25/27 MAY: WORKSHOPS AND TASTINGS PROMOTING ITALIAN WINE. VINITALY WORLD TOUR RESUMES IN RUSSIA. THE TOUR THEN CONTINUES IN THE USA, JAPAN AND CHINA

The reputation of Italian wines has already reached Red Square in Moscow and the Nevskij Prospect in St. Petersburg - yet Vinitaly Russia will take the best Italian wines to this huge country during a promotional tour designed to open up new market areas for Italy. The travelling event scheduled this year 25/27 may continues, after success in 2004 and 2005, its work to promote Italian wine-growing in a country where wine purchases are still expanding. Tastes among Russian consumers are becoming increasingly more refined and - for good reason - there is growing demand for Italian quality products. Italian exports to the Russian Federation have achieved very interesting results in recent years: 17.8 million Euro in 2003, 21 millions in 2004 and 31.5 in 2005 - while 2006 also opened under the best auspices, with wine exports in January totalling more than 3 million Euro compared with 1.1 million Euro in the same month last year.
The Russian "tour", organised by VeronaFiere in collaboration with Ice and Buonitalia, this year will involve about 150 Italian companies (there were around thirty in 2004), in single or group presentations; exhibitors include Ersac (Campania Region), the Bracchetto d'Aqui Consortium, the Sedicilanga Consortium, the Coltiva Group, Fazi Battaglia, Fratelli Muratori, Bersano, Campari International, Banfi Distribution, Fratelli Fabiano and Zenato. Eighteen producers from the Major Brands Institute will also take part - Mastroberardino, Gaja, Michele Chiarlo, Donnafugata, Tasca D'Almerita, Pio Cesare, Folonari and Jermann - representing flagship Italian wine world-wide. The programme - scheduled 25 and 26 May in Moscow at InfoSpace, the new exhibition centre near the Kremlin, and 27 May in St. Petersburg, at the Hotel Angleterre - envisages tastings, theme seminars and commercial workshops dedicated to distributors, restaurateurs/caterers, sommeliers and journalists. These are the most interesting professional figures as regards market penetration and help generate informed demand less tied to the dictates of import traders. The appointments are expected to attract at least 700 such operators.
The evening of 25 may will see Stakheev House host not only Italian wine but also a concert organised by VeronaFiere involving the opera singers of the Verona Arena Foundation travelling for the first time to Russia. Even the famous open-air opera festival views Russia as an extremely interesting market, given constantly growing attendance of Russian spectators at performances in the Arena. "Vinitaly," says Luigi Castelletti, President of VeronaFiere, "is an integrated system that - thanks to partnership with Federvini, Uiv, Buonitalia and Ice and the collaboration of companies in the sector - is able to perform its role as an instrument serving the economic policy of the Government and supporting companies in relation to international competition".
"Our decision to select Russia as a market for investing financial resources," says Giovanni Mantovani, Director General of VeronaFiere, "has a solid economic basis - Italian exports to Russia are expanding at impressive rates. Yet taking advantage of such growth," Mantovani added, "demands targeted, qualified and especially coordinated promotional action of the country system to avoid wasting resources and energy. Returns on events such as Vinitaly Russia are self-evident," the director general of VeronaFiere went on; "mention need only be made that between 2004, when the first event was held in Moscow, and 2005 Russian operators travelling to Verona to visit Vinitaly increased by 40% and this was a major opportunity for all companies taking part." "Buonitalia," says Giorgio Serra, the director of the wine sector of the promotion company set up by Mipaf, "is determined to consolidate the presence of Italian wines on international markets, especially by highlighting the diversity distinguishing our wines from international competitors.
For this reason," Serra goes on, "we believe that playing an active role in an event such as the Vinitaly Tour - designed to support the internationalisation of Italian companies on the main reference markets and emerging markets such as Russia - is vital." Five countries will welcome the Vinitaly Tour during 2006: India in January, now Russia, then the USA, Japan (the debut for this country) and lastly China.