Pandemic, Assoenologi Congress no. 75 postponed. Cotarella: “responsibility and prudence are needed”

The wind of the pandemic is still blowing around the world, and with contagions and hospitalizations increasing, even in Italy, although the situation is still under control and better than in other countries of the world, continuous reflection is required of those organizing events. And in this sense, news has arrived of the postponement of the Assoenologi Congress, which was due to be held in Verona on December 3-5, also to celebrate the 130th anniversary of the longest-lived trade organization in the world. “The board of Assoenologi met to examine the pandemic situation in view of the Congress”, Riccardo Cotarella, president of the Italian oenologists and freshly re-confirmed at the head of the Union Internationale des Oenologues, told WineNews. “After a long examination, given that for us the first thing is respect for the health and safety of people, albeit with great sadness, we decided to postpone the Congress. The new dates have already been set, adds Cotarella, with Congress no. 75 therefore taking place in March 2022”.
“So, hopefully, next year we will have two congresses, because the one in March 2022 will be a replay of 2021, for which we had prepared a very interesting program, which will be confirmed and updated. We have prepared a very in-depth overview of topics such as the market in various countries around the world and sustainability, and the confirmed presence of three Ministers - Stefano Patuanelli, the Minister for Agriculture, Massimo Garavaglia, the Minister for Tourism, and Renato Brunetta, the Minister for Public Administration, who is also a producer - and many high-level representatives of the institutions are evidence of the proximity and attention paid to the world of wine and Assoenologi, which will certainly not be lacking”.
Appointment postponed, therefore, for an event that, as Cotarella emphasizes, “is by its very nature one of conviviality and human contact, which given the situation would have been lacking, and would, in any case, have created potential risks. It would have been a “grey congress”, and this is not something that Assoenologi is good at. It is a great pity, also for the tastings that we had planned: one on 18 Italian wines that are unjustly considered 'minor' but which, instead, as Assoenologi we want to make better known and enhance, and one on six great vintages of Amarone della Valpolicella from a winery like Bertani, which had made itself available. But now a sense of responsibility and prudence must prevail. On behalf of Assoenologi, I apologize to all those who had already signed up for a sold-out Congress”, adds Cotarella, “and to those who had organized themselves, but we felt this decision was appropriate, albeit very reluctantly. But we will make up for it”.