“Rome - Symposium” by “The Wine Advocate” to reason about sustainability, viticulture and the future

A “symposium”, in the classic sense of the term, with great wines in the glass, and their producers, to reason together, around wine, about important issues such as climate change, biodiversity, and the very future of Italian viticulture, in an era of great changes, in every aspect. This is the truest sense of the “Rome - Symposium” signed by “Robert Parker Wine Advocate”, staged in Rome, on November 7, at the Waldorf Astoria Rome Cavalieri, directed by Monica Larner, signature for Italy of one of the world’s most authoritative publications on wine, which will feature wines from great wineries and producers of Italy such as Comm. G.B. Burlotto, from the Langhe of Barolo, with Fabio Alessandria, Fontodi, from Chianti Classico, with Giovanni Manetti, Gaja, again from the Langhe of Barbaresco, with Gaia Gaja, Marchesi Antinori, reference of the wine of Tuscany and beyond, with Albiera Antinori, and Tenuta San Guido, cradle of Sassicaia, from Bolgheri, with Priscilla Incisa della Rocchetta.
The first “solo” masterclass will feature wines such as Fontodi’s Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Pastrolo 2020, Marchesi Antinori’s Tignanello 2018, Tenuta San Guido’s Sassicaia 2019, Gaja’s Barbaresco Sorì Tildìn 2021, and Comm. G.B. Burlotto’s Barolo Monvigliero 2019 in the glass. Then, paired with dishes conceived ad hoc for the occasion by Heinz Beck, chef of the Michelin three-starred “La Pergola” at the Waldorf Astoria Rome Cavalieri, to enhance wines such as Antinori’s Castello della Sala 2018 Cervaro, Fontodi’s 2016 Flaccianello della Pieve, Comm. G.B. Burlotto, and then, in magnum format, a great white from Gaja, Brassica’s Langhe Alteni 1992, and an absolute legendary wine like Tenuta San Guido’s Sassicaia 1985.
Great wines and great cuisine, which also crystallize the collaboration, while following independent paths, between “The Wine Advocate” and the “Michelin Guide”, both of which have been wholly owned by the Michelin Group for the past few years. “But the most important moment will be precisely that of the Symposium, the seminar-masterclass (in the afternoon, from 4 p.m., ed.), where through exceptional wines, with the producers, we will talk about many aspects”, Monica Larner herself explains, to WineNews. “We will talk about how these producers work to maintain the identity of their wines, the Italian classicism, which goes beyond fashions and times, of wines “full of soul”, while having to deal with climate change, which changes the cards right from the management of the vineyard. Which, in general, turns out to be more fragile, more threatened by diseases such as esca disease, which, in recent years, has become very present again in Italy. But we will also talk about how to maintain or improve the vitality of soils, agronomic practices, types of vine training, planting distances, the difference between older and younger vineyards, between new and traditional clones, how other crops are coming back together with vines, and so on. And I hope to be able to invite among the audience also some producers from other Italian areas, such as Sicily, for example, which, for some time, has been facing a critical issue such as the great drought”.
“In any case”, Monica Larner, the signature for Italy of one of the most authoritative world publications, “Robert Parker Wine Advocate”, further explains, “it will be a conversation that wants to recall precisely the symposium of the classical era, where, around wine, thoughts and visions were shared: a name that is not accidental, as is not the choice of Heinz Beck as chef, since, for years, he has also been working in his kitchen around issues such as sustainability and the healthiness of what we eat”.