“Anteprime di Toscana” on March 19-25, “Grandi Langhe” on April 4-5, “Anteprima Amarone” in June

The “Anteprime di Toscana” will be staged in March, from 19 to 25, between Florence and the territories; “Grandi Langhe” will be in April, on 4 and 5, again in Turin, while “Anteprima Amarone” moves to June, with a special program, to Verona. Thus, at the height of the fourth wave of Covid-19, the calendar of the main Italian Wine Previews has been redefined in a mosaic of events that is becoming denser and more concentrated, straddling the major international fairs such as ProWein (scheduled in Dusseldorf, March 27-29) and Vinitaly (in Verona, April 10-13).
“The programme of the “Week of Anteprime” in Tuscany is confirmed - explains Francesco Mazzei, head of Avito, the association that brings together all the wine consortia of the Region of Tuscany, to WineNews - in its fullness: It will start with the inaugural gala dinner on Saturday March 19, in the “Salone dei Cinquecento” in Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, for “PrimAteprima”, with the Region and all the Consortia gathered together (the presence of Brunello di Montalcino and Bolgheri should also be confirmed, as they do not participate in the “Settimana delle Anteprime” but organise different events at other times of the year, ed), and then the events, until March 25, between Florence and the various territories, with tastings and presentations of Chianti (Chianti Lovers on March 20), Chianti Classico (Chianti Classico Collection on March 21-22), Vernaccia di San Gimignano (March 22-23), Nobile di Montepulciano (March 23-24) and other Tuscan denominations (Anteprima l’Altra Toscana on March 25). “We chose these dates because we want to maintain the spirit of the Anteprima”, adds Mazzei, “and we have positioned ourselves before Prowein and Vinitaly. We are also contacting the entire international press, which, while participating in good numbers, had expressed some fears about travel due to the pandemic situation, obviously, and from this point of view we think the situation can only improve. What should be emphasized is that once again we are working in a common agreement between the Consortia, with common sense, and, therefore, it would seem that this atavistic inability to work as a team, in Tuscany, is being left behind”.
“After consulting with each other”, said Stefania Saccardi, Vice-President of the Region of Tuscany and Councillor for Agri-Food, “in light of the emergency situation we are still experiencing and which we hope will ease in the coming months, we have decided to postpone this event, which, given its importance, should be held at a quieter time. We know how many journalists are waiting to take part in the Anteprime di Toscana and we want to allow them to do so in fullness and serenity, a duty we owe them and our wines”.
Also fully confirmed, again in Turin, at the Ogr - Officine Grandi Riparazioni, is the programme for “Grandi Langhe”, with the event organised by the Consorzio di Barolo, Barbaresco, Alba, Langhe e Dogliani, in partnership with the Consorzio del Roero, which will be staged on April 4 and 5, 2022. We were waiting for confirmation of the availability of the dates from Ogr, and then we decided”, explained the president of the Consorzio di Barolo e Barbaresco, Matteo Ascheri, to WineNews. “We could have held the event between the end of January and February as initially planned, but it would have been like “running into the rain”. On the other hand, these two years have shown that you can manage the market and sell wine around the world very well even without events. They are moments of relationships and presentations, and so if they are held, we need to be able to stay calm, comfortable and relaxed, which is why we decided to move “Grandi Langhe” to a later date. But we need to think about the promotion of wine as a whole”, adds Ascheri. “Trade fairs in general, for example, which were a formidable tool in the past, are no longer being used. In fact, I would say that today it is more the fairs that need wine producers than the other way round. This is not a reflection on this or that event, but on the trade fair instrument in general. I say this out of respect for the role of everything, but “All things must pass”, quoting a historic George Harrison album. We need to reflect, we have managed to market ourselves without traveling all over the world like spinning tops, and we need to think about promotion, perhaps concentrating on a few, big events”. Such as “Barolo & Barbaresco World Opening”, which, after debuting in 2020, in New York, and stopping in 2021, should return to the stage in March, in Los Angeles. “To date, the dates of March 15/16 are confirmed”, adds Ascheri, “but we need to understand how things evolve”.
On the other hand, the time jump chosen by the Consorzio Vini della Valpolicella, which has moved “Anteprima Amarone” to June 2022, is decidedly longer. “This rescheduling was required and unanimously decided by the Consorzio di Tutela dei Vini Valpolicella in order to ensure that the event runs smoothly”, stated an official note, “with the usual presence of international experts and stakeholders. The new dates for the Verona event will be announced shortly, while the program originally planned, and impossible to keep to in February, remains confirmed, with the addition of special events dedicated to the King of Valpolicella”.
“We want to return to presence and we want to do it in the best possible way”, said the President of the Consortium, Christian Marchesini, “we owe it to our producers and to a denomination which, in 2021, recorded an important season on the sales front. This is why in February 2022, together with Nomisma Wine-Monitor, we will present a market focus on the performance of Amarone, Ripasso and Valpolicella in Italy and the world”.