Welcome to
VOLUME V,
NUMBER 6 of Wine News, the e-Letter from the WineCountry.IT network. (Would you
rather see the e-Letter on your favorite browser? Use
this link. Usa il link seguente se vuoi leggere
le News in italiano).
Summer is upon us and the more self-conscious, (vain?) among us are struggling to get their waist line under control for those speedo and bikini days on the beach.
At WineCountry.IT we are proceeding as usual, though we are taking it a little easier, as we love this season and worship its bright, long days, which allow us to live in shorts, sandals and T-shirts.
We drink more white wines, fresh, ice-cold Prosecco, and lively Lambrusco, the Emilian frothy red from Modena and Reggio Emilia.
Talking about Prosecco, on Thursday the 28, the Consorzio di Tutela del Prosecco di Conegliano Valdobbiadene DOC (Consortium for the Protection of the Prosecco DOC from Conegliano and Valdobbiadene) brought their landmark Vino in Villa (Wine at the Villa) event to the world-famous Fairmont San Francisco hotel.
Daryl Corti, owner of Corti Brothers store in Sacramento, decided to stop selling wines over 14.5% alcohol, as some San Francisco restauranteurs started doing in 2006.
In Italy, summer activities are blooming everywhere and, among others, we suggest three events. Quelli che... il Freisa, sixth annual dedicated to this Piedmontese native wine which takes place in Roatto, in the province of Asti, on July 7. Vini Senza Confini: Un ponte verso l'estero (Wines Without Borders: A Bridge to the World), an important convention held at the Enoteca Italiana di Siena (Italian Enoteca in Siena), on July 11. And the totally informal Pignoletto Beach Party, wine tasting of this Emilian native variety held at Marina di Ravenna the 21st of July.
Italian researchers conducted a study which found that A Daily Glass of Wine Could Boost Memory. So, as you see, it's not all playing back on the Italian boot, some serious dudes are actually working hard to make us feel better while we enjoy ourselves in moderation.
Enjoy your reading, I'm going to pour myself a flute of that delicious prize-winning Malibrán Prosecco. Cheers!
Loris Scagliarini, WineCountry.IT President |
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Articles |
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Vino in Villa at the Fairmont San Francisco |
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 The location chosen for the first ever Vino in Villa event on the West Coast of the US, was the elegant, world-renowned Fairmont San Francisco hotel. The Crown Room, where some 24 producers of the best Prosecco DOC wines welcomed the invitees from noon to 5PM, offers a stunning panoramic view of the City and the Bay from atop Nob Hill.
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Wines Without Borders: A Bridge to the World |
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 On Wednesday, July 11, 2007, at 3:00PM, at the headquarters of the Enoteca Italiana di Siena (Italian Enoteca in Siena), an important convention entitled Vini Senza Confini: Un ponte verso l'estero (Wines Without Borders: A Bridge to the World), will take place. The event is organized by CNIPA Puglia (Apulia chapter of the Centro Nazionale per Informatica nella Pubblica Amministrazione National Center for Computer Science Applied to Public Administration), in collaboration with the association Movimento Turismo del Vino Puglia (Movement for Wine Tourism, Apulia chapter) and British Columbia's Associazione Culturale Pugliese (Apulia Cultural Association). The meeting is part of the educational project entitled Il Turismo del vino: le buone prassi (Wine Tourism: The Good Procedures), financed by the Ministero del Lavoro e della Previdenza Sociale (Work and Social Security Ministry) as provided for by law to Italian cirizens residing outside the European Union (D.lgs. 112/98).
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Dolcissima Pietra (Sweet Stone) Returns |
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 September 15 and 16, 2007, Dolcissima Pietra returns. This will be the third annual Sweet Competition with Gluttonous Path in the historic downtown of Pietra Ligure, a small town in the province of Savona. The downtown "path" will be marked by chocosurprises, which will lead the public along the itinerary from one town square to the other, to discover over 60 exhibitors arriving from various parts of Italy and Europe.
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Pignoletto Beach Party |
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 The Pignoletto wine produced by wineries associated with the Consorzio Vini Colli Bolognesi (Wine Consortium of the Bologna Hills) will be the main character of this unusual rendezvous on the beach of Marina di Ravenna. Saturday July 21, 2007, from 6 to 9PM, at the Bagno Donna Rosa swim trunks and bikinis will be mandatory, while ties and dresses will be strictly forbidden for the big Pignoletto Beach Party. The event is the idea of the Consorzio Vini Colli Bolognesi and, at last year's test edition held at nearby Cervia, around 1,000 people were present.
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Wine Merchant Darryl Corti No Longer Sells Wines Over 14.5% Alcohol |
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 "At our store, after a tasting on the 29th of March, I put a sign stating, 'This is the last tasting Corti Brothers will do for over 14.5 percent Zinfandels. These wines will no longer be sold at Corti Brothers. There will be no exceptions,' on top of the Zinfandel section" Corti said in a recent interview with the article's authors.
