Release of New eBook, Italian Wine Unplugged: Grape by Grape

September 4, 2017 by evebushman

New York, NY (PRWEB) – A new ebook that unpacks the biodiversity of Italian wine and its grapes has just been released online on Amazon in its beta version. Italian Wine Unplugged: Grape by Grape offers a concise yet comprehensive cultural and scientific introduction to Italian wine and its hundreds of native grapes in a visually compelling layout.

Compiled by a team of Italian wine experts and educators, the ebook analyzes over 430 Italian native grape varieties in accessible and easy-to-remember entries. Designed to offer the contemporary wine lover a new reading experience, it includes an extensive visual apparatus featuring grape variety flash-cards, mind maps, photographs of grape bunches, and maps of Italian wine appellations. The ebook provides introductory chapters that offer essential historical, cultural, geographical and scientific information necessary to understand the richness and complexity of Italian grapes and their wines. It is also a schematic reference tool that will help readers and students of Italian wine find order in the seemingly chaotic world of Italian grape varieties.

With 591 officially recognized indigenous grape varieties and more being discovered, Italy has more native grapes in its national territory than any other country in the world. Bernard Burtschy, wine expert and author at Le Figaro Vin, emphasizes how the ebook achieves the important goal of teaching about native Italian grapes. “The corollary of the return in force of the diversity in Italian native grapes is the learning of these varieties. All these grape varieties, we will have to tame them, understand them, love them, make others love them. The ebook fulfils a huge and crucial task.” Similarly, Adam Teeter, co-founder of Vine Pair, stresses the importance of continuing to communicate Italian wine and its biodiversity: “Italy is one of the most fascinating wine countries in the world, but many people, including top wine professionals, are still confused about the plethora of indigenous grapes that make Italian wine so special. Italian Wine Unplugged: Grape by Grape finally brings these grapes into the light in a way everyone can understand.”

The mastermind behind Italian Wine Unplugged is Stevie Kim, Managing Director of Vinitaly International. Kim has engaged a team of experienced authors and Italian wine educators coordinated by Ian D’Agata, Scientific Director of the Vinitaly International Academy and author of the award-winning treatise Native Wine Grapes of Italy (Univ. of California Press, 2014 and winner of the 2015 Louis Roederer International Wine Writers’ Award as Book of the Year). Kim and D’Agata’s dream team includes Geralyn Brostrom, co-founder and education director at Italian Wine Central in Napa, California; Lingzi He, wine educator and journalist based in France and Hong Kong; Michaela Morris, wine writer, educator, and presenter based in Vancouver, Canada. Brostrom, He, and Morris have distinguished themselves within the Vinitaly International Academy exam, earning VIA’s highest certification title, “Italian Wine Expert,” attesting to their profound knowledge of Italian wine and its grape varieties. Some of the ebook’s sections have also been curated by Michele Longo, Italian wine writer, sommelier, and experienced judge for wine competitions. JC Viens, Deputy Editor of Spirito di Vino Asia and WSET Educator, contributed the mind maps in the final section. The Italian Wine Podcast host and wine writer Monty Waldin wrote the preface to the ebook. All contributors met and worked together thanks to the educational work of the Vinitaly International Academy, the international institution and community committed to explaining, divulging, and broadcasting the science and culture of Italian wine around the world.

The ebook is aimed at wine lovers and professionals all over the world who would like to begin discovering Italian wine and Italian grape varieties. The ebook will also be used as a course book for the entry-level Italian Wine Maestro course, a new course soon-to-be organized by the Vinitaly International Academy.

The ebook version released on Amazon is a pilot version designed to elicit feedback from the international Italian wine community, with the aim of publishing a definitive digital version and a paperback version by the end of 2017. Stevie Kim comments on the collaborative spirit underpinning the project, stating, “In the collaborative and convivial spirit of the Vinitaly International Academy that has brought together the contributors, the publication of Italian Wine Unplugged in beta version first also aims to foster connections and intellectual exchange to improve its content.”

