Panettone: the Gold of Milan on Holiday Tables

The Italian Christmas sweet bread – il Panettone – is a taste manifesto. When luxury is defined by time and uniqueness, this Italian fruitcake attains the status of a work of art, crafted from air and butter. Its quality is examined by the strict tribunal of the Gambero Rosso. Its verdict for 2025, regarding both the great masters (i Grandi Lievitisti) and the rising stars (gli Emergenti), carries a clear message: true elegance is a return to the roots, and the confectioner’s most precious currency is patience.

When December dusk envelops Milan and the windows on Via Montenapoleone sparkle with a thousand lights, the magic of Christmas alchemy unfolds not in fashionable boutiques, but in the artisanal workshops. In the silence, amid the hum of ovens, time transforms flour, water, and wild yeast into a golden cupola. Panettone forgives no mistakes. It is the Everest of confectionery.

In its 2025 edition, the Italian oracle of taste, Gambero Rosso, sheds new light on this fascinating world. Analyzing two parallel dimensions—the pantheon of recognized masters and the training ground of young talent—​​it paints a picture of an industry going through its renaissance. It is a story of a clash between the titans and a new wave of pretenders, united by a common obsession: the search for the ideal.

Alchemy of Time: 72 Hours of Silence

To understand why artisanal panettone commands prices that might shock the uninitiated, we must stop thinking of baking in terms of hours and start thinking in terms of days. It is luxury in its purest form—the luxury of time, something you can neither buy nor hasten.

There’s no panettone without the lievito madre—the mother starter—a living organism, often older than the confectioners themselves, nurtured over generations like the most precious ancestral jewel. This organism is a capricious deity: it requires feeding, bathing in precisely controlled water temperature, and constant attention. This, combined with Normandy or Brittany butter, egg yolks from free-range hens, and Bourbon vanilla from Madagascar, creates this addictive holiday bomb.

The production process in the best bakeries—both award-winning and debuting—takes a minimum of 72 hours. Three days and three nights of meditation. Rising, kneading, rising again, baking, and finally capovolgimento—the moment when the hot cakes are hung upside down so that their delicate, lace-like structure (the famous alveolatura) sets in place, defying the laws of gravity. In this year’s reviews, Gambero Rosso emphasizes that it is precisely this technical virtuosity that distinguishes a premium product from mass production.

Verdict for 2025: the classic triumphs over extravagance

According to Gambero Rosso, the world of fine baking has grown tired of experimentation. After years of fashion for extravagant fillings and neon glazes, Il Panettone Classico Milanese will return to pre-holiday parties and Christmas tables in 2025. In both the Grandi Lievitisti and Emergenti categories, the highest scores were awarded to sweet breads that honor tradition: a richly buttery, fruitcake fragrant with citrus and filled with top-quality candied orange and sultana raisins.

The judges clearly state: preparing a cake with chocolate or pistachios is easier, because the intense additions mask the imperfections of the panettone. The classic version reveals the skill of the pastry chef, who has nothing to hide behind. Every error in fermentation, every hint of acidity, is immediately noticeable.

The three tenors of confectionery

Reading through this year’s list, we see that the jury, rather than following trends, rewards technical perfectionism and flawless execution. Here are three artisans, regularly recognised by Gambero Rosso as Italy’s leading confectioners, who define what a perfect, luxurious Christmas cake should be:

1. Vincenzo Tiri, Tiri 1957 (Acerenza, Basilicata). Tiri is a panettone for purists. Recognized for years as one of the best in the country, Tiri constantly strives for the absolute. His sweet breads are synonymous with the perfect filante—a fibrous, silky texture. Gambero Rosso values ​​his panettone for its long-lasting, impeccable freshness, resulting from perfect management of the mother starter, and for its exceptionally intense yet balanced aromatic bouquet, in which notes of butter and vanilla play the leading role. This is luxury based on subtlety.

https://www.tiri1957.it/

2. Sal De Riso, Pasticceria Sal De Riso (Tramonti, Salerno). Sal De Riso is a pop-culture star, and his panettone is as famous as the views of the Amalfi Coast. Although he often experiments with flavours, his classic version is unbeatable. The Gambero Rosso jury consistently awards him for his exceptional candied fruit—juicy, full of flavour, and prepared exclusively with locally ripened citrus. De Riso’s fruitcake is a triumph of southern richness, with a moist, dense dough and an explosion of sunny aromas.

https://www.salderiso.it/

3. Renato Bosco, Sesto Senso (San Martino Buon Albergo, Veneto). Renato, known as the Pizzaiolo Ricercatore (pizzaiolo–the explorer), has transferred the scientific approach to fermentation from pizza to panettone. His sweet bread is ultra-light and pure in flavour, characterized by an almost ‘cathedral’ alveolatura—regular and evenly distributed. Bosco is a master of technique and innovation, proving that panettone is not just a tradition but also a continuous laboratory of exploration. His presence at the forefront demonstrates that the future of craftsmanship goes hand in hand with science.

