Italy

An expanded version of some of the articles below is published in Italian and English in ACCENTI Magazine.

March 28, 2007
by Antonio Mauriello

Vinitaly 2007
VINO, OLIO, E ... DOLCE VITA!

If you are in any way involved in the world of wine, olive oil, or if you are simply a lover of good cuisine, there is one thing you have to do in your life, at least once: go to a specialty trade show where you can find it all. Go where you can learn, taste, enjoy, live and breathe everything that concerns wine, olive oil, food, and cigars, for five days, all in one location. Of course, I am talking about Vinitaly, the biggest wine show of all! Vinitaly is held every year in Verona, Italia, in the heart of Valpolicella, the land of Amarone, one of the best wines in the world.
This event showcases 12 huge pavilions and 4,300 exhibitors, all spread over 86,000 sqm. of space (you need a shuttle bus to go around or a pair of really good shoes!). There are more than 150,000 visitors every year, from 100 different countries!
So, prepare yourself to go, perhaps as early as next year, during the first week of April, and be sure to have fun, learn and enjoy it all. A useful tip: when you go, go with a theme in mind, not to be overwhelmed by the huge varieties of wine styles, native Italian grapes to learn about, and regional food to try!

Thursday March 29, 2007
A TOUR OF WINE AND OLIVE OILS OF ITALY IN 5 DAYS

I am excited and delighted to be here again this year. I am in Verona, the romantic medieval city of Romeo and Juliet, which is hosting Vinitaly for the 41st year. A romantic atmosphere surrounds every little corner of this city, and it follows the course of the Adige, the river that flows through it. I am overcome with excitement, and I cannot wait to be at the show as soon as it opens its doors at 9.00 am. This year I have the pleasure of being with Natale, a good friend of mine, and a long-time lover of good food and wine.
At 9:00 am, an ocean of people floods the entrance gates. Remember: there is no ‘ordered’ lining up when you are in Italy, therefore you have to ‘adapt’. This means to go with the flow and be transported, but also be a little bit more aggressive than you are used to, so as not to be constantly shifted - sometimes without even realizing it - to the end of the line.
The first expression that comes to mind when you enter, is the classic North American ‘woooow!’. Yes, it’s a city within a city, a huge area made of several pavilions where, to move around, you need a shuttle bus. Please, stay calm and don’t try to go everywhere on the first day. You need to be organized.
What Natale and I look for is mainly grapes and wines that are unknown, only produced in smaller towns or appellations somewhere here in Italy. Plus, of course, food. Good food. That is when the big excitement starts!
On this first day, we move from Lazio, where we taste the lovely products of Castel De Paolis, to Veneto, Abruzzo, Molise, Campania. Then to Emilia Romagna, where we try the different Lambrusco, and where we discover this lovely red sparkling wine, matched with Parmigiano Reggiano and Prosciutto di Parma.

Friday March 30, 2007
AN OLIVE OIL CERTIFICATION!

Today it is time to visit more regions to discover what’s new and trendy.
We start with the southern region of Puglia, where we attend a seminar on Nero di Troia (a native red grape) and a tasting-lunch (menu degustazione), presented by a chef from Slow Food Puglia.
Then we pay a necessary visit to the ‘SOL’ (Salone Olio Oliva - Olive Oil Pavilion), where a chef demonstrates what olive oil to use when cooking with fish. After following a two-hour intense seminar on olive oil tasting, Natale and I receive our official Italian Olive Oil Taster Certificate!
Later in the afternoon, I have to keep my promise to Natale: I must lead him through the tasting of some of the best and smallest Italian sweet wines. So first, we go to the region of Friuli where we taste and learn about Ramandolo, a small DOCG made entirely with the Verduzzo Friulano, a native white grape. Then we ‘travel’ North to Piemonte for the white, sweet Erbaluce Passito, to Lombardia for the red powerful Valtellina Sforzato, made with Nebbiolo fermented twice (Ripasso-style), to the region of Liguria, where we try the Sciacchetra, a unique, rare and expensive, sweet delicacy, made with the native grapes Bosco, Albarola e Vermentino. We pair this ‘juice of the Gods’ with lovely, decadent patisserie. What a way to end a long, tiring day!