About Italian Wine Unplugged:

Written for both wine lovers and wine professionals, Italian Wine Unplugged: Grape by Grape is a concise yet comprehensive cultural and scientific introduction to Italian wine and its hundreds of native grape varieties. The ebook analyzes over 430 native Italian grape varieties in accessible and easy-to-read entries. It also features color-coded grape variety flash cards and an extensive visual apparatus with mind maps, photographs of grape bunches, and maps of Italian wine appellations. Available on Amazon in beta version.

A Podcast Dedicated to Italian Wine Personalities

May 4, 2017 by evebushman

The marketing extraordinaire and wine producer Renzo Rosso inaugurates a new series of Italian Wine Podcast, the first podcasting project dedicated exclusively to the Italian wine world and available on Soundcloud and iTunes. On March 31st, during the first day of tastings for the new Vinitaly guide 5StarWines – the Book, the fashion tycoon Rosso introduced a wine tasting of red and white wines produced in his winery near Vicenza and recorded an interview with wine writer and Italian Wine Podcast host Monty Waldin.

Renzo Rosso is generally known for being the “denim genius” who founded Diesel Jeans and a number of global fashion and lifestyle brands like Maison Margiela, Viktor & Rolf, and Marni. Albeit traveling internationally for his business, Rosso is deeply attached to his home region, Veneto, and in the mid-nineties purchased a winery in Marostica. Rosso’s winery, Diesel Farm, features over 100 hectares on the Marostica hills at 300 meters of altitude and grows Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Pinot Nero. In the interview (available on https://soundcloud.com/italianwinepodcast/monty-waldin-interviews-renzo-rosso-of-diesel-farm), Rosso speaks about his humble beginnings, growing up on a farm and helping his father with the land and the animals: “My father taught me values like how to be loyal to the people, how to respect the people, the kind of education that it is hard to find nowadays in the new generations.” Rosso also discusses his lifestyle and his love of simplicity: “I travel all over the world all week so at the end it is very nice to be home. I live in a very simple way. I like staying at home, I invite my friends, I spend time with my family, my children.”

Rosso’s personal story told wholeheartedly to Monty Waldin is a fitting example of the great communicative power of the podcasting medium, whose beginnings date back to the early 2000s, when MTV VJ Adam Curry and IT programmer Dave Winer pioneered a way to sync audio content to portable players through RSS feeds. When the method was perfected in 2004, Curry launched his own show, which was initially categorized as audio blogging. The coinage of the word “podcast” is generally attributed to BBC journalist and broadcaster Ben Hammersley shortly afterwards. A recent survey on media usage in the U.S. conducted by Edison Research and Triton Digital established that “four in ten Americans listen to podcasts.” Podcast listening is growing steadily in the U.S. with an overall 40% rate of podcast listeners (estimated 112 million) (Source: http://www.edisonresearch.com/infinite-dial-2017/). Despite not being a mainstream medium, podcast practitioners have created communities of loyal aficionados, who regularly listen to podcasts on various devices and faithfully subscribe to their favorite shows.

In the wine world, various podcasts both instruct and entertain professionals and amateurs. However, unlike these shows which generally cover wines and wine cultures all over the world, Italian Wine Podcast is the first podcast which focuses solely on the Italian wine universe. With the largest number of native grape varieties in the world concentrated on its national territory, the Italian wine biodiversity is a story worth telling. So is the growing popularity on an international scale of Italian wine. This increasing appreciation is undoubtedly linked to the fact that wine in Italy is inextricably connected with Italian culture, from its centrality in Italian cuisine and lifestyle, to its prominence in Italian agriculture and in shaping distinctive Italian landscapes. Through engaging conversations with key protagonists of the Italian wine scene, Italian Wine Podcast illuminates the milieu in which the Italian wine culture takes shape. Stevie Kim, Managing Director of Vinitaly International speaks highly of Monty Waldin’s broadcasting and interviewing skills: “I am not very spiritual but I believe in destiny. When I chose Monty I had no idea that his father was a radio broadcaster and he had been exposed to recordings since he was little. I think the Italian Wine Podcast is right up his alley because he can relate to the interviewees in such a likable and accessible form, it must be in his DNA.”

