Few bottles, great character: rare wines make their debut in the Gambero Rosso Italian Wine Guide

One of the standout features of the 2025 Gambero Rosso Italian Wine Guide is a brand-new section: the Rare Wine List. But what exactly is a rare wine? What defines it? What does it tell us? Let’s take it step by step. First, it is a product conceived and crafted on an artisanal scale. The quantity is particularly limited, making it difficult to find. We set a threshold of 3,000 bottles per wine, with very few exceptions for expressions born in especially extreme and unique contexts.

Rare wines: how they were chosen

Rarity is primarily related to the number of bottles, but not exclusively. What makes rare wines unique and captivating is the message enclosed in the bottle. The labels we selected share a common thread: there’s an element of risk, a stylistic break, a desire to push boundaries and test limits. There is experimentation and innovation on one hand, but also virtuous examples that revive past practices, reinterpreting them.

In short, these are bottles that can inspire, much like avant-garde haute cuisine, which, by working with limited numbers, allows itself the luxury of transforming food into cultural expressions, deconstructing ideas, and offering new perspectives. Among our rare wines you’ll find individual plots from celebrated regions, as well as wines from completely off-the-radar appellations. Some bet on extremely long bottle aging on the lees, while others use aging techniques suited only for tiny batches.

We believe these niche wines deserve a space of their own because they maintain a special connection with the land and with those who interpret it. They are often starting or landing points, and for those who love wine like we do, they offer something different in the glass—unpredictability, surprise. That’s why we decided to create an ideal rare wine list for Italy, a journey fueled by curiosity and excellence.

Yes, because the 50 wines chosen are the pinnacle of our tastings—bottles to collect in your cellar, to bring home after long journeys across Italy. In our selection, we’ve brought together tiny artisans, garagiste winemakers, as well as super selections from structured companies that offer a few labels produced in very small quantities.

An important theme emerging from our selections is high altitude. There are many wines from vineyards grown at heights unimaginable just a few years ago, and after some experimental attempts, the results are increasingly fascinating. We also paid special attention to sweet and meditation wines, a category often overlooked by the market but home to some of the world’s finest gems. We would love to see these wines more often throughout a meal, perhaps paired with savory dishes for surprising and often overwhelming combinations.

In the coming weeks, we will reveal the 50 rare wines, one by one, sharing the stories behind the bottles we’ve selected. In each glass, you’ll find that uniqueness that fuels the sacred passion of true enthusiasts—bottles to sip slowly, to share with those who know how to listen and challenge themselves.

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