The expression “Tre Bicchieri” has entered common use among wine enthusiasts, but what does it mean and where exactly does it come from? Here is everything you need to know about the quality criterion of the Gambero Rosso wine guide: who invented it, why and how to interpret it.
A wine wins the "Tre Bicchieri": what does it mean? Here's what you need to know about the three Glasses of Italian Wines, Gambero Rosso's annual wine guide.
Who invented the Three Glasses?
Daniele Cernilli , also known as Doctor Wine due to his degree in Philosophy, one of the most influential and competent wine journalists and experts in Europe.
Born in 1954, he trained at the end of the Seventies and joined the AIS on the advice of Gino Veronelli , whom he began to support in the magazine “Vini e Liquori”. He joined Gambero Rosso in 1986 , a magazine which was published for the first time in December of that year. After 10 issues he becomes the deputy director.
Cernilli invents a new way to score wines for a Gambero Rosso (Vini d'Italia) guide which he proposes to create in 1986. Pay attention to the years: they are those of the methanol scandal, which broke out in March of that year .
- Read also: how to study wine
Why are they called Three Glasses?
The starting point is this: one bottle of wine fills 6 glasses. Imagining two people sharing a bottle: if you drink 3 glasses it means that the wine was good , if you stop at 2 after a while you get bored and prefer to change wine, if you don't go beyond the first it means that after tasting you won't you loved that wine. Zero glasses instead means that after smelling it you don't want to taste it.
The Gambero Rosso guide (Vini d'Italia) therefore applies this quality scale : simple and direct.
- Read also: what you need to know about the WSET
What language did the Gambero Rosso guide use?
The choice of the Gambero Rosso guide, from the beginning, was to adopt the most direct and clear language possible, so that the Vini d'Italia did not sound like a guide (only) for the initiated.
How many editions of the Vini d'Italia guide have been created?
In 2022, the 36th edition of the Vini d'Italia was published, with the awarding of 455 Tre Bicchieri, of which 154 Tre Bicchieri green and 67 Tre Bicchieri under 15 euros.
