Wines from Italy tasting & Workshop in Treviso, Veneto

For those of you able to travel to Treviso in Veneto, Wine Pleasures will be hosting an Italian tasting, food matching & workshop from 18 to 20 May 2009. Here are the details –

18 May 18.00 to 20.00

Themed tasting of wines (conventional, organic & biodynamic) produced by small boutique wineries from Abruzzo, Campania, Emilia Romagna, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Lombardia, Piemonte, Sicilia, Toscana, Umbria, Veneto. Followed by a wine matching dinner of both traditional and fusion Italian cuisine.

19 & 20 May 10.00 to 17.00

Private meetings & tastings with small boutique wineries. Italian wine & food matching lunches & dinners in the Hotel.

This event will be held in the lovely Venetian Villa Pace Park Hotel Bolognese of the late 1800’s located along the Terraglio, the ancient Napoleonic road that links Treviso, a wonderful medieval city surrounded by walls of the 1500’s, to Venice with its suggestive attractions.

Among the wineries will be – Antinori, Gigi Rosso, Ronoc di Prepotto, Donnadicoppe, Trerè, Perletti, Martinez, Cenatiempo Vini d’Ischia, Sfriso Pier, Provenza, Vicentini, Poggio al Santino, San Giovanni, Bennati, Tenuta Grimani, Ferliga, Giol, Loacker, Luna del Rospo, Terre di Ger, Selvanova, Castellari Bergaglio, Punset, Fasoli Gino, Antica Entoria & Tenutarocca.

The enrolment fee is €65. If you are a member of Bravo Italy Gourmet you will receive a discount of €10 (contact them for the promotional code). Payment is required in advance by credit card or bank transfer.

We have kept the registration fee as low as possible and, frankly, it is a bargain when considering what it includes:

•Workshop participation including seminar, themed wine tasting and networking opportunities.
•2 nights accommodation in the Villa Pace Park Hotel Bolognese with breakfast
•Full course wine matching lunches and dinners in the hotel
•Transfers to and from Treviso airport on day 1 and day 3 of the event
•A permanent wine tasting area for the duration of the workshop
•Wine Pleasures wine tasting kit – free to take home.

To enrol please complete the Registration Form or call Wine Pleasures (+34 93 897 70 48) to book your place. Alternatively, you can email us – info@winepleasures.com

Places are limited and will be allocated on a first come first serve basis.

If you are already enrolled or in the process of enrolling please feel free to pass the news of this exceptional event on to someone who you feel might wish to participate.

With very best wishes,

Wine Pleasuresn Team
T. +34 93 897 70 48
info@winepleasures.com
Web. http://www.wpworkshop.com
Blog. http://www.winepleasures.wordpress.com
Twitter. http://twitter.com/Winepleasures

Wine Pleasures teams up with Bravo Italy Gourmet for the Buyer meets Italian Workshop

Strange as it may seem Wine Pleasures has been struggling to attract Italian wineries to participate in the 1st edition of the Wine Pleasures Workshop Buyer meets Italian Cellar.  With already established and successful Spanish and Organic versions in their 5th and 3rd years respectively, Wine Pleaures saw the need to get some local help.

Bravo Italy Gourmet  were quick to suggest a collaboration.

“Bravo Italy Gourmet is the first Italian e-marketplace who developed the strategic meeting between international importers and Italian wine and gourmet food producers sharing a common wish to promote Italian gourmet products on international markets.

It is a place where food producers and foreign importers can meet, discuss, exchange ideas and make business agreements without the burden of linguistic and other cultural barriers.”

Wineries enrolling for the Wine Pleausres Workshop Buyer meets Italian Cellar and who are members of Bravo Italy Gourmet will enjoy a 10% discount on the current enrollment fee.

Buyers too can get a discount by joining Bravo Italy Gourmet. Simply complete the registration form – and it’s free!

Wine Pleasures is also participating actively on the Italian Social Network, Vinix where we have published several articles, offers, videos and photos related the Workshop concept. Wineries who are members of Vinix will also get a favourable rate on the enrollment fee.

