Gambero Rosso names St. Michael-Eppan among Italy’s 10 wine icons

Gambero Rosso has named St. Michael-Eppan Winery one of the 10 “Icons of Wine” in the 40th anniversary edition of its Vini d’Italia guide, placing the South Tyrol cooperative alongside some of the best-known names in Italian wine.

The recognition was presented in Rome on October 25 as part of celebrations marking four decades of the guide. Gambero Rosso said the award was created to honor producers that have helped shape Italian wine over the past 40 years. St. Michael-Eppan, based in Appiano-Eppan in northern Italy, was included with Antinori, Bertani, Bruno Giacosa, Ca’ del Bosco, Donnafugata, Ferrari, Gaja, Marchesi Frescobaldi and Tenuta San Guido.

The award highlights the role the winery has played in the rise of South Tyrolean wine, a region that has built a strong reputation for white wines and mountain viticulture. St. Michael-Eppan operates as a cooperative and brings together more than 320 member families, according to the company. Its vineyards reach elevations of up to 900 meters, or about 2,950 feet.

At the Rome event, Marco Sabellico, editor in chief of Gambero Rosso’s Vini d’Italia guide, said the winery had followed a long path centered on quality and had helped drive the revival of South Tyrolean wine. General manager Günther Neumair accepted the award and said the recognition reflected decades of shared work by growers, employees and partners rather than the success of a single wine or person.

In its citation, Gambero Rosso pointed to the winery’s history as a cooperative founded in 1907 and said it had combined large-scale production with strict quality standards. The guide also cited the winery’s focus on diversification and its effort to align production with changing consumer tastes.

That evolution can be traced through several labels that became central to the winery’s identity. The first vintages of Gewürztraminer, Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay Sanct Valentin were released in 1986, followed later by Sauvignon Sanct Valentin. In 2010, the winery introduced Appius, a white blend positioned as one of its flagship wines. Gambero Rosso’s citation described those wines as examples of freshness and precision and as part of the winery’s push to raise quality standards in the region.

The honor also comes during a period of transition in the winery’s winemaking leadership. Gambero Rosso’s citation referred to the current leadership of Neumair and said the cellar vision is now being carried forward by winemaker Jakob Gasser. It also noted the contribution of Hans Terzer, the longtime winemaker widely associated with the winery’s modern identity and its push toward premium white wines.

Alongside the “Icons of Wine” recognition, St. Michael-Eppan also received another result in the new guide. Gambero Rosso awarded Pinot Grigio Sanct Valentin 2024 the Tre Bicchieri, the publication’s top rating, in the 2027 edition of Vini d’Italia. That brought the winery’s total to 38 Tre Bicchieri awards across 40 editions of the guide.

The guide also assigned St. Michael-Eppan its “Three Stars” distinction, a cumulative recognition given for every 10 Tre Bicchieri awards won over time. For the cooperative, that record strengthens its standing not only within South Tyrol but in the broader Italian market, where Gambero Rosso’s guide remains one of the country’s most watched wine rankings.

The latest award adds to a long record of recognition for the winery, which has used the Sanct Valentin range and other labels to build an international profile while remaining rooted in the cooperative model. In a sector where many of Italy’s best-known brands are family-owned private estates, St. Michael-Eppan’s inclusion among the 10 “Icons of Wine” signals that Gambero Rosso sees a cooperative structure as equally capable of producing wines that influence quality trends, consumer expectations and the reputation of an entire region.