lists of popular Italian wines, a fundamental question arises: "Best" according to whom? The Italian wine landscape is saturated with guides and competitions, each offering its own perspective. While publications like Gambero Rosso's Tre Bicchieri once held undisputed prestige, the proliferation of new guides and competitions has created a fragmented and often confusing landscape. Every year, countless wineries receive accolades, leaving consumers wondering: does this mean thousands of "best Italian wines" exist?

The truth is, objectivity in wine assessment is an illusion. Personal preferences heavily influence ratings, even among seasoned experts. A panel of ten experts might yield ten different scores for the same wine. Blind tastings, while intended to mitigate bias, don't fully resolve this inherent subjectivity. We've witnessed this firsthand.

Early in our journey as Italian wine importers, seeking recognition for our carefully selected, often unknown producers, we entered wines into prestigious UK competitions. The results were starkly contrasting. A Chianti, lauded as one of the year's 50 best wines at the Decanter Awards, received only a "commended" mention at the International Wine Challenge. This experience, detailed in our previous blog post about wine competitions, highlighted the arbitrary nature of judging and prompted our withdrawal from future competitions.

Unlike supermarkets, who can afford to enter hundreds of wines into multiple competitions hoping to get a medal, we and our family-run producers prioritize bringing truly exceptional wines and vineyard work over chasing fleeting accolades. Consumers, however, are often swayed by the glint of a medal, oblivious to its source.

Our Chianti, a truly exceptional wine, was no outlier in our portfolio. We apply the same rigorous selection process to every wine, from Chianti to Gavi, prioritizing wines that offer a captivating, evolving experience. The heartfelt feedback we receive, like Anth's eight-year-old Brunello revelation, validates our approach.

The Supertuscan, which he also mentioned, was not mentioned in any guide, but was a wine we loved immediately.

Our producers, family-run wineries, dedicate themselves to the vineyards, not marketing departments and competition entries. This raises the question: what truly constitutes a "best Italian wine?" The answer is multifaceted, encompassing numerous lists from various guides and competitions. However, is compiling an average of these often-contradictory results a worthwhile endeavor?

Rather than chasing fleeting accolades, we advocate for exploring wines through trusted, specialist merchants. If you choose us, we guarantee an authentic experience, mirroring the satisfaction of Anth and countless others who have trusted us for 17 years.