Tre Bicchieri 2027: Sicily's whites outnumber its reds

Gambero Rosso has handed 31 Tre Bicchieri to Sicilian wines in its Vini d'Italia 2027 guide, and for the first time the island's whites clearly outnumber its reds.

The Sicilian list went out on 20 September as part of the regional previews the publisher releases region by region before the full national guide. The awards run from Etna to Marsala and cover vintages from 2020 to 2025.

Tre Bicchieri 2027 rewards native whites

A volcano famous for its reds just sent five whites to the top table.

Etna took nine of the 31 awards: five whites and four reds. That split would have read oddly a decade ago on a volcano known abroad almost entirely for Nerello Mascalese.

The tasters put the movement down to four native white grapes in particular: Grillo, Catarratto, Carricante and Zibibbo, most of the awarded bottles from the 2025 harvest. They describe them as the most interesting development in the region's recent work.

The rest of the list spreads wide. Faro, Cerasuolo di Vittoria, Nero d'Avola, Marsala, Pantelleria and the smaller islands all appear, so this is not one appellation pulling the numbers.

What the 2024 reds ran into

Gambero Rosso was blunt about the red 2024s. Heat and drought produced uneven ripening, green notes and hard tannins across much of the vintage, with the awarded wines as the exceptions. The shift towards white is a weather story as much as a taste one.

The rollout continues elsewhere. Liguria, published the same week, took six Tre Bicchieri: four Vermentino from Giacomelli, Cantine Lunae Bosoni, Ottaviano Lambruschi and Cà du Ferrà, the Pigato Le Russeghine from Bruna, and one red, Maccario Dringenberg's Dolceacqua Curli 2024. Umbria follows.

The guide itself has changed hands in part: earlier this year BolognaFiere bought a stake in Gambero Rosso, the trade fair group behind Vinitaly's rival events.

The complete Vini d'Italia 2027 lands later in the autumn with the national tally. Until then the previews are the only scoreboard, and Sicily's is being filled in white.