The 2009 Wine Pleasures Workshop: Buyer meets Italian Cellar will take place in Treviso, Italy, from May 18 – 20, 2009. Bringing together small to medium sized boutique wineries of all regions of Italy including: Veneto, Sicilia, Campania, Lombardia, Abruzzo, and Toscana and wine importers, wholesalers, retailers and HORECA from around the world, this year’s workshop will be the first of its kind in Italy.

We have ensured that buyers will experience the incredible range and diversity of Italian wines. We’re talking about light crisp soft whites such as Pinot Grigio, the slightly sweet and fruity Soave white, the various kinds of Marsala and fortified wines of Sicily, big and bold Toscana reds and even bubbly and expressive sparkling wines of Veneto. In short, we are absolutely confident that by the end of this Wine Pleasures Workshop you too will have an even greater love of Italian wines, and a much greater understanding of what this country can produce. Organic and biodynamic wines will also be well represented.

In addition, all participants will experience wine matching of both traditional and fusion Italian cuisine, have some fantastic chats over lunches and dinners and also take part in an informative seminar on the social media and take part in a themed Italian tasting as well as, of course taking in part in one to one private wine tasting meetings with wine makers and winery owners.  Sounds BRILLIANT, doesn’t it?

To enrol as a winery please complete THIS FORM

To enrol as a buyer please complete THIS FORM

Colli Vicentini (Veneto) bring Garganega to the Wine Pleasures Buyer meets Italian Cellar

Colli Vicentini will be participating in the Wine Pleasures Workshop Buyer meets Italian Cellar next month. Buyers will be able to not only try their Garganego Vicenza DOC wine but will also be able to taste wines made with Pinot Grigio, Merlot, Durella and Tocai Rosso grapes.

Here’s what Colli Vicentini have to day about their winery and wines:

Colli Vicentini sca _ “Among the vineyards in the hills of Vicenza“.

On the trail of an ancient vine-growing tradition, our generation grow with the passion for good wine, the spirit of our fathers’ self-sacrifice, the bond with our land and the strong motivation for the achievement of important goals.

Colli Vicentini cellar is located in Montecchio Maggiore, in the province of  Vicenza, next to the castles of Romeo and Juliet and near to magnificent Palladian villas, just at the foot of Colli Berici (Berici Hills)  in an area of ancient winemaking tradition.

Founded in 1955 by 33 enthusiastic vine-growers, the cooperative can count on 1,400 members and on 2,000 hectares of vineyards mainly located in the surrounding hilly region with its excellent microclimate and sun exposure. The environmental condition are very favourable and this area was covered by vineyards since ancient times as documents of the XIII century report.

Colli Vicentini s.c.a. found out the peculiarities and  the best expression of the several vine-growing areas

according to the vines that are the more suitable for them, by optimizing the cultivation and by putting “the right vine to the right place”. The purpose is to promote and to stress the importance of the connection between wine and territory.

Thanks to the experience of skilled agronomists and oenologists, the cellar guarantees the process “from vine to wine” through the constant monitoring of the production, the diversified selection of grapes and the vineyards checking aimed to improve the territory control and to produce quality wines.

The commitment undertaken by the winery is to aim at the quality of the wines by safeguarding the characteristics of vines and by maintaining local traditions. Carrying out appropriate technological solutions, a totally new area has also been set up where the grapes withering, the refinement in barriques or in bottles of selected products and the preparation of sparkling wines according to the Classic Method take place.

Beside the most renowned grapes like Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet, etc.. we provide Italian and foreign customers with a wide selection of still, demi-sparkling and sparkling wines and some autochthon wines such as our sparkling Lessini Durello Spumante Brut that has recently been the protagonist during many events in Italy and international events.

If you would like to meet Colli Vicentini please contact them through their web site or enrol to attend the  Wine Pleasures Workshop Buyer meets Italian Cellar

San Giovanni (Veneto) to participate in the Wine Pleasures Workshop Buyer meets Italian Cellar

Good news for buyers attending the 1st edition of the Wine Pleasures Buyer meets Italian Cellar interested in Prosecco Spumante DOC Di Conegliano-Valdobbiadene.

