http://eatdrinkitaly.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Tre-Bicchieri-2014-.pdf
Three Lambrusco producers!
Roberto, what do you know about the way the list is composed? It always strikes me as a very odd list. The exclusions are as notable as the inclusions
One thing I do like about the list is that white wines, sweet wines and sparkling wines all get the same level of recognition as the classic red wines.
It seems the list contains the usual names year in and year out with only a vintage change or, in the case of some producers, a vineyard change.
Neal, at least in the past, it was VERY political and some very good producers were not even acknowledged to exist do to that. They are also recurring accusations that you have to buy enough books to get from this internet list to being in the actual guida. It’s all VERY Italian…
It’s always been a bit of a puzzler. If you go back 10 or 12 years ago, it was very weighted toward new-fangled stuff – heavily oaked Barolo, Super Tuscans, Sardinian syrah, and so on. That was odd given that, at the time, the list was co-sponsored by Slow Food, which was devoted in significant part to preserving food traditions. (I first heard the word “spoofified” at the annual tasting here when I sampled a very oaky legrein. I made some remark about it to the pourer, who said the producer made a really nice traditional bottling but made this spoofified version for the “Slow Food-fast wine” crowd.)
A well-connected Italian friend in the trade told me they took a lot of heat for that and, lo and behold, one year in the mid-2000s the list was released with loads of traditionalists.
Since it’s Italian, I assume that Bob is right and that there is lots of intrigue behind the scenes and that the process is entirely opaque. That was the impression I got from my Italian friend.
Anyone know why Slow Food isn’t involved anymore?
I think you may have meant to post the new list:
(partial list, no tuscany or piedmont yet, although some brunello)
Whoops!!! That list was forwarded to me by a friend who obviously wasn’t paying attention either.
This year has FIVE Lambrusco producers!
Because they make their own guide:
More focused on the wine regions than the individual producers (the Langhe producers are listed according to the village they belong to rather than alphabetically for the whole Piedmont). More interested in giving you a small portrait of the producer (philosophy, vineyard management, winemaking style) than describing the individual wines.
They don’t score the wines, and since they have at most one sentence for each wine, it is pretty useless if you are trying to get an idea of the individual wines.
But the rest of idea makes sense to me.
Thanks. That’s what I thought when I saw the list. Lots of good wines, and certainly useful in identifying some to try in more obscure zones, but lots of very odd omissions
For tasting notes, and a useful enoteca/restaurant listing, I like Duemilavini which is produced by the sommeliers association. They did bring out an english language version called bibenda wine, but sadly without the enoteca/restaurant listings.
I backfilled on Gambero Rosso, so I now have 1998-2008 iirc, but the changes in that and later editions really put the nail in the coffin for my interest. I still use them when some old wine comes up at auction, or to get a feel for a region I don’t know, but I can’t say I would be more likely to buy a 3 glass wine than a 2 glass one.
There certainly are, I get the impression from producers that it has more to do with how you play the game than how good your wines are (i.e. donating wine to events, going to foreign Tre Bicchieri tastings…)