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Tasting of Tuscan Wines at Vinexpo in Bordeaux, France |
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 From Brunello di Montalcino to Chianti Classico, Morellino di Scansano, Vernaccia di San Gimignano, and Carmignano. These precious Tuscan nectars were poured at Vinexpo, the wine trade show held every other year at the Parc des Expositions (Exihibition Park) in Bordeaux from June 17 to 21, 2007, on the opening day, June 17.
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Wine Oscars 2007 |
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 The award Premio Internazionale del Vino (International Wine Prize), organized by the Associazione Italiana Sommelier Roma (Rome's Chapter of the Italian Association of Sommeliers, or AIS) in the evocative Parco dei Principi (Park of the Princes) of Villa Borghese, brought several Italian VIPs on the stage to deliver the awards to the winner in each category.
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Sixth Annual Quelli che... il Freisa |
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 Saturday, July 7, 2007 there will be a wine appointment in Roatto, a small town in the province of Asti. Here, in the shade of the imposing medieval castle, the seventh annual Quelli che...il Freisa (Those who... the Freisa), will take place. This event was created after an idea of Domenico Capello, owner of the estate La Montagnetta (The Small Mountain) and promoted in collaboration with the association Go Wine and Roatto's Pro Loco (organization promoting local tourism).
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The Tribunato di Romagna Assigns the Diploma Gran Merito 2007 to Nonno Rico by Poderi Morini |
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The Diploma di Merito (Merit Diploma) and Diploma di Gran Merito (Great Merit Diploma) were recently assigned to the winner of the prestigious Concorso Vino del Tribuno (Wine of the Tribuno Competition – In ancient Rome, Tribuno was a title attributed to a variety of public servants – currently the word defines a political figure particularly good with words). Every year the competition awards the best wines produced by the estates located in the Romagna part of the Emilia Romagna region. In addition to celebrating the high quality of the winning products, the competition recognizes the commitment and love which informs the daily operations in the vineyards and cellars of some estates.
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Milan Candidate to Host Expo Universale 2015 |
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 A Settimana Canadese (Canadian Week) will be orgnized in Milan before the end of the year, probably in November, said Milan's mayor, Letizia Moratti, in an interview with the Corriere Canadese (Canadian Courier) in between meetings with Canadian representatives in Ottawa. In fact, Milan's mayor is currently in the Canadian capital to promote her city's candidacy to host the Expo Universale 2015.
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Anuga 2007: The World's Largest Food Fair |
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 The 29th Anuga, which will take place from October 13 to 17, 2007, will open in the new Cologne exhibition center with new conceptual approaches and a product range structure that has been further refined.
With over 6,000 exhibiting companies from approximately 100 different countries, Anuga is the world's largest and most important trade fair for the international food industry. The heart of Anuga is the concept of "10 specialized trade shows under one roof".
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The Winning Formula of Vini nel Mondo 2007 |
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 From June 1, to 3, 2007, the third annual Vini nel Mondo 2007 (Wine in the World 2007) transformed the historic downtown of Spoleto, making it the 'enological capital city' of Italy, with the participation of the most prestigious wines 'Made in Italy'. Perfect hosts, the inhabitants of Spoleto welcomed first-time tourists as well as veterans pleased by the previous events. Over 200,000 participants, including many British, North American, and Japanese visitors, who know as much about Italian wines, or more, than they do about Italian Renaissance palazzi and historic castles and churches. For three days visitors had the opportunity to taste over 500 different wines, arriving from all over the country, from the Friuli Alps to the Agrigento plain.
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A Daily Glass of Wine Could Boost Memory |
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 Drinking a glass of wine daily could boost your memory and delay the onset of dementia by preserving it longer, Italian scientists say.
During a study, researchers Vincenzo Solfrizzi and Francesco Panza, at the department of geriatrics at the University of Bari measured the alcohol consumption and brain functioning of around 1,500 people aged 65 years to 84 years.
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WineCountry.IT
Columns |
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Italian Native Vines |
With the Friuli Venezia Giulia installment Rosa D'Ancona completes the instructive journey across the Italian wine regions to discover all the major native and ancient vines. As noted at the beginning of this virtual tour, Italy accounts for the largest number of native vines in the world, confirming what the ancient Greeks found out long ago, when, upon conquering the southern part of the Italian boot, renamed that blessed land Enotria, or the Land of Wine.
Another surprising piece of information, which shows just how embedded vitiviniculture is in the social structure and culture of Italy, is the fact that this peninsula, with an area approximately 70% that of California, counts over 45,000 wine producing estates, many of which are small, family-run businesses, which have been handed down from generation to generation for centuries.
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This month we present two cheeses: the Bra DOP from Piedmont
and Caciocavallo Ragusano DOP from Sicily.
- Read More...
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This month Rosa D'Ancona introduces a menu from Abruzzo.
This region's cuisine is characterized by strong, natural flavors. Meat, seafood, cheese, aromatic herbs and spices offer such a variety of tastes to satisfy every palate.
- Read More ...
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