Treviso (Conegliano) based Azienda Vinicola San Giovanni work mostly with the Prosecco grape variety. They also produce some  still wines: Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Cabernat Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot amonst others. Here is what they have to say on Treviso, their wines and winery:

Treviso has always been considered one of the most important provinces in the Venetian region for its viticulture and winemaking.

This is mainly due to the fame of its white wines (especially Prosecco) produced in the hilly district, especially in the area of Conegliano. SAN GIOVANNI is an agricultural concern located right in the hills of this area. The entire Perini family works in the business and this is why SAN GIOVANNI is a perfect combination of the experience and tradition of their grandparents, the passion, culture and continuity of the adults and the enthusiasm of the younger ones for all the innovations in the enterprise. The family has passed down the traditional vintage and winemaking techniques from one generation to the other, thus producing delicious wines that develop the perfumes and tastes of times gone by.

If you would like to contact San Giovanni please do so through their website – only in Italian I’m afraid. If you would like to join Mr Alberto Perini at the Wine Pleasures Workshop Buyer meets Italian Cellar please complete a Registration Form.

Casa Vinicola Bennati (Veneto) to participate in the Wine Pleasures Workshop Buyer meets Italian Cellar

The 2009 Wine Pleasures Workshop: Buyer meets Italian Cellar will take place in Treviso, Italy, from May 18 – 20, 2009. Bringing together small to medium sized boutique wineries of all regions of Italy including: Veneto, Sicilia, Campania, Lombardia, Abruzzo, and Toscana and wine importers, wholesalers, retailers and HORECA from around the world, this year’s workshop will be the first of its kind in Italy.

Verona based (Cazzano di Tramigna) Casa Vinicola Bennati (Soave DOC & Valpolicella DOC) will be participating with a wide range of high quality wines which have already notched up favourable reviews both in Italy and in International markets. Here is background information on the Bennati winery:

“Mr Antonio Bennati was born in the year 1870 in Cazzano di Tramigna, a few kilometres from the celebrated town of Soave near Verona. At the end of the 19^th century Mr Antonio began to produce and sell wine, above all locally, with the famous straw flasks.

Antonio was also nicknamed “Toni Recioto” from the homonym Verona sweet straw wine, as the winemaking of the more renowned Amarone had not been discovered yet.

It was in 1920 that his son Annibale Bennati registered the company with the name Cantine Bennati (Bennati Wineries). The purchase of some hectares north of Cazzano took place in those years. This area was already denominated in topographic maps of that time “Cornalè”, which is a current range of wines of the Bennati family. 

After the second world war, with the entry in the company of the young sons Ezio and Aldo, the winemaking expanded reaching all the most important varieties of Verona wines.

Therefore the selection I Gadi came to life, from the homonym area close to Cazzano, exalting and plugging the vineyard site. Then we recall the classic Soave, Bardolino, Valpolicella, the “White of Custoza” and the great Amarone.

At the end of the eighties, with the entry of the fourth generation, that is of the sons Antonio, Paolo and Giorgio, the Bennati family decided to undertake the hard but gratifying way of quality.  

Thus the selection Soraighe arose, an area located on the borderline between the Val Tramigna and the Val D’Alpone, exalting in a deeper and more remarkable way the great Verona wines that all the world envy, namely the interesting Valpolicella Ripasso, the fresh Lugana, the very good Classic Soave, the class Ireos and the austere and precious Amarone.

In this period important investments in technology took place, in particular the purchase of a big wine barrel cellar (barricaia) for the refining of the red wines, giving a significant qualitative boost to the entire production chain.

In confirmation of the big sacrifices and the success obtained the positive judgements from international and local critics could not fail. These have materialized with the prize-giving and the recommendation in some wine guidebooks.

If you would like to contact the Bennati winery about their wines and winery please do so through their web site. If you would like to particpate as a buyer at the Wine Pleasures Workshop Buyer meets Italian Cellar please complete an enrollment form.

Wine Pleasures chooses Treviso (Veneto) for the 1st Buyer meets Italian Workshop

Wine Pleasures has chosen Treviso, Veneto for the 1^st edition of the Wine Pleasures Workshop Buyer meets Italian Cellar. Served by two nearby airports, Treviso and Venice, it should not prove difficult for buyers to get to.