https://www.boscorenato.it/

Iginio Massari: a League of His Own

In this year’s ranking, one key name is conspicuously absent from the podium. Iginio Massari, the patriarch of Italian pastry making and the man who taught Italians to respect lievito madre, was placed in the special Fuori Concorso (‘Out of Competition’) category. This decision is of enormous symbolic significance. Gambero Rosso recognized that Massari had ceased to be a competitor and had become a Sèvres model. His Panettone Alta Pasticceria is no longer subject to evaluation—it serves as the benchmark by which others are judged. The Master has ascended to Olympus, and the judges’ decision is a tribute to his career. At the same time, it is a gesture that opens the door for a new generation, one that can finally compete for gold without standing in the shadow of a living legend.

Emergenti, or pretenders to the throne

In addition to the champions’ podium, the judges present a fascinating selection of rising stars, the Emergenti. It is in this category that the ferment is at its peak. These contenders for the throne are proving that panettone no longer belongs solely to Milan and northern Italy. Tradition and luxury inspire young artisans, who bring fresh energy and an innovative approach to their guild. They are proving that the future of panettone lies in the hands of those who combine historical techniques with modern science. Here are the three artisans who made it to the Emergenti podium of Gambero Rosso 2025, confirming the collapse of geographical barriers:

1. Antonio and Paola Luzi, Makí (Fano, Pesaro e Urbino). This year, the top spot on the podium belongs to the owners of an ice cream parlour in Fano. The jury praised their small, low-rise amber-colored panettone, without icing, and with a distinctive cross-shaped cut (scarpatura). Bourbon vanilla and candied orange dominate the fruitcake. The flavour and aroma profile is rich: the nose detects fresh, buttery, milky, and fruity notes, which create a harmonious and complex composition on the palate. Despite its modest appearance, the cake is perfectly risen and baked, as evidenced by the loose and lush alveolatura.

Piazza degli Avveduti, Fano (PU)

2. Stefano De Cia, Artelié (Villafranca Padovana, Padova). Stefano De Cia’s panettone is distinguished by its rustic, homemade character. Baked in a wood-fired oven, its dough has a darker color and a loose air bubble structure (occhiatura), though the dough is quite dense. Its appetizing, cupola-shaped form, the scarpatura, and the lack of glazing exemplify the classic Piedmontese style. The aroma is dominated by warm and sweet notes of honey and buttery dough, combined with subtle fruit accents. Australian raisins soaked in Marsala wine, along with homemade candied orange cubes and Cedro Diamante, lend it a distinctive flavour.

https://artelielab.it/

3. Domenico and Domenico Petronella, Maison Petronella (Altamura, Bari). The Gambero Rosso verdict is often unpredictable, but the success of the Altamura artisans proved to be exceptional. The two cousins ​​took the podium in the competition despite submitting a panettone with a visible defect (one side of the sweet bread was dented). However, the unglazed pastry, known in the Piedmontese dialect as galup (‘delicious’), immediately captivated the judges with its exceptionally expressive bouquet. The distinct aroma of butter, milk, citrus, and vanilla was considered evidence of the high quality of the ingredients. The jury acknowledged the warm, amber color and the elongated, playful structure of the air bubbles, as well as the purity and elegance of flavour. Ultimately, despite the damage, the consistency proved commensurate with the quality: very moist and soft (morbida), and the panettone melted in the mouth, sealing the cousins’ success.

https://www.maisonpetronella.it/

Celebrate luxury

Gambero Rosso’s article is not just a ranking, it is also a manual for luxury. Serving panettone from Tiri or De Riso is a ritual. Remember, this cake is not meant to be eaten in a hurry! To unleash its full aromatic bouquet, panettone should be served at room temperature, or even slightly warmed. Placed near a heat source an hour before serving, it will release volatile, aromatic esters of butter and citrus. To avoid damaging its delicate internal structure, panettone should be cut with a bread knife.

And what to serve alongside it? Contrary to the common practice of drinking dry champagne, sommeliers suggest returning to sweeter sparkling wines, such as Moscato d’Asti, which harmonize with the sweetness of the cake. It is a moment of pure hedonistic pleasure.

In summary, this year’s Gambero Rosso analyses paint a picture of panettone as a symbol. In an age of digitalization and fleeting illusions, this physical, fragrant, time-consuming, and labour-intensive sweet bread is a luxury that brings us back to reality.

Whether we choose the work of a renowned master from the Grandi Lievitisti or play a new game with one of the Emergenti, we will receive much more than just delicious calories. We will enter a world of sleepless nights spent amid the scent of butter, yeast, and an Italian winter, with the promise that quality, tradition, and passion are unwavering values. And this is perhaps the greatest gift we can put under the Christmas tree in 2025.