Renzo Rosso’s podcast officially launches Italian Wine Podcast second series, in which Monty Waldin will uncover additional compelling stories from wine producers, leading figures in the wine business, but also broader issues affecting wine-making such as global warming and zoning. Stay tuned for more passionate storytelling about Italian wine.

About:

Veronafiere is the leading organizer of trade shows in Italy including Vinitaly (http://www.vinitaly.com), the largest wine and spirits fair in the world. During its 50th edition Vinitaly counted more than 4,100 exhibitors on a 100,000+ square meter area and 130,000 visitors from 140 different countries. The next edition of the fair will took place on 9 – 12 April 2017. The premier event to Vinitaly, OperaWine (http://www.operawine.it) “Finest Italian Wines: 100 Great Producers,” united international wine professionals on April 8th in the heart of Verona, offering them the unique opportunity to discover and taste the wines of the 100 Best Italian Producers, as selected by Wine Spectator. Since 1998 Vinitaly International travels to several countries such as Russia, China, USA and Hong Kong thanks to its strategic arm abroad, Vinitaly International. In February 2014 Vinitaly International launched an educational project, the Vinitaly International Academy (VIA) with the aim of divulging and broadcasting the excellence and diversity of Italian wine around the globe. VIA this year launched the second edition of its Certification Course and today counts 55 Italian Wine Ambassadors and 6 Italian Wine Experts.

Vinitaly International Academy partners with China’s Leading Liquor Supplier

April 3, 2017 by evebushman

CHENGDU, China, PR WEB – On the agreement, the general manager of 1919’s purchasing subsidiary, “Shanghai 1919 Global procurement CO., LTD”, Andrew Tan comments: “We chose Vinitaly International as our partner as they are the leaders of Italian wine in China. I can tell Vinitaly is always looking for innovative and useful tools to foster b2b connections. They were the first to set up the Italian wine pavilion during the ‘International Wine and Spirits Show’ in Chengdu. This partnership with 1919 and the fabulous Gala Dinner with Italian wine producers celebrate Vinitaly’s long-lasting commitment to Chengdu and we are looking forward to what future collaborations will bring.”

The 1919 O2O platform numbers over 1,000 physical stores in 500 cities in China, being present also in every Chinese province. The 1919 is the largest O2O open platform for wine and spirits and the third biggest liquor open platform next to Tmall and JD, attracting more than 1500 well-known brands (e.g Maotai, Wuliangye, Luzhou Laojiao and Penfolds) to join. In November 2015, 1919 announced its strategic merger with GJW.com. On the Singles’ Day 2015 (also known as Double 11), the sales volume of 1919 was 157 million, ranking it first in the industry. In 2016, Double 11,1919 won the first line of liquor sales, with overall sales of 451 million.

The focus of the agreement between Vinitaly International and 1919, this time, is on the most innovative ways of distribution, relying on traditional distribution, on online distribution, and on distribution through App. At the core of it, are also over 100 distributors orbiting around 1919 that will meet Italian wine producers and importers to exhibit in Chengdu from 19 to 22 March during Vinitaly Chengdu.

To celebrate this new partnership, Vinitaly Chengdu’s fourth edition will include a fabulous Gala Dinner as one of the most important events of this year’s edition. On March 20th in the evening, Vinitaly International Academy and 1919 will join forces at the elegant Intercontinental Hotel in Chengdu. The guests of honor for this fabulous event will be Italian wine producers and Chinese importers. The dinner will feature specialty Chinese food — Chengdu being one of the food capitals of China and the second most visited city by Chinese food and wine tourists according to the latest study by e-booking travel agency C-trip.