The Veneto wine-producing region is one of the most important in Italy both for quality and quantity. The region counts over 20 DOCs and a variety of sub-categories.

Perhaps the best known DOCs are Bardolino, from the town with the same name and surrounding the shores of Garda Lake, Valpolicella, and Soave. Other noteworthy wines produced here are the white Bianco di Custoza, the sparkling Prosecco, the Breganze, and the Amarone (a rich and powerful red from the Verona province).

The importance of winemaking in this region is underscored by the creation in 1885 of the very first Italian school for vine growing and oenology. In addition, Veneto was the first region to constitute the first strada del vino or “wine road”. This first wine-touring road featured special road signs providing information on vines and the wines they were made into and joined the Valdobbiadene and Conegliano DOC zones crossing a series of hilly vineyards.

As one might expect there are several wineries taking advantage of the Wine Pleasures Workshop taking place close to their wineries and homes. These are Casa Vinicola Bennati (Verona) Soave DOC AND Valpolicella DOC, San Gionvanni (Treviso) Prosecco DOC di Conegliano-Valdobbiadene, Sfriso Pier (Treviso), Tenuta Grimani (Verona) Soave DOC and Garda DOC and Vicentini (Vicenza) DOC Vizenza, DOC Lessini, DOC Gambellara, DOC Berici.

Wine Pleasures limits the number of wineries from any one region. This means that participating buyers are guaranteed a wide range of wines from varied wine regions. Each wine region has a maximum number of 8 places which means there are still places available for 3 more wineries from the Veneto region.

Martinez (Sicilia) bring Marsala and fortified wines to the Wine Pleasures Workshop Buyer meets Italian Cellar

Wine Pleasures is pleased to announce a first! – fortified wines present at a Wine Pleasures Workshop.

In 1866 Carlo and Francesco Martinez founded MARTINEZ, a winery destined to become one of the most ancient firms in Marsala.

Marsala is the west part of the island of Sicily. In 1798 the Sicilians managed to substitute their own wines in place of the standard rum in an English naval shipment. In those seafaring days, something had to be done to wine to allow it to last the long ocean journeys. Brandy was added to allow the wine to last longer, and to be more resistant to temperature changes. These were called “fortified wines”.

Once the British had a taste of Marsala, demand grew quickly. In the US during Prohibition, things became even more interesting. The typical Marsala bottles made the wine look like medicine. People found that getting Marsala was less risky than other types of wine. While not as popular now, it is still used quite frequently as a cooking wine in Italian dishes.

Marsala uses the following grapes:

• white skin/berry grapes: Grillo, Catarratto, Inzolia and Damaschino for golden and amber Marsala
• dark red skin/berry grapes: Pignatello, Calabrese, Nerello Mascalese, Nero d’Avola for ruby red Marsala

Marsala is made in the “solera” tradition – a melding of years. First, a keg is filled with wine from the current vintage of grapes. Subsequent years with similar tastes are placed in kegs above the first. When liquid is drawn out of the bottom (oldest) keg, it is refreshed with liquid from the next keg up, and so on. In this manner, the taste remains the same throughout the cycle, and every bottle you get has (potentially) some liquid from the very first vintage.

Types of Marsala

• Fine: 17° alcohol, aged >1 yr
• Superiore: 18° alcohol, aged >2 years
• Superiore Riserva: 18° alcohol, aged 4 years
• Vergine Soleras: 18° alcohol, aged 5 years

Marsala was traditionally served between the first and second courses. It is now also served, chilled, with Parmesan (stravecchio), Gorgonzola, Roquefort and other, spicy cheeses.

Martinez are now in their sixth generation as they continue to elevate the tradition and the quality, looking always to improve and fulfill in modern market needs.

The Martinez winery covers about 6,000 square metres of area and includes the wine processing one, the Marsala wine ageing and the bottling area. It has a capacity of 40,000 hectolitres,  8,000 of which in oak and cherry-wood casks, necessary in Marsala wine and fortified wines ageing process.

