With the “Valpolicella Annual Conference” on the web, Italian wine events begin in 2021

It will discuss the commercial future of wine, increasingly multi-channel, between large-scale distribution, horeca and e-commerce, and wines of method and territory in relation to climate change and the evolution of consumption, and will analyze the new policies in support of the Italian wine market and the positioning in target markets, with tastings dedicated to Amarone and its ability to age, to the “new” Ripasso, and Valpolicella, the wine that most reflects the terroir of the Denomination, with the voices of experts in global connection. Because everything will be on the web. Between virtual conferences and digital tasting, here is the “Valpolicella Annual Conference”, the first completely digital event designed by the Consorzio Vini Valpolicella (February 26-27, live streaming on the Zoom platform and on the main social channels of the Consortium, Facebook and Instagram), which kicks off the agenda of the most important Italian wine events in a 2021 still marked by the pandemic.
One thousand two hundred samples of Amarone, Valpolicella and Ripasso (4 references of each wine for each participant) ready to take off towards 25 target countries - from the Arab Emirates to Hong Kong, from Russia to the United States, from Japan to Germany - will be the protagonists of the new virtual event of the Consortium for the protection of the first DOP of red wine in Veneto and among the most important in Italy, next to 100 stakeholders, of which 80 are foreign, including trade operators, wine specialists, Masters of wine and specialized press. “A smart and effective format - underlines Christian Marchesini, president of the Consortium (which boasts more than 80% of the representativeness of the Denomination, with Valpolicella that, in the leading province in Italy for wine exports, holds almost 8,400 hectares of vineyards located in the 19 municipalities of the Veronese DOC, with an annual turnover of around 600 million euros) - that sees the Denomination as the forerunner of an innovative, multi-channel and service concept able to connect all the decision makers in the sector at the same time: producers, buyers and foreign operators and national and international press. The strengths of the project include not only the content of the sector, which will be the subject of institutional discussions, but above all the strictly live digital tasting of the three main wines that are the expression of the territory and the high quality achieved by the Valpolicella wineries”.
Seven appointments are scheduled during the two days of the “Valpolicella Annual Conference”, and the opening of the works on February 26 will be the discussion on “Gdo, horeca, e-commerce: the commercial future of wine is multichannel”, with the participation of Denis Pantini, head of Nomisma Wine Monitor, Francesco Scarcelli, head of Coop Italia spirits, Paolo Zanetti, founder of Callmewine, Alessandro Boga, specialist Wilson Daniels Portfolio Italia, Luca Pizzighella, brand manager Signorvino, and Roberto Burro, professor of psychology at the University of Verona. Then, three sessions of digital tasting (in English) dedicated to method wines and territorial wines in relation to climate change and the evolution of consumption. In particular, drying and aging will be the focus of the tasting dedicated to Amarone for the press and accredited operators. To guide the participants connected from 25 countries will be Wojciech Bonkowski, wine expert and journalist, Enrico Nicolis, enologist, Maurizio Ugliano, professor at the University of Verona, and Jc Viens, Wset educator. The “new” Ripasso, regulated by the disciplinary modified in 2019, will be at the center of the second focus, also on February 26, with Michelle Cherutti-Koval, Master of wine, Alessandro Bellotto, enologist and consultant Giotto Consulting, Tone Veseth Furuholmen, senior product manager Vinmonopolet As and Alberto Brunelli, enologist and consultant of the Consortium; Finally, the protagonist in the glasses will be Valpolicella, with the contributions of Alberto Ugolini, sensory analyst and wine educator, Gabriele Gorelli, CEO Brookshaw & Gorelli, and two Masters of Wine Nick Bielak and Lin Liu (in this case, the spotlight will be on the renewal and positioning on an increasingly light-bodied oriented market, of the wine that best reflects the terroir of the Denomination).
Institutional opening on February 27, with the conference on “New policies to support the Italian wine market”, with Federico Caner, Councillor for Agriculture of the Veneto Region, Paolo De Castro and Herbert Dorfmann, members of the Agriculture and Rural Development Commission of the European Parliament, Giovanni Mantovani, managing director of Veronafiere, Paolo Castelletti, secretary general of Unione Italiana Vini, and the president of the Consortium Christian Marchesini. Then there will be the presentation of the research on “Positioning of Valpolicella wines on the main target markets”, by Denis Pantini, head of Nomisma Wine Monitor, and the report on “Climate change: influences in Valpolicella” by Diego Tomasi, Crea-Vit researcher.