2025, sprint start for wine events, between Piedmont, Veneto and Tuscany, via Paris

From the Piedmont of Langhe of Barolo and Barbaresco, but also of Roero and beyond, to Veneto, with its Valpolicella, to Tuscany, with many of its most famous appellations, from Chianti Classico to Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, from Chianti to Morellino di Scansano, arriving at the “Other Tuscany”, and passing through Paris, the 2025 of institutional and international events for Italian wine, struggling with a market, national and global, still in difficulty and all to be interpreted, is off to a fast start. Scrolling down the calendar, the first major event will be “Grandi Langhe (and the Piedmont of wine)”, organized by the Consortium of Barolo Barbaresco Alba Langhe Dogliani, headed by Ettore Germano, and the Consortium of Roero, chaired by Massimo Damonte, in collaboration with Piemonte Land Of Wine, which features Francesco Monchiero at the helm, on January 27 and 28, at the Officine Grandi Riparazioni (Ogr), in Turin, with more than 500 wineries from all over the region. And where, if under the spotlight will be mainly the latest vintages of Barolo, Barbaresco and Roero, there will be no shortage of wineries that will taste different declinations of Barbera (d’Asti, Monferrato or Alba, for example), Alta Langa, Moscato d'Asti, Grignolino, Arneis, Gavi, Dolcetto but not only, telling in the glass the very rich Piedmontese wine mosaic.
Just enough time for a breath, and it will be time to head to Valpolicella, for “Amarone Opera Prima”, the Consorzio Vini Valpolicella event dedicated to the territory’s most emblazoned wine, which at Palazzo della Gran Guardia, from January 31 to February 2, will bring together more than 70 wineries from the territory, whose wines will be tasted by journalists from more than 25 countries around the world, from Argentina to the United Arab Emirates, from Japan to the U.S., from Poland to China, from Singapore to the U.K., in a kermis that will also mark the start of the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the Consortium, now led by Christian Marchesini. Protagonist at the tasting counters and in the technical tasting sessions will be Amarone 2020, which officially debuts on the market, while on the auditorium stage the spotlight will be shone on the famous actor and theater director Andrea Pennacchi, who will sign “Amarone, epopea in Valpolicella”, the monologue conceived for the Consortium’s centennial. “In this special edition, “Amarone Opera Prima” looks to the future and, in particular, to new margins of potential growth for the denomination in an accelerated evolutionary scenario, which requires us to make a paradigm shift based on renewed strategies and approaches. A commitment that sees us increasingly active on the promotion front and that companies are rewarding both in terms of record participation in the event and membership in the Consortium, with 51 new members in 2024”, explains President Marchesini. Among the scheduled curiosities, on January 31 (with a program reserved exclusively for the national and international trade press, by invitation only), two master classes, “Amarone: iconic of fine dining in the world’s 50” led by expert JC Viens and dedicated to the tasting of a selection of Amarone wines on the wine list of the world’s top 50 restaurants according to the annual ranking compiled by the British monthly magazine “Restaurant”, and “The memory of time, a journey through the historic vintages of Amarone”, led by Master of Wine Andrea Lonardi, both at the Palazzo della Gran Guardia, with a pleasant “gourmet” interlude with lunch signed by Verona chef Giancarlo Perbellini, fresh off his third Michelin star with his Casa Perbellini - 12 Apostles, set at the Teatro Filarmonico in Verona. On February 1, under, the spotlight will be the focus “Valpolicella: 100 years between past and future of the denomination”, with speeches by the Consortium’s top management and Carlo Flamini, head of the Wine Observatory of Unione Italiana Vini - Uiv, with a day that will close with a theatrical monologue by Andrea Pennacchi. Then, off to the tastings, reserved for insiders (until 4 p.m.), and then also open to wine lovers (and also on February 2), with the closing aperitif “Valpolicella: freshness and creativity in the glass” by the Consortium’s Youth Group.
From Veneto, everyone to Tuscany, but not before a detour to Paris. From February 10 to 12, in fact, the first and increasingly important international wine fair of the year, “Wine Paris”, signed by Vinexposium at Porte de Versailles, is staged, where the presence of Italian producers is increasingly strong, since Italy is the country with the strongest presence after France, with its own pavilion (larger than in the past, with 600 exhibitors and an almost doubled space), thanks to the great presence of the collective signed by Ita - Italian Trade Agency, but also with new participations of important names such as “Santa Margherita, Donnafugata, Lamborghini and Mack & Schühle Italia, but also Unioncamere Puglia for the Puglia Region. This edition also registers the return of protagonists such as Piccini 1882, Zonin1821, Fantini Group and Planeta, without forgetting the participations of Piedmont”, as stressed by Vinexposium itself.
Just enough time to return to the homeland, and here are the “Previews of Tuscany”, which will be on stage from February 14 to 21, with tastings of the latest vintages of Nobile di Montepulciano wines (February 15-16 in the Preview at the Fortress of Montepulciano reserved for the press, with a focus on the Pievi and the rating of the 2022 vintage, while on February 2-3 the event of the Consorzio del Vino Nobile di Montepulciano will open its doors to wine lovers and operators), Chianti Classico (February 17-18 in the Chianti Classico Collection at the Stazione Leopolda in Florence, directed by the Chianti Classico Consortium), of Chianti and Morellino (February 19 at Chianti Lovers & Rosso Morellino, at the Fortezza da Basso, also in Florence, a joint event of the Consorzio Vino Chianti and the Morellino di Scansano Consortium), of “L’Altra Toscana” (on February 20 at the Palazzo degli Affari, also in Florence) and of Valdarno di Sopra (February 21 on “Valdarno di Sopra Day” at Il Borro, the Ferragamo family’s Relais & Châteaux in San Giustino Valdarno). Opening them, as per tradition, will be “PrimAnteprima” in Florence (February 14), with the “direction” of the Tuscany Region. In particular, “L’Altra Toscana”, at edition no. 4 wanted by the L’Altra Toscana Association led by Francesco Mazzei, president of the Consorzio Tutela Vini della Maremma Toscana, and signed by Scaramuzzi Team, will tell a different face of oenological Tuscany, presenting for tasting the new vintages of 13 DOP and IGP wines, with their respective Consortia, all together: Maremma Toscana, Montecucco and Montecucco Sangiovese, Cortona, Chianti Rufina, Terre di Casole, Suvereto, Val di Cornia and Rosso della Val di Cornia, Carmignano, Barco Reale di Carmignano and Vin Santo di Carmignano and Igt Toscana. Small or still little-known appellations that enrich, with increasingly high quality peaks, the wine offer of the region, of which they represent 40% of the production, in territories, from the hills to the sea, where vines have been cultivated for centuries and where, alongside historic local producers, emblazoned names of Italian enology bring all the strength and identity of the same terroirs to the glasses.
A first round of important previews, since they involve appellations from the three regions that, Veneto in the lead, lead, the Italian wine market, in terms of celebrity and blazon, but also and above all in economic terms, and that in 2023 put together 66.4% of total made-in-Italy wine exports (4.1 billion euros out of Italy's 7.7 overall), confirming the same “weight” in the first 9 months 2024, with 3.9 billion euros out of Italy’s 5.9. Three regions that, together, grow by +6.6% in value (with Veneto at +8.2%, for 2.1 billion euros, Tuscany at +10.2%, for 909.6 million euros, and Piedmont practically stable, at -0.4%, for 847.9 million euros), better than the +5.9% of the national average, in the first 9 months of 2024 over the same period 2023 (according to Istat data analyzed by WineNews).