Martinez have always been interested in long ageing wines and old reserves. They produce six kinds of  Marsala:

 In Fortified Wines they make 5 kinds. They also have 4 table wines to offer buyers attending the Wine Pleasures Workshop.

If you would like to find out more about Marsala, Marsala substitutions, sweet vs dry marsala, storing marsala, matching suggestions…. please feel free to contact the winery through their website.

If you are a wine importer/merchant then come and meet Agnese of the Martinez winery at the Buyer meets Italian Workshop. Just complete the enrollment form.

 Wine tourism

Good news for wine tourists! Martinez is open for visits and would be delighted to see people who are interested in learning about marsala wines and wine making.

Serious wine importers say “we don’t go to large trade fairs – waste of time!

Recent large trade fairs such as ProWein and Vinitaly are great places to visit if, according to The Tasting Note “you make poor wine or you are a large producer with a fat wallet “There are a lot of big, fancy stands at Vinitaly. Some are there because the wines are crap and they think that by putting on a big show, people will come to them. Others are big because their wines are brilliant, they have made a lot of money and they can afford to put on a big, professional looking display“.

My experience of attending large wine trade fairs ranges from – great place to go for free drinks and food in my younger years to not such a great place for playing hide and seek with small boutique wineries. Nowadays, I find large trade fairs tiring, time consuming, expensive, stressful and highly impersonal and consequently, generally tend to stay clear of them.

Fortunately for the small to medium sized boutique winery there now exists a host of small, stress free, highly personalised events for wineries to get to know small to medium sized serious wine buyers. By small to medium sized buyers I mean they would be looking to order 1-2 pallets a year.

One such event is the Wine Pleasures Workshop Buyer meets Italian Cellar coming up in May (18 – 20) at the Villa Pace Park Hotel Bolognese in Treviso where producers schedule pre-arranged meetings with carefully selected buyers so that when the event begins both have a schedule of mutually agreed meetings.

RMB Associates, buyers for both the US and Canadian market clearly found what they were looking for at a recent Wine Pleasures Workshop.

C & J Fine Wines based in Manchester  look set to participate in the Italian workshop and are specifically looking out for a Pinot Grigio wine.

Neither companies of course attended Vinitaly or will be attending London Wine.

Here are some buyer comments given in recent interviews comparing the workshop methodology to a large trade fair:

Highly personalised allowing you to make personal relationships with the winemakers – not just taste the wines

You spend a lot of time with the wineries – you dine with them, see them in the hotel, have a laugh with them and of course meet them and get the opportunity to taste their wines several times over two days

It’s a cost effective way of making purchase decisions – we don’t go to large trade fairs – waste of time!

At trade fairs there is not enough time to get to know the people, just taste the wines. At the workshop you get to know the people, which is important if we are to sell their wines.

Another interesting boutique wine event coming up for wine buyers, again in Italy in June is Terroir Vino 2009. Not just any winery can participate in this event. Wineries must first get into a quality circle by having their wines tasted by a panel – if the quality is good then they are in and able to participate in Terroir Vino. Date for this event is Monday 15 June.

Small wine producers and small wine importers do look out for the small boutique events for export/purchase opportunities. They should certainly prove to be an effective alternative to the large trade fair circuit.

I’d like to end with a quote from a wine importer based in Belgium but buying not only for the Belgium market but also, France, Luxembourg and Switzerland:

“It is to my opinion the better way to make assessed purchase decisions. Properly organised workshops with screened buyers and producers that are away from the fairs for the masses allow for time to discuss actual business rather then uselessly shaking hands and putting up smiles. A much more competence oriented way of doing business in a relaxed and convivial but professional atmosphere”. Gusto World by Creative.

Sfriso Pier (Veneto) to participate in the Wine Pleasures Buyer meets Italian Cellar

Small boutique Venetian producer, Azienda Agricola Sfriso Pier are to participate in the 1st edition of the Wine Pleasures Workshop Buyer meets Italian Cellar (May 18 – 20 May 2009).

Pier and Réka run a traditional family business which was created by Grandfather Luciano almost 100 years ago!. That’s three generations back!

