History and Origins of the Tre Bicchieri Gambero Rosso Awards

The awarding of the 3 Bicchieri Gambero Rosso prize is closely linked to the annual publication of the Guida dei Vini d'Italia, one of the most famous, authoritative and influential critical publications in the sector. The credit that this guide has acquired over the years among wine lovers and consumers is so significant that it has a major influence on markets and the success of certain labels. This is why the awarding and publication of the prizes, the fruit of an entire year's work and multiple tasting sessions, is experienced with excitement by producers and the public every autumn.

It all began with a food and wine insert in the daily newspaper Il Manifesto, published from 1986, conceived and directed by journalist Stefano Bonilli. The name recalls that of the tavern where, in Collodi's masterpiece, the Cat and Fox take Pinocchio to dinner. In 1987, this supplement was joined by the annual publication of a guide to Italian wines edited by Daniele Cernilli and Carlo Petrini. Within a few years, it became a reference point for wine enthusiasts and operators in the sector, as well as the protagonist and initiator of the promotion of excellence and a new sensibility dubbed the Italian Wine Renaissance.

The idea of expressing the rating of products reviewed with the symbol of glasses is attributable to Daniele Cernilli. According to his reasoning, two people will only drink a bottle in its entirety if it is good. Given that one bottle is the equivalent of six glasses, a person will drink, alone, three glasses if they liked the product. Hence the intuition to reward excellence with Three Glasses, good expressions with Two Glasses and less good ones, but still worth trying, with One Glass. Today, after more than thirty years of history, the guide continues to be published with great success, authoritatively presenting itself as an unavoidable point of reference and also as a model for imitation for many other editors and journalists.

Selection Criteria and Awarding of the Prize

The publication of the guide is the result of the work of a group of professional tasters who, in the course of a real and symbolic journey across Italy, taste over 45,000 labels every year, coming into contact with thousands of producers and different territories. The tastings are divided into several selective stages and the bottles are tasted "blind" by a panel of over 70 tasters. Only the best bottles make it through to the final stages of tasting, when the coveted 3 Gambero Rosso Glasses are awarded. During this process, the director of the guide has the power to award the best tastings, with the + sign, influencing the selections.

"What are the standards according to which we decide whether a wine is good, very good or excellent? They are probably hedonistic, humanistic and cultural criteria.'' This is what the editors of the guide specify, adding that, leaving aside the many variables that can determine the tasting, "what counts is our immediate perception, our emotion at that precise moment". Each label is tasted and judged taking into account the type to which it belongs, which is why even everyday, simple, drinkable wines can earn top marks, as well as great champions such as Brunello, Amarone and Barolo produced in Piedmont with a particularly complex bouquet. Those bottles that have impressed the tasters will enter a final phase in which maximum recognition can be awarded. Those expressions that reach the final stages but do not obtain the maximum score are indicated in the guide with the Due Bicchieri award in red, instead of black, to signal that they were one step away from obtaining the coveted recognition.

Among the labels that received the maximum score are also: red, white, sparkling, sweet and rosé wines of the year. Important distinctions are also made for winery of the year, best value for money, winegrower of the year and up-and-coming winery, as well as the award for sustainable winegrowing and solidarity projects. In addition, a list is published at the beginning of the guide to highlight labels from organic or biodynamic agriculture or those that are sold "under 15 euros" because, as the editors say, "we will never tire of saying how easy it is in Italy to taste great expressions at more than affordable prices".

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