Tre Bicchierie Winner - Gambero Rosso 2012

The Rocche D'Ampsej is the icon wine of the range and like the Val dei Preti it's single-vineyard but with a different exposure and slightly different soil makeup. The wine is Roero DOCG (Riserva), sees 100% new oak ageing  for 18 months and then 20 months bottle ageing before being released. Of all the wines the Rocche d'Ampsej is unashamedly modern and when first opened wears its oak on its sleave, however a couple of hours breathing (or a few years cellaring) sees the nebbiolo starts to win the day. Aromas of syruped cherry, vanillian, balsamic and flowers travel to the palate where they inform a deeply pitched and layered wine that ultimately needs time to reveal all that's crammed in here. Delicious wine but needs time. MICHAEL MCNAMARA

The Correggia winery continues to set the pace for other wineries in the area, providing topics for discussion and food for thought. This is the way of things ever since the much-mourned Matteo showed just how much potential there was in an apparently marginal area. Today, Ornella and her exceptional staff is a champion of sustainable viticulture. Correggia's natural approach means working the land in the full awareness of the surrounding environment. It's another field in which Correggia is leading the way, sensibly and without ostentation.  Gambero Rosso 2009