Saturday March 31, 2007
VINITALY: NOT ONLY WINE TASTING

Today we start early with the usual cappuccino and cornetto (croissant) breakfast, followed by a very interesting 9am conference on Wine Tourism in Italy: what’s trendy about it, how to promote it, and what to do to take maximum advantage of wine tourism, as seen from a business perspective.
This is also Vinitaly: not only wine tasting, but an enormous learning opportunity. Learning about business, cultural aspects, new trends and new appellations. Learning about people, history and food. What more can you ask for, for wine educators like us?
The downside is that you can be easily overwhelmed and ‘killed’ by the amount of information available!
Another common problem is that of punctuality. If you sign up for a seminar scheduled to start at 10 am, don’t expect to show up at 9:55 and wait only 5 minutes until it starts... The average delay, apparently very acceptable and normal, is from 15 to 30 minutes. Not to mention the ending time! A seminar scheduled from 10 to 11, actually goes from 10:30 to 12:00. As long as you know this, you can plan around it and be as happy as always! Besides, remember that you are at an Italian wine show, therefore, a couple of glasses of a top Amarone here and there will keep the stress away!
In the afternoon, I have the fortune of meeting with an interesting personality of the Italian wine world, with whom I have a very nice conversation. Emanuela Bincoletto is, first of all, a winemaker, and then everything else: PR, businesswoman and a dynamic promoter of wine tourism. Her farm is called Tessère. It is located in Veneto, 50km North of Venice, and it produces lovely wines. I had a chance to taste one of her specialties, the red, fresh young Raboso del Piave, made with the native grape Raboso, and the luscious, meditation Raboso Passito, made with the same grapes, except that they are first dried for a period of 4 months.
Emanuela is a member of Movimento Turismo del Vino for the region of Veneto (Wine Tourism Movement), a non-profit association founded in 1993. An example of a totally unique ‘wine tourism’ formula, which today comprises over 900 of the best Italian winemaking firms.

Sunday April 1 and Monday April 2, 2007
A TASTE OF THE TRENDY SICILIA AND THE DISCOVERY OF THE SMALL VERNACCIA DI SERRAPETRONA

The last two days look super-busy, since we are almost at the end and we still want to do so much!
We then try to be more organized and to organize a logic path between regions and wines to try. We ‘jump’ from the region of Friuli, to immerse ourselves in an educational tasting of a typical match between Pinot Grigio and wild river trout, raised in the northern Tagliamento River. The tasting includes a beautifully prepared smoked trout, another one cooked with orange and lemon, and fresh trout eggs at the end. They are all to ‘die for’ when paired with one of those super-mineral Pinot Grigio from the DOCs of Friuli. All the different cooking and smoking methods, and the differences between trout and salmon are explained to us.
After one (or two) double espresso, we head South, towards the region of Puglia for a seminar on dessert wines with sweet Puglian specialties. We discover rare dessert wines such Aleatico Passito, Moscato di Trani, Malvasia Nera di Brindisi, Primitivo Passito and a rare Primitivo-Aleatico, vinified in a sherry style!
Natale and I cannot believe how much there is to know...!
We conclude our extravaganza with a sweet taste of Sicily (Moscato di Noto and Malvasia delle Lipari ) and a taste, at the Marche pavilion, of the grapes Lacrima di Morro d’Alba as well as a taste of the newest DOCG: Vernaccia di Serrapetrona, a red sparkling that can be found in a dry and sweet version. This is one of the smallest appellations in Italy, with only a half dozen producers!

To say goodbye to Vinitaly and Verona, how about an ‘Arrivederci’ dinner with typical Veronese food, such as culatello appetizer (a special cut of Prosciutto), bigoli in ragu d’asino, and a generous portion of gnocchi alla salsa di noci (walnut sauce)?

Natale and I look at each other and think of how much jogging we have do when we get back to Ottawa! Then he breaks into one of his loud laughs: All of this is well worth the effort!

Salute a tutti!

The funniest decoration: the ceiling of the Campania pavilion

April 3-6, 2006
by Antonio Mauriello

Vinitaly 2006
‘La trovo bene, la vedo fresco e ringiovanito. Mi sa che l’aria nostra le fa bene!’

