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| Getting ready for the public wine tasting |
When the small Maruti (Suzuki) was introduced in India about 25 years ago, it often sported a car sticker, ‘I will grow up to be a Rolls Royce.’ The organisers of Arezzo Wine, a piccolo (small) wine and food show held for the second time in the small Tuscan town of Arezzo, do not make such ambitious claims but are optimistic that it becomes a mini alternative to Vinitaly which for many has become too big and autocratic and not a value-for-money show.
Making a humble beginning on 30 November 2007, the second edition of the 3-day show had about 300 producers with 180 stands showcasing food and wine from about 120 wine producers half of which were from or around Arezzo, a border town of Tuscany, not well known for its wines beyond its borders though some fine Tuscan wines are produced in the province.
The other half comprised producers from wine producing regions like Puglia, Sicily, Piemonte, Trentino Alto Adige , Veneto, Umbria, Lazio and other provinces of Tuscany.
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| One-to-One meeting |
About 70 buyers from foreign countries including Lithuania, Estonia, Romania, Czech Republic, Poland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Russia, Germany, India, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore , Korea and Israel were seen giving it an international look with the sole Indian importer Vikash Gupta of Opera Wines tasting and discussing with several producers. He had several ‘one-to-one’ meetings organised over March 1 and 2.
Of course, the Italian wine professionals were present in much bigger numbers. Sunday saw a packed Convention & Business Center of Arezzo full of wine lovers from the town and around; over 2000 consumers paid € 10 to enter and enjoy the unlimited tasting.
Wine tasting at the stands and a common central public area called the show garden were not the only attractions. Cheeses, chocolates, truffle products, meats, wine accessories and furniture and several stands with olive oil made it a very happy looking ‘Made in Italy’ show.
Wine Chef was an interesting and extremely popular part of the show where a packed house enjoyed several sessions demonstrating cooking of several dishes by well known chefs using wine as an ingredient. Guided Tasting and the Young Chef competition was a staple part of the show just as tasting of award winning wines by various Italian wine guides like Gambero Rosso, Luca Maroni, l’Epresso and Veronelli conducted by the local Consorzio.
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| Alberto Gianotti, owner of Villa l'Olmo with daughter Giulia |
The Italian Federation of Cooking, AIS (Italian Sommelier Association) and FISAR (the Pisa based sommelier association of hoteliers and restaurateurs) had been roped in to support the event which, according to the organiser Elisa Bertoli, have helped her make the show more interesting.
According to the organisers over 12,000 operators and consumers came from Tuscany, Umbria and Lazio, besides the international buyers. The figure seems to be on the high side, perhaps due to an imperfect counting system which added a number every time and every day the visitor entered again. DelWine estimated the number to be between 6000-7000- quite respectable for a show of this size and location. Said Dott. Alberto Giannotti, owner of Diadema wines and champagne, who were exhibiting for the first time, ‘we are very happy with the quality of the people visiting though the numbers are not huge like in Vinitaly,’ adding, ‘we hope to come back again next year.’
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| Elisa Bertoli with brother Andrea |
‘Next year would be a critical year for us,’ says Elisa who has done a magnificent job of organising the show, with a lot of assistance from friends and family but without any financial support of any grants. ‘The producers and the visitors who come here find Vinitaly too big a show with too many people. Here they can talk to the visitors and breathe. We are surprised at the numbers willing to sign up for the next edition.’
Elisa is 25 years old. ‘I must say we were not organised well last time- I was only 23 then. But we hope to do even better next time.’
Next time, someone from Vinitaly ought to pay them a visit to find out how they manage a show without any external funding which Elisa does hope to seek. Meanwhile, Vikash short-listed about 5 producers with whom he plans to carry on a dialogue and study the possibility of adding wines from a couple of them to his portfolio of Italian wines.
Subhash Arora
Some of the wineries that took part in the show and whose stands I visited will be featured in delWine at a later date-editor |