Vinitaly 2005: What's New?
Staff Writer - March 30, 2005
Due to last year's great success, the leading international wine exhibition is further expanding its show area, as well as targeting the ever more specialized audience of industry operators.
 This year's innovations include the 'Best Wine List' international competition and the tastings, 'Wine & Food Pairing' and 'Taste & Dream – Top Wines, 2001 - Odyssey into the Third Millennium'. In addition, the organizers have invited ten thousand restaurateurs from all over the world and, at the Palazzo Gran Guardia, in Piazza Bra, all wine enthusiasts can enjoy the 'Vinitaly for You'.
Vinitaly is an increasingly selective and international event, serving all wine professionals, from producers and importers, to distributors, restaurateurs, wine collectors and wine buffs from all over the world. This year's annual presents 4,200 exhibitors from over 30 countries in an exhibition area of over 70,000 square meters (over 750,000 square feet). The event is expected to be visited by about 140,000 wine professionals from 90 countries.
In 2005, in addition to the traditional event in Verona, Vinitaly will travel to Russia (Vinitaly Russia in Moscow 26–27 May), United States (Vinitaly US Tour in Boston on October 24, Chicago on October 26, Los Angeles on October 28) and China (Vinitaly China in Shanghai on November 24 to 26).
2005 Innovations
First and foremost, the expansion of the Exhibition Center: near Hall 8, a 16,000 square-meter (over 170,000 square feet) structure will be set up (Hall 10), shared evenly by Vinitaly and Sol, the International Exhibition of Virgin and Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
This is a new, comfortable and modern facility that can host stands on two levels without internal obstacles. This extremely convenient structure will fully meet exhibitors' needs for comfort, service and image.
As of 2006, based upon VeronaFiere's Business Plan, the structure will be replaced by a new exhibition hall, as part of the more general program of urban re-qualification of the Exhibition Center which, over the next few years, is expected to become one of the most advanced European Show Areas, making use of investments of roughly €152 million.
This year, in collaboration with ARDI (International Association of Italian Restaurants), VeronaFiere launches the International Competition entitled ' Best Wine List', dedicated exclusively to leading Italian restaurants overseas. The award, sponsored by mineral water distributor Acqua Panna, will be assigned on the basis of evaluations of the service offered to clients when presenting wines: from the range of labels in the wine list to the clear identification of origin, varieties offered, table service, price transparency, and so forth. The highly qualified Jury includes leading figures of the wine and food media world, Italian restaurants & catering (obviously excluded from the competition), enologists and international wine experts.
The competition includes four categories:
- Best Wine List
- Most Creative Wine List
- Best Italian Selection
- Most Innovative Service.
With a 'direct mailing' operation, organized in collaboration with ARDI, 10,000 restaurateurs from all over the world have been invited to the event. As restaurateurs are one of the main channels for wine sales, the goal is to put them in direct contact with the producers.
The 'Wine & Food Pairing', another new event-within-an-event, is expected to generate major interest. The initiative is organized in collaboration with the European Association of Young Restaurateurs (Jeunes Restaurateurs d'Europe) and will host four chefs who will pair their dishes with Italian wines.
The chefs are:
- Jean-Jacques Daumy from France (La Cignette restaurant)
- Christian Franz from Luxembourg (Belvedère restaurant)
- Ivan Louer from Holland (De Eetkamer restaurant)
- Mario Holtzem from Belgium (De Boote restaurant).
In order to defend grape varieties linked with reference territories and fight the 'international type-approval of taste', Vinitaly and the International Sommeliers Association (ASI - Association de la Sommellerie Internationale) will organize in Hall 10 ' Gulliver's Travels' wine tasting.
Here, with the goal of further promoting and highlighting the value of grape varieties often little known to international consumers, wineries from various European regions will present their wines, moderated by a panel of four world-famous sommeliers:
- Enrico Bernardo from Italy, category world champion
- Marcus Del Monego from Germany
- Philippe Faure-Braque from France
- Kostas Toloumtzis, ASI President, from Greece.
Finally, Vinitaly 2005 will focus on the participation of the most important specialists in related fields by organizing once again the 'Vinitaly VIP Lounge' and the sister-event 'Vinitaly Buyers' Club', an exclusive and peaceful 'forum' perfect for scheduling and negotiating major business transactions in total comfort.
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