Carpineto, Zaccagnini, Travaglini, Roberta Corrà (GIV) are among the “Wine Enthusiast” nominations

Italy has always been a key player on the US wine market. It is no surprise, therefore, that the nominations (and awards) of the “Wine Enthusiast Wine Star Awards” by the renowned US wine magazine “Wine Enthusiast” (Danielle Callegari and Jeff Porter are the tasters for Italy, ed.), will be featuring a large number of Italian wineries and wine personalities. The nominations for the 2026 edition, which will be held in January, were announced today. There are three Italian wineries in the “European Winery of the Year” category, which are: Carpineto, owned by the Zaccheo and Sacchet families, covering more than 300 hectares of vineyards across various Estates in many prestigious areas in Tuscany (Montepulciano, Chianti Classico, Montalcino, Maremma, and Valdarno); Zaccagnini, one of the most important and historic wineries of Abruzzo, now under the leadership of the Argea Group; Travaglini, a historic name in Piedmont and a leading winery in Gattinara. These wineries will be running for the title in an Italy-Spain derby, since the other candidates are Cordoniù, perhaps the pinnacle of Spanish sparkling wine and Cava, and Bodega Faustino, one of the most celebrated names in Rioja.
Italy is also running in another one of the main categories, that is, “ Person of the Year”. Roberta Corrà has been nominated, who is at the helm of Gruppo Italiano Vini - GIV (Italian wine group), the largest Italian wine company, as well as of the Italian wine consortium, Italia del Vino Consortium (a group that brings together companies such as Angelini Wines & Estates, Banfi, Bisol 1542, CaMaiol, Collis Heritage, Di Majo Norante, Diesel Farm, Drei Donà, Duca di Salaparuta, Ferrari Fratelli Lunelli, Gruppo Italiano Vini - GIV, Gruppo Mezzacorona, Le Monde, Librandi Antonio e Nicodemo, Lunae Bosoni, Marchesi di Barolo, Medici Ermete & Figli, Mesa, Terre de La Custodia, Terredora di Paolo, Torrevento, Zaccagnini, Zonin1821, Tenimenti Leone of the Veronesi family, and Herita Marzotto Wine Estates, that together yield a turnover of 1.5 billion euros). She will be competing against, among others, Ben Aneff, president of the U.S. Wine Trade Alliance, Tom Bené, president and CEO of Breakthru Beverage Group, Cindy Leonard, Executive vice president and General Manager for fine wines at the colossal Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits, and also the trio Gino Colangelo, Karen MacNeil, and Kimberly Noelle Charles, creators of the “Come Over October” campaign, who have been dedicated to growing grapes in the smallest UGA (new additional geographic units) in Chianti Classico on the hills of Lamole, for more than 30 years.
Among the more interesting “Wine Enthusiast” awards is “Environmental Advocate of the Year”. The Col d'Orcia winery in Montalcino, owned by the Marone Cinzano family, among others, will be competing for Italy. The other candidate running for “Innovator of the Year”, is the “Salt West” wine project in Sicily, run by a trio of Italian Masters of Wine - Andrea Lonardi, Gabriele Gorelli, and Pietro Russo - in the Stagnone Nature Reserve in Marsala. A touch of Italy is also in the “Wine Executive of the Year” category, since Rick Tigner, CEO of Jackson Family Wines, the California giant that owns Tenuta di Arceno in Italy, is one of the nominees. Moreover, one of the “Wine Importer of the Year” nominees is VOS Selection, the company whose founder, Victor Owen Schwartz, was the only wine company to appeal Trump’s tariffs in court (as we reported here).