One of the best regarded Italian wine guides, Gambero Rosso Vini d’Italia, was realised last week. It is a survey of the best Italian wines and winemakers, divided by region. The best are awarded stars, between 1 and 3, depending on the quality of their wines and its continuity year after year. In this year’s guide there were 402 wines awarded stars, as opposed to 391 last year.

In terms of producers, 386 of them were awarded stars by Gambero Rosso’s experts, as opposed to 366 last year.

Particular attention was given this year to wines with great quality/price ratio, with 52 of the wines awarded 3 stars offering great value, with a retail price of €15 or below.

This is the regional ranking: Piemonte (81) followed by Toscana (69), Veneto (35), Friuli (31), l’Alto-Adige (27), Lombardia (21), Campania (19), Marche (17), Sicilia (15), l’Emilia Romagna (13) Abruzzo (13), Sardegna (11), Puglia (10), Trentino (9), Umbria (9), Liguria (7), Valle d’Aosta (6), Basilicata (3), Lazio (3), Calabria (2) and finally Molise (1).

Below are the results of this year’s special awards:

Winery of the year: Cantina Valentini of Abruzzi

Red wine of the year: Brunello di Montalcino Riserva ‘04 Biondi Santi

White wine of the year: A.A. Sylvaner R ‘09 Köfererhof

Sparkling wine of the year: Franciacorta Brut Secolo Novo ’05 Le Marchesine

Sweet wine of the year: Albana di Romagna Passito Ris. ‘06 Fattoria Zerbina

Wine-maker of the year: Walter Massa

Oenologist of the year: Ruben Larentis

Emerging Italian winery: Polvanera of Puglia

Best quality/price ratio: Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Cl. Sup. ’09 Pievalta

This is the second year the Vini d’Italia guide is solely produced by Gambero Rosso, after its split from SlowFood in 2010. Other distinguished Italian wine guides include: L’Espresso’s I Vini d’Italia, Duemilavini of AIS (the Italian Sommelier Association), I Vini di Veronelli and Slow Wine of Slow Food Group.