This welcoming message was delivered to me from the friendly old fellow, the host of the locanda, as soon as he saw me going upstairs to my room, returning from my third exhausting day at Vinitaly.

‘I find you well, you look fresh and younger. I think our lake air is good for you!’

Well, I have to say that he made my day. I actually don’t feel fresh at all today. For three days I woke up at 6 am to be able to beat the crowd and find parking, avoid line-ups at the entrance and to start my intense days at the show early.

Vinitaly. all you want from a wine show. BIG, entertaining, informative, varied and different. You pay 35 Euro ($50 CAD per day) and nothing more. All the food and wine tastings are free, plus full immersion in the culture of the area you are tasting – bonus!

All 20 regions of Italy are fully represented in force. You can find all the 300+ varieties of Italian native grapes, thousands of labels, all the DOC and DOCG represented by more than 4,000 producers. Plus all the regional wine routes, the DOPs for food and more, more, more in an endless extravaganza of pleasures. And not only Italy is present. Many more wine countries of the world are represented with dignity. New and Old World. Interesting discoveries this year are India, China and Mexico with its Tequilas! Canada has a nice booth showcasing, with pride, the ice wines.

So, how can you not go crazy?

Definitely you have to choose a theme and follow it rationally. This time I chose to get all the possible information from the ‘Strade del Vino’, the network of wine routes crossing all over Italy to satisfy the new modern wine and food tourism: il turismo enogastronomico. I also wanted to get some training in olive oil tasting. The huge pavilion called SOL (Salone Olio d’Oliva) hosts hundreds of olive oil producers from every region and seminars on olive oil tasting, which I attended.

Here is my typical day at the show:

I arrive around 7:30 am, park and from 8 to 10 I use my laptop and the Internet stations to write articles and to upload pictures on the web site. Then breakfast and I go into full immersion to the region of the day. If I am not careful I don’t even realize it is time for a break to have some lunch. My stomach usually tells me that, though. So, sandwich at 1:30 pm (Italian lunch time). Then back to business. I am not doing a lot of wine tasting, but I am trying to learn more about the new trends, new DOC and DOCG and what is happening at the regional level. Italian regional politicians are very active in the wine world because it is one of the most important factors for the economy. You know, they actually make money with wine!

At around 6:30 pm I am back to the computer room and by 8 I am back to the locanda near the lake. 9 pm dinner time, also according to Italian habits. Good thing I haven’t forgotten all of these habits and my body re-adapted very quickly and easily. After dinner (where and when in the next article!) back to the room at 10 pm and go to bed around 12 am after reading the materials collected during the day.

I am not sure how the host of this locanda could EVER find me "well and refreshed"!!!

April 3-6, 2006
by Antonio Mauriello

Vinitaly
Amarone DOCG?

My friend Natale would say: ‘Finally!!!’

I had a long conversation with the managers at the ‘Consorzio di tutela della Valpolicella’ (the ‘Consorzi di tutela’ are the offices whose purpose is to protect the brands and stamps from misuse and fraud).

YES, apparently the DOCG for the Valpolicella appellation has been requested by the Consorzio to the region and state and it is now under review. However, things are not so simple where law and bureaucracy are involved! First of all, we have to see IF the request is accepted.

Then for the “how”: restrictions will be in vigor, so many producers have to work hard to be compliant. Then we have to understand that, yes, the DOCG will be assigned to the Valpolicella, but, as you know, there are two main appellations in this Veneto valley. The ‘Classico’ area which is the first historic area where Valpolicella has always been produced and a larger area, including the ‘Classico’, just called Valpolicella DOC, which is a ‘newer’ area of production.

So, it is already a big fight here! Who will get the DOCG? Just the Classico, or both? Think of Chianti: the first DOCG has been assigned to all the 8 subzones of Chianti. Then, more recently, the Chianti Classico claimed and received its own DOCG. So, now there are two separate DOCG of Chianti: Chianti DOCG and Chianti Classico DOCG.

Will history repeat itself for Valpolicella? Will all the Amarone bottles bear the pink label (the government numbered label which tells the consumer that it is actually a DOCG), or only the ‘Amarone della Valpolicella Classico’?

We’ll see... I am personally very curious and I will stay tuned! It can only get more and more interesting...