Pier and Réka’a philosophy on wine making clearly demonstrates that they that both passionate and caring when it comes to getting grape to glass. This is an important point for wine buyers attending the Wine Pleasures Workshops – many want to see passion in the wine makers. If they don’t see/feel this passion then it’s one reason they do not buy.

Background of  “Della Dosa”

“Dosa” (wife of the Duke of Venice) is a derivation from  “Dogaressa. It is said that Dogaressa, together with other nobles from Venice, would occasionally travel to the winery region, visiting their properties, spread all over Chiarano, journeying by boat upstream the Piavon canal which flows along the end of the winery vineyard. Consequently today their village is also known as “Land of Villas”. Nowadays, part of these Venetian Villas are abandoned. To remember this profound and important heritage of theri countryside, Pier and Reka have decided to honor their wines with the name “Della Dosa”.

They say “Our wines are typical of our region, they mirror the exact sensorial identity that are specific for the wines from our territory. These characteristics are sapidity and abundance of soft tannins for our red wines. The white wines are fruity with a good acidity making them particularly fresh and pleasant. Our wines are to be drunk young because of our vinification methods, in accordance with the historical local tradition”.

Wines are monovarietal and are: Cabernet Franc Della Dosa, Merlot Della Dosa, Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso Della Dosa, Rosè Della Dosa Prosecco Spumante Della Dosa VSQ, Chardonnay Della Dosa, Pinot Grigio Della Dosa & Gaio Spumante Dolce da Dessert Della Dosa.

If you would like to contact Azienda Agricola Sfriso Pier about their wines please do so through their website. If you would like to meet Pier and Réka and taste their wines at the Wine Pleasures Workshop Buyer meets Italian Cellar please complete an enrollment form.

Wine Tourism

If you are ever visiting the Veneto and of course the Sfriso Pier winery one accommodation option is the Casa di Paola – a delightful bed and breakfast in Chiarano close to both Venice and Treviso.

Poggio al Santino (Toscana) to participate in the Wine Pleasures Workshop Buyer meets Italian Cellar

Today we begins our lead up to the 1st edition of the Wine Pleasures Workshop Buyer meets Italian Cellar (18 – 20 May 2009). We will be publishing features on both participating producers and importers.

Poggio al Santino di Perini Laura. The territory of the province of Grosseto, in the south of Tuscany on the border with Lazio, is best known as Maremma (from the Spanish “marismas” – morass). Maremma is a land of sea and pinewoods, of bog and Mediterranean scrub, of sun‐drenched plains and blue hills: a harsh and wild land, shaped more by contrast than by continuity, the contrast between impenetrable swamp and tilled field, between rolling hills bearing signs of Man’s labours and jagged mountainous heights. Whichever way you turn, the gaze takes in the charm of a land where Man has shown himself able to live with Nature.

The call of wine production in these lands is very ancient and has been widely practiced since the Etruscan‐Roman era. The ancient commercial traffic in the Tyrrhenian Sea always paid special attention to this part of central Italy because of the importance of its wine production. The Etruscan archaeological finds, in fact, confirm that the wine trade has been present here since antiquity.

Our lands are located in a hilly zone at the heart of Maremma, on a total land surface of 40 hectares, almost all given over to vines and olive groves, turned towards the south to soak in the positive influence of the climate, owing to its proximity to the sea (therefore sun, wind and the absence of humidity), with its mild autumns, which allow the grape to mature gradually and fully, giving the wine its soft, full‐bodied strength.

The vines of our company: Those of the black grape, first and foremost, the Sangiovese and then the Cabernet Sauvignon and Ciliegiolo, Malvasia, Merlot and Aleatico.

The Poggio al Santino company produces extra virgin Olive oil and white and red IGT and DOC wines. The production follows the very highest standards of quality in order to offer a wine that is conquering summits of excellence, assuming its rightful place, in silence, with reserve, playing a vital part in opening a window on the land which gave it life.

If you would like to get in touch with Poggio al Santino re their wines and olive oil please do so through thier web site or come and join us in Treviso and meet Silvia and Laura and taste thier wines in a relaxing environment. To enrol please complete a Registration Form.