Red for Charles, white for Camilla: Italian wine in the glasses of the Royals visiting Italy

King Charles drinks only red wines, while Queen Camilla prefers whites: so, for the first dinner-scheduled for tomorrow, April 8, at Villa Wolkonsky in Rome, residence of the British Ambassador, Edward Llewellynm (which on this occasion becomes the residence of the British Royals)-of their official trip to Italy, different labels will be poured into his & her glasses, but both strictly made in Italy, to raise a toast not only to the historic relationship between the two countries, but also to their 20th wedding anniversary, celebrated in 2005. “For King Charles III, who loves reds, I chose the Roma Doc Riserva Rosso Poggio Le Volpi 2020, and for Queen Camilla the Lazio Igp Bianco Poggio Le Volpi Donnaluce 2023, both winners of Bibenda’s “5 Grappoli””, Franco Ricci - Fondazione Italiana Sommelier (Fis), who will be present at the event, explains to WineNews, confirming his friendly relationship with the King, so much so that he was named Sommelier ad honorem in 2017. “The guests at the reception”, Ricci continues, “who will be about 100, without representatives of politics, will be served a bubbly, the Frascati Doc Metodo Classico Poggio Le Volpi Asonia 2020”. These are the first previews from WineNews on the visit of the British royals to our country, four days in which - in addition to institutional moments, aimed at strengthening relations between Italy and the United Kingdom, which will see Charles (the first British monarch in history) address a joint session of the Italian Parliament - there will be no shortage of convivial moments dedicated to food & wine, including gala banquets at the Quirinale, regional food festivals and meetings with farmers and producers. After all, Charles has cultivated a love for Italy for decades, so much so that he has come 18 times on official visits, attracted by our art, food, wine, oil, history, culture and hospitality.
A bond that WineNews, over the years, has always chronicled: starting with the Windsor family’s historical friendship with the Frescobaldi family, which, for seven hundred years, has had relations with the British Crown, of which, for wine and oil, it is a historical supplier, also thanks to Bona and Vittorio Frescobaldi’s personal association with the Royal House, among the very few Italians among the guests at the wedding of William, Charles’ son, with Kate Middleton, to whom they donated the Brunello di Montalcino Riserva di Castelgiocondo, not forgetting Charles’ visit to Tuscany in 1986. A bond, that of Charles III with Italian wine, which had already blossomed in the 1980s, and was also reinforced in 2017, when in his capacity as Prince of Wales, together with Camilla Parker Bowles, Duchess of Cornwall and former president of the United Kingdom Vineyards Association, in Florence at Villa Michelangelo, he personally met with many leading figures in Italian wine, from Jacopo Biondi Santi, at the time at the helm of Tenuta Greppo Biondi Santi in Montalcino and his estate in Scansano in the Tuscan Maremma Castello di Montepò, to Giovanni Manetti (Fontodi), in Chianti Classico, from the Antinori family to Vittorio Moretti, patron of the Moretti group (which includes Bellavista, Contadi Castaldi, in Franciacorta, Sella & Mosca in Sardinia and Teruzzi, in San Gimignano), as well as, of course, the Frescobaldi family, at the meeting organized by Franco Ricci, patron of the Italian Sommelier Foundation (Fis), who, on that occasion, presented Carlo and Camilla with the diploma of Sommelier of Honor. A sovereign friend of Italian wine, then, but of Italy as a whole, including on the food and wine and agricultural front. Which he also got to know thanks to the invaluable work of Carlin Petrini, founder of Slow Food.
After all, King Charles III has always been attentive to agricultural issues: not only as an organic food producer, farmer and winemaker on his estate in Highgrove, Gloucestershire, where he produces a line of products, Duchy Organic-including fruits, meats, eggs and jams-that are sold in Waitrose supermarkets throughout Britain. But Charles is also a supporter of British farmers, for example with “The Prince’s Countryside Fund”, launched in 2010 as Prince of Wales to support farming families in the United Kingdom.
The program of Charles and Camilla’s visit to our country then includes, on April 9, a day dedicated to institutions and bilateral relations between the United Kingdom and Italy: in fact, the Royals will meet the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella together with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The king and queen will lay a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier before their speech at Montecitorio, followed by a performance by the Tricolored Arrows together with the Royal Air Force aerobatic team, the Red Arrows. There will also be an in-depth look at sustainability, a topic particularly dear to King Charles, who will be present at a panel discussion on clean energy. Finally, the Royals will attend a state banquet at the Quirinale Palace, at the invitation of President Mattarella: a gala dinner where every detail, from the mise en place to the menu, from the flowers to the seating arrangements, is studied (as per ceremony) down to the smallest detail, with chef Fabrizio Boca overseeing the kitchen. The day of April 10 will be all about Ravenna, which is the only Italian stop, after Rome, chosen by King Charles and Queen Camilla for their passage down the boot. Here King Charles-an ante litteram ecologist, agricultural entrepreneur, champion of the environment, fine gourmet, and great lover of Italian food and wine (as well as a longtime supporter of Slow Food, and friend of Carlo Petrini)-will celebrate, together with Queen Camilla, the traditional cuisine of Emilia Romagna, Slow Food and the region’s products of excellence in a festival. In Ravenna, Carlo will also meet with local farmers whose land and crops have been severely affected by the devastating floods that have affected the area in recent years.