Above: Federico Scarzello, current-generation winemaker at the Giorgio Scarzello winery and estate in Piedmont.

Click here for the Giorgio Scarzello website.

Click here for the Hilberg-Pasquero website.

It’s official: Once again and for the second year in a row, two Vignaioli Selection wineries have been awarded Italy’s prestigious 5 Bunches award by the editors of the Bibenda guide to the wines of Italy (arguably Italy’s most respected fine wine guide).

Click here for the complete list of winners in the 2017 guide.

Scarzello won for its Barolo Sarmassa Vigna Merenda 2011.

And Hilberg-Pasquero for its Barbera d’Alba Superiore 2014.

While many Americans working in the Italian wine trade are familiar with the Gambero Rosso guide and its coveted 3 Glass Award thanks to the publisher’s robust presence in the U.S. market, Bibenda is generally held as the top guide among Italian fine wine connoisseurs, in part because of the celebrity and renown of its editor-in-chief Franco M. Ricci and its association with the Foundation of Italian Sommeliers, one of the leading trade and education bodies in the country.

We couldn’t be more pleased to see these wineries and these two exceptional wines bring home so a high-profile award.

Congratulations to both of them for a job well done and for their excellent wines (just browse the list of other winners and you’ll get a sense of the company they keep).