If you love Italian wine and food, VinItaly is a dream come true. This expo, held in Verona each spring, provides the opportunity to taste thousands of Italian wines from the country's diverse regions, nibble on tasty samples of local produce, like black truffles and olive oil, and learn more about wine in seminars and focussed tastings. But, it is not just Italian products. More than 20 other countries are represented. In total, over 4,200 companies from around the world present their products in this massive 4-day event.
Thousands of people, over 140,000, pour into the VeronaFiere convention center, mostly stylishly dressed Italians--the men in chic black suit and tie, the women dressed to the nines--but also buyers from around the globe, importers and over 2,400 journalists.
VinItaly is organized by regions into 12 pavilions that cover over a million square feet--that's almost 18 football fields. As one might expect, the exhibition halls of Tuscany and Piemonte were the largest and most crowded.
The booths in all the pavilions were elegantly and creatively designed. There was the two story Tuscan tower, the walls adorned with dried grapevines, mini-wine bars and lavish construction of glass and steel.
The wine is in one word: amazing, both in quality and diversity. From crisp, fresh Prosecco from the Trentino hills, refined and powerful Amarone from the Valpolicella area of the Veneto, rich Tuscan Brunello, distinctive Nero d'Avola from Sicily, to wines made from indigenous grapes like Garganega, Rodinella, Greco di Tufo and Gaglioppo--vinified in Italy since the time of ancient Greece--they are all available to sniff, swirl and sip. I'll write more in detail about the tastings in further posts, but suffice to say now that if there was a list of the top 10 oenophile experiences in the world, VinItaly should be in that list. One could taste wine every day for each of the four days and not even sample a fraction of the fine wines being offered.
Italy has ideal terroir for grape growing with soils that range from the moraine deposits at the foot of the Alps to the north to the volcanic soil of Sicily, with a range of other soils in between. It is surrounded on three sides with the ocean, benefiting from the moderating influence a large body of water can have on a winemaking region. This may explain why Italy is now the #1 wine producing country in the world, according to VinItaly press material, surpassing France who saw her production drop 16.8% last year. Or perhaps it is because wine is such a part of everyday life here, with a glass of wine at lunch and dinner as part of a complete dining experience. Italians have mastered the art of "abbonimento": wine pairing, after centuries of producing and enjoying their wines with farm-fresh, local produce and cheeses, fresh-baked bread, hand-made pasta and healthy and delicious olive oil.
This year, VinItaly had a pavilion for food products--a culinary bonus with sampling of regional artisanal products like eggplant spread, cherry tomato sauce, fried olives stuffed with meat and black truffle and olives oils from pale yellow to deep grassy green. I had the chance to ask some winemakers about pairing ideas for their wines, which I will put into future posts. In the meantime, "like" this post if you love Italian wine and food!
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