12/05/2026
The Premio Angelo Betti is awarded each year at Vinitaly’s opening ceremony to the person or institution that has made the most meaningful contribution to viticulture and winemaking in their region. This year, it was awarded to Giovanni Negro for Piedmont.
It’s hard to think of a more fitting choice.
Angelo Negro is one of the foundational estates of the Roero, the hills on the other side of the Tanaro River from Barbaresco and Barolo. Unique in its geology, with its ultra-sandy soils deposited by ancient seas and its bucolic landscape, this region is chronically underestimated by everyone except the people who actually farm it.
Giovanni has spent his career not just making wine from this territory but making the case for it. His Arneis, the Roero’s signature white grape, nearly extinct before a handful of producers refused to let it disappear, are benchmark expressions of what the variety can be when it’s taken seriously. In fact, as a young man, he was part of the original crew of local winemakers who decided to vinify Arneis as a fully dry white, thus establishing the tradition still alive today. On the other hand, his Nebbiolo-based Roero reds make an irrefutable case that the other side of the river deserves its own conversation, not just a footnote in the Langhe’s history.
The award recognizes a body of work, not a vintage, and could not be more deserved.
Congratulations, Giovanni. The Roero is lucky to have you and The Piedmont Guy is honored to represent you!
ItalianWine Langhe Piemonte Vinitaly Roero Arneis
