WINENEWS, ONE OF THE ITALIAN WINE WORLD’S MOST POPULAR WEB SITES, JOINS SYMBOLA, FOUNDATION FOR ITALIAN QUALITY, AND HAS BEEN INVITED TO ATTEND THE SOFT ECONOMY TRADE FAIR-EVENT (22-25 MARCH, MILAN), A GATHERING OF THE EXCELLENCE OF MADE IN ITALY

One of the most clicked on sites in the Italian wine world is now joining Symbola, the Foundation for Italian Quality: www.winenews.it has been chosen as an example of excellence within a soft economy, because of its alliance between ancient tradition, new technologies, research and development. And not only has it been recognized, but www.winenews.it , created by Alessandro Regoli and Irene Chiari, has also received an exclusive invitation to the Italian Quality Trade Fair (22-25 March 2007, in Milan), the soft economy event of the year and prime spot for those in Italy who are creating, producing, and promoting quality goods, and for those from all over the world who appreciate these goods, are looking for them, and buying them. Participation is strictly by invitation only and determined by an authoritative scientific committee.
The success of www.winenews.it , the food & wine web site that within just a few months was able to attract 75,000 unique viewers per month and over 30 million hits per year (and which, today, can also count Quaderni di WineNews, an online enological review, and the webTV at www.winenews.tv  that broadcasts audio and videos from the wine world, as part of its “group”), has been deemed worthy of being counted as an example of national excellence. Symbola (www.symbola.net), the Foundation for Italian Quality founded by Ermete Realacci (parliamentary member and honorary president of Legambiente), wants to consolidate and diffuse the soft economy model of development, which aims towards consciousness and innovation, as well as identity, history, creativity, and quality: an economy that is capable of uniting social cohesion and competitivety and to take its force from its communities and territories. Symbola, the lobby for Italian quality, is a new alliance that speaks to politics, the economy and all of the institutions moving the future of Italy in the direction of quality.
It is animated by the same personalities from these institutions: from Alessandro Profumo, directing manager of Unicredito Italiano, to the sociologist Domenico De Masi, Carlo De Benedetti, president of Cir Group, Diego Della Valle, president of Tod's, Rome’s mayor, Walter Veltroni, and the founder of Slow Food, Carlo Petrini ... And at this Soft Economy Trade Fair in Milan, the different experiences of producing Italian quality will be recounted: from artisan manufacturing to industrial production, from research to territorial marketing, from architecture and design to tourism, from new technologies to food & wine excellence, from cultural production and information to fashion, from territorial services to districts, from parks to third sector experience. It is a chance to renew the basic values of historic trade: consciousness, pride, wonder but, above-all, it provides a “group photo” of an Italy that is capable of taking on the future.
At the fair, there will be entrepreneurs and administrators interested in deepening awareness of good practices and good models, foreign delegations of entrepreneurs, institutions and universities, professional operators, youth and students interested in learning more about the future, who will all be passing through an exposition space spanning over 5,000 square meters, with 300 exposition stands of Italian quality that will offer samples combined with stories of personal, territorial, entrepreneurial, institutional, and associative experiences.