Wine News - February 2009 |
Welcome to
VOLUME VII,
NUMBER 2 of Wine News, the e-Letter from the WineCountry.IT network. (Would you
rather see the e-Letter on your favorite browser? Use
this link. Usa il link seguente se vuoi leggere
le News in italiano).
With the global economy in recession, at WineCountry.IT we have started the new year on the run, as we believe that the crisis can be overcome by forging ahead, working harder than ever before facing the market challenges openly, and offering quality products at reasonable prices.
From January 18th to the 20th we participated in the Fancy Food Show Winter 2009 to promote the products by Romangia Società Cooperativa, which participated in the trade show as part of the regional promotion of the Sardinia region. Romangia Società Cooperativa is a wine producer associated with the Italian Flavor Consortium to promote, import and distribute their products in the US.
On January 22nd and 23rd, we kept busy with the San Francisco stop of the Benvenuto Brunello USA event. On this occasion we assisted Tenuta La Carlina, producer of the excellent La Togata wines. The estate is also associated with the Italian Flavor Consortium, which is the commercial arm of our organization. Looking forward, in about three weeks the first ever Sorsi DiVino (Sips of Wine, spelled in way which van mean Divine Sips as well). This event will take place at, and have the logistic support of, the Consulate General of Italy in San Francisco, California.
Without further delay, I will wish you the best and let you dig into the articles presented below.
Loris Scagliarini, WineCountry.IT President |
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Valentine's Day 2009 in Oltrepó Pavese |
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 Certainly Valentine's Day is dedicated to the celebration of love, but what is love without the right atmosphere and candles, which give that romantic touch that brings lovers together. The Oltrepò Pavese Portal suggests a few destinations to spend a special Valentine's Day with your special someone.
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La Selezione del Sindaco: Eighth Annual |
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 Registration for the 8th annual La Selezione del Sindaco (The Mayor's Selection) international wine competition is open.
This is the only international wine competition which requires the joint participation of the producing estate and the municipality in which the grapes are cultivated, with the goal of promoting small, quality wine productions.
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Italian Giants Merge |
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 First Reggio Emilia's Cantine Riunite and Modena-based CIV (Consorzio Interprovinciale Vini, or Inter-Provincial Wine Consortium), one of Italy's largest vintner's cooperative, merged in September 2008, giving life to Cantine Riunite & CIV, one of the largest wine producing groups in Italy. Then, in a financial deal whose details were undisclosed, they decided to purchase the Gruppo Italiano Vini (GIV, or Italian Wine Group) another large cooperative, thus creating a wine behemoth worth around US$600 million (calculate current value in other currencies).
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Consortium Aliment: Making Cheese at Home |
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 The Consorzio Aliment – Network per la Diffusione della Cultura Alimentare (Consortium Aliment – Network for the Advancement of Food Culture) is a non-profit consortium of small and medium companies. The organization was founded in 2002 with the goal of promoting the associated enterprises, developing projects for technological innovation, commercial development, marketing and proliferation of food culture.
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| Fenavinho Brasil 2009: National Wine Festival Celebrates Italian Immigration to the South of Brazil |
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 December 5, 2008
Who said that Brazil does not produce good wines? There are actually some excellent ones, especially in the della Serra Gaúcha region, in the south of Brazil, which was widely colonized by Italian immigrants, most arriving from the north of Italy. The educated wine lover has the opportunity to discover Brazilian wines during the Fenavinho Brasil 2009, or the National Wine Festival, an event promoted every other year which brings all the major vintners in the countr togethery.
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Italy Plans Drastic Drop in Legal Blood Alcohol Level |
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 "For a long time now the wine business sector has been committed to investing in heightening awareness of the quality of wine, thus leading the cultural change which shifted consumers toward products which require a more mature approach," said Andrea Sartori, president of the association Unione Italiana Vini (UIV, or Italian Wine Union) in December 2008 commenting on the bill which plans to lower the legal blood alcohol level from 0.5 to 0.2 grams-per-liter (from 0.05% to 0.02%, according to the US Blood Alcohol Content or Blood Alcohol Concentration, abbreviated BAC, or the metric limit of intoxication for legal or medical purposes).
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We continue the presentation of Italy's 155 products of Protected Designations of Origin (PDO, or, in Italian, DOP, Denominazione di Origine Protetta) and Protected Geographical Indications (PGI, or IGP in Italian, Indicazione Geografica Protetta).
This month we present two DOP cheeses made with sheep's milk: the Pecorino Romano DOP (Roman Pecorino Cheese), well known and appreciated in Italy and overseas, especially in the US, and the Pecorino Sardo DOP (Sardinian Pecorino Cheese), loved by anybody who has visited the island and had the opportunity to savor its distinctive taste.
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Thirty nine producers of Brunello di Montalcino, the famed Tuscan wine which was at the center of 
The president of WineCountry.IT, Loris Scagliarini, and the director of sales for the products of the estates associated with the 
Weinwirtschaft, the German wine magazine, published the list of the 100 most successful wines of 2008.
It's almost time for the eleventh annual global wine competition Wine Masters Challenge - World Wine Contest, which many international wine experts have come to consider a barometer for the state of the global wine sector.
Iron Chef America: The Series is an American cooking show based on Iron Chef, a Japanese television program produced by Fuji Television Inc. whose original Japanese title was Ironmen of Cooking (料理の鉄人, Ryōri no Tetsujin) is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed Iron Chef USA.
In addition to most Italians, a larger number of people abroad toasted the arrival of 2009 with Italian sparkling wines, such as 
