The Gambero Rosso 2027 edition of Vini d’Italia brings the number of Tre Bicchieri (“Three Glasses”, the guide’s top rating) to 540. Now in its fortieth edition, the guide reviews 2,614 producers and more than 23,000 wines. To make sense of the awards, it helps to keep the publications apart: the Bicchieri (glasses) rate wines, the Forchette (forks) rate restaurants and the Spicchi (slices) rate pizzerias. And for anyone looking for a bottle to buy, one figure deserves as much attention as the headline awards: 50 Tre Bicchieri wines cost less than 15 euros.
Gambero Rosso 2027: the numbers and awards of Vini d’Italia
The first edition, published in 1988, covered 500 producers and 1,500 wines. The anniversary volume reaches 2,614 producers and more than 23,000 labels, awarding a total of 540 Tre Bicchieri and thirteen Special Awards. These figures describe the breadth of the selection; an award to a single bottle and an award to a winery, however, remain two different pieces of information.
Among the regions, Tuscany collects the most Tre Bicchieri, with 100 awards. It is followed by Piedmont with 82 and Veneto with 49. This ranking measures how the guide’s awards are distributed: it is no substitute for reading the individual labels and their vintages.
The guide is edited by Giuseppe Carrus and Marco Sabellico, with William Pregentelli as deputy editor. Wines are assessed through blind tastings and comparisons between panels, spread over several tasting rounds. For Carrus and Sabellico, the editors of Vini d’Italia, the rising quality of Italian wine has gone hand in hand with the guide’s own history: the aim is to cover both established wineries and new growers, wines to cellar as well as affordable bottles.
Winery of the Year and best wines: all the Special Awards
Tommasi Family Estates is the 2027 Winery of the Year. The wine awards, by contrast, single out specific bottles: to find them, read the appellation, the name and the vintage together.
- Red of the Year: Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Marina Cvetic S. Martino Rosso Riserva 2022 by Masciarelli.
- White of the Year: Etna Bianco Arrigo 2023 by Alta Mora.
- Sparkling Wine of the Year: Franciacorta Non Dosato 33 Riserva 2018 by Ferghettina.
- Rosé of the Year: Lambrusco di Sorbara Leclisse 2025 by Paltrinieri.
- Meditation Wine of the Year: Collio Picolit 2020 by Pighin.
- Best Buy of the Year: Chianti Classico Sacello 2023 by Arillo in Terrabianca.
The other awards go to businesses, people and projects. Cantina Kurtatsch is the Co-operative Winery of the Year; Saraja, founded in Gallura and now expanding into other parts of Sardinia, is the Up-and-coming Winery. Francesca and Davide Bonzano of Castello di Uviglie are the Young Producers of the Year, while Davide and Riccardo Sobrino of Cascina delle Rose, in Barbaresco, are named Growers of the Year.
The award for Sustainable Viticulture goes to Benvenuto, in Francavilla Angitola, Calabria. The Solidarity Project award goes to Cascina Clarabella, a social co-operative in Franciacorta that helps people with psychiatric disorders into work.
The anniversary adds two awards tied to the history of wine: Antinori is the Winery of the 40 Years and Josko Gravner the Grower of the 40 Years. The volume also reprints the Tre Bicchieri of the first edition, so that today’s landscape can be read alongside that of 1988.
Wines under 15 euros, certifications and rare bottles
If you are shopping, the most practical starting point is the selection of 50 Tre Bicchieri under 15 euros, five of which cost less than 10 euros. It is separate from the Best Buy of the Year award: not a single bottle, but a group of labels that combines the guide’s top rating with a price ceiling.
A second criterion is the Tre Bicchieri Verdi (“green” Tre Bicchieri), awarded to 194 wines. The mark covers labels from wineries that use certified organic or biodynamic viticulture. It should not be confused with the special award for Sustainable Viticulture: the first identifies a group of wines, the second singles out one estate.
The guide also includes 50 Rare Wines. The selection looks at what makes each production project distinctive, from revived grape varieties to historic vineyards and limited releases. It is a different lens from price: here the attention shifts to the project the bottle comes from.
On the consultation side, Gambero AI and a browsable, searchable digital edition aim to open up an archive of more than one and a half million ratings. The novelty therefore also concerns how readers search the guide’s history, not just the results of the latest edition.
Restaurants 2027: two new entries in Sicily
The Ristoranti d’Italia 2027 guide was presented in Rome on 26 October 2026. Among the newcomers, Zàgarà in Catania goes straight to Due Forchette (“Two Forks”) five months after opening. Chef and owner Massimiliano Romano opened the restaurant on 29 May 2026 in the rooms of Villa Reina Miranda, on viale XX Settembre.
In Messina, Onde Lente enters with one Forchetta and 77/100, three months after opening. It is the new project of Carlotta Andreacchio after La Trattoria del Marinaio. Dry-ageing fish is central to the kitchen’s work, with the aim of concentrating the briny character of the catch.
Dishes include blue spaghetti with spirulina, raw Mazara red prawns and tuna bottarga, roast stockfish with vegetables, and dry-aged fish cooked over embers. These details help convey what the restaurant offers beyond the score alone.
Pizzerias 2027: Acquaefarina in Trento keeps its top rating
Among pizzerias, Acquaefarina is once again the only venue in Trentino-Alto Adige with Tre Spicchi (“Three Slices”, the top pizzeria rating) in the 2027 edition. It is also the northernmost pizzeria in Italy to hold this award.
Founded in 2017, it is in the San Martino district of Trento, at via Torre d’Augusto 25. The Tre Spicchi of Pizzerie d’Italia 2027 were presented on 26 October at the Roma Convention Center La Nuvola. The award therefore belongs to the guide devoted to pizza, separate from the wine and restaurant selections.
Tre Bicchieri, as long as they don’t stay on paper
Fifty Tre Bicchieri wines under 15 euros, five of them even under 10: the toast promises to leave something in your wallet too. The pity is that we don’t know which labels can be found at those prices, or where to buy them, nor how many are also among the 194 Tre Bicchieri Verdi, awarded to wines from wineries with certified organic or biodynamic viticulture.
If you know, write to us: between an award-winning bottle and a bottle on the table, we always prefer the second.
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