Chianti flies to Cuba, which celebrates 55 years of the legendary Cohiba with international jet set

With just 366,000 euros of Italian wine imported in the first 5 months 2022, Cuba is certainly not a market to focus on. Yet, for the Chianti Consortium, it has now become a must-visit destination. Havana, for years, has been celebrating the 55th anniversary of the legendary Cohiba, the flagship Cuban cigar of the Habanos brand, a historic partner of Chianti, with an event that from today to September 9 “will make the island the destination of choice for the international jet set, with 1,200 arrivals expected”, as the president of the Chianti Consortium, Giovanni Busi, tells WineNews. “That’s why it’s important to be there, to enjoy a showcase of the highest level, which allows making acquaintances and agreements with entrepreneurs arriving from all over the world”.

The appointments on the “Isla Grande”, in fact, are two: tomorrow two masterclasses of the “Chianti Academy”, the program dedicated to wine professionals from around the world, will be staged, declined to the new format “Wine & Food Experience”, that is, an immersive tasting of thirty labels led by Wine Ambassador Luca Alves, accompanied by two show cooking that will offer Italian and Cuban dishes in combination. At the same time, Chianti will still be the protagonist in the days of Cohiba’s celebration (on the opening night and the final Gala Dinner) in tandem with Habanos Sa., the company’s flagship and of enormous historical value: born as diplomatic regalia at the behest of Fidel Castro in 1966, only in 1982 marketed worldwide as an ultra premium cigar.

“We are very proud and excited to return to Cuba after more than two years; these will be two extraordinary events. We want to bring the excellence of our wines to the island. We have carefully selected the best balance of taste, experience and traditionality, in order to once again introduce Chianti land to the domestic world”, Giovanni Busi concludes. “Our last trip, due to force majeure, was in February 2020. But in this period we have not stopped: our companies and producers have continued to work to raise the standards and variety of our offerings even higher”.