April 3-6, 2006
by Antonio Mauriello

Amare l’amaro Amarone
Three Days in Valpolicella

The Italian title literally means ‘To love the bitter Amarone’. To be precise, I would personally say ‘Amare il Dolce Amarone’ meaning ‘To love the sweet Amarone’ not because Amarone has any sugar content but because it is a very ‘romantic drink’!

Let's start at the beginning:
my flight to Milano Malpensa was a smooth ride over the majestic white capped Alps. I arrived at 10am, then I rented a car and drove towards the Garda Lake (2 hour drive from Milano). I have to say, having skipped the night, I was not totally comfortable during the drive….some times I wanted to close my eyes, but driving in Italian highways, remember, is something not to be missed….! So, I stayed awake… I was driving at 130 km/h (highway speed limit) and I had trucks passing me! Well, I also had Mercedes passing me but for those I just had time to see the color of the car….

The Garda Lake region is a wonderful place to visit. The calm of the lake, the nice breeze, the view of the white Alps all around and the sexy mist of the early mornings are a nice treat far from the busy city life. I am in Peschiera del Garda: a place to rest, a place to meditate, a place to love.

Though… I have to say that my resting time only consists of a few hours. I am busy getting the maximum out of my visit to the wine regions. After the busy day of ‘wine touring’ I come back to my room in a nice small locanda, open the window and breathe the freshness while looking at the lake. And right away I get busy organizing notes, downloading photographs to my computer, sorting them, preparing the tour for next day and writing small articles.

This West corner of Veneto features many wine regions and three ‘classics’ among them. With the term ‘classic’ the Italian wine labels refer to a historic area where that type of wine was first made. (Think of Chianti Classico in Tuscany, for example).

Here they are from West to East:
Bardolino Classico
Valpolicella Classico
Soave Classico

Bardolino is a small area on the East coast of Garda Lake a few km north of Peschiera where I am staying. It is a lovely fresh wine with a light ruby (sometimes almost rose) colour to be enjoyed young, accompanying the local cuisine of fresh lake fish. The wine is made with local grapes that we find all over this region: Corvina, Rondinella, Molinara.

Continuing East, Valpolicella is north of Verona including 4 main townships and many villages. Same grapes: Corvina, Rondinella, Molinara. Sometimes another native, Corvinone is also used.

Then further East around the town of Soave, we find the Soave Classico area.

I toured Bardolino and more extensively the Valpolicella. It is always educating and entertaining at the same time to chat with the producers especially when the topic is a difficult one: the many forms of vinification of the Valpolicella. We have many different types of wine produced here: a Superiore, a Ripasso, a Recioto, and the Amarone, so I wanted to understand fully all the ins and outs according to the winemakers’ view.

From the 6^th to the 10^th I will be fully immersed in the Vinitaly, one of the world’s biggest wine shows held right here in Verona. Stay tuned!

April 2, 2006
by Antonio Mauriello

Una notte di stelle

Montreal-Frankfurt. A 7 hour 55 minute flight. One of the smoothest flights I have ever taken over the Atlantic.
As usual, the sequence of events on board went something like this: take-off, reading, dinner, movie, sleep, breakfast, landing. So far, nothing exceptional. The only problem is that the ‘sleep’ part never took place! Thank God, the night went fast because I was travelling West: I saw the sunset, and the sunrise was already on the horizon just after a few hours. And I was never able to sleep!

This time I was accompanied by a romantic sky: a bright little slice of moon and a million stars. It seemed I was closer to them..

The movie on board was Eon Flux and the dinner was quite good. A good-sized portion of roast beef with sweet green peas and roasted potatoes. I chose the red wine. Air Canada was serving a nice crisp young blend of Syrah and Grenache from France called Ile De Forge.

It is 7.00 AM, April 3 (1 AM in Ottawa) and I am in Frankfurt now, at a coffee shop called Goethe slurping my first European cornetto. I can tell I am in Europe. Everybody smokes in the airport!

Oh oh... I am starting to yawn...
I have to keep going and wait another 12 hours until tonight to go to sleep! That's the trick to fully adjust to the new time...

Stay tuned - I will tell you all about my travels on these pages Check back often!