Chengdu is also the capital of the Sichuan province and is mentioned several times in Marco Polo’s travel book Il Milione (The Milllion). At the dinner, 40 producers and 100 distributors will seat together divided up in 20 tables with ten people per table. At every table, two Italian wine producers will showcase their wines to the Chinese distributors. This dinner will be the perfect occasion to combine the excellence of Italian wine with that of Chinese cuisine.

Stevie Kim, Vinitaly International’s managing director states: “This isn’t the first time 1919 has appeared on our agenda. Andrew Tan, Managing Director of Shanghai 1919 Global procurement CO., LTD, highlighted the importance of an effective logistics system in the successful on-line/off-line business, 1919 at our Vinitaly showcase wine2wine Asia last year. At the time, Mr Tan revealed that an average of just 60 square meters of retail space with 600-700 wine labels, 1919 can deliver a bottle of wine, chilled, within 19 minutes in 500 cities throughout China. Today, they are present with over 1,000 stores, in 500 cities distributed throughout all provinces. The projected growth for 1919 is exponential and 1919 seems to be a solid choice for us to extend the knowledge of Italian Wine through our Vinitaly International Academy and we are honoured.”

Vinitaly Chengdu will take place for the second year in the Shangri-la Hotel with a more numerous representation compared to 2014. In that year, Vinitaly International had made its way back to China to attend Tangjuhui, the most important week for wine and spirits distribution in China, in an event that took place in the Kempinski Hotel, the temple of wine distribution and import in China. Last year together with partners Shenzhen Pacco Cultural Communication who devised the Kempinski Hotel showcase, Vinitaly International decided to open up a new chapter at the Shangri-La Hotel for four days of B2B quality events with fine wines and wine education.

This year three Vinitaly International Academy seminars will take place, starting from the inauguration, a masterclass dedicated to wines such as Brunello and Amarone with Vinitaly International Academy’s Italian Wine Expert Jinglin Zhang.

Vinitaly International is committed to put education at the center, and the b2b aspect at the service of Italian wine to help it find a main role in a difficult market.
The agreement between Vinitaly International and 1919, the Chinese leaders in distribution, signed on March 10th marks the beginning of future collaborations. Retracing Marco Polo’s Silk Road, 1919 will also be present beside Vinitaly International in Verona on April 8th for OperaWine and a special session dedicated at Vinitaly on the 10th of April. The collaboration will continue also in May in China.

About:

Veronafiere is the leading organizer of trade shows in Italy including Vinitaly (http://www.vinitaly.com), the largest wine and spirits fair in the world. During its 50th edition Vinitaly counted more than 4,100 exhibitors on a 100,000+ square meter area and 130,000 visitors from 140 different countries. The next edition of the fair will take place on 9 – 12 April 2017. The premier event to Vinitaly, OperaWine (http://www.operawine.it) “Finest Italian Wines: 100 Great Producers,” will unite international wine professionals on April 8th in the heart of Verona, offering them the unique opportunity to discover and taste the wines of the 100 Best Italian Producers, as selected by Wine Spectator. Since 1998 Vinitaly International travels to several countries such as Russia, China, USA and Hong Kong thanks to its strategic arm abroad, Vinitaly International. In February 2014 Vinitaly International launched an educational project, the Vinitaly International Academy (VIA) with the aim of divulging and broadcasting the excellence and diversity of Italian wine around the globe. VIA this year launched the second edition of its Certification Course and today counts 55 Italian Wine Ambassadors and 6 Italian Wine Experts.

Vinitaly Hong Kong closes with the coronation of two Italian Wine Experts and a Wine Ambassador

December 8, 2016 by evebushman

The 7th edition of Vinitaly Hong Kong put wine education as the main focus of the promotional activities during the Hong Kong Wine and Spirits Fair. Ian D’Agata, Scientific Director of Vinitaly International Academy, in fact, conducted a number of Vinitaly International Academy (VIA) Executive Wine Seminars as well as other educational tastings, while wine2wine Asia provided educational and networking opportunities for exhibitors. VIA students living in Asia came to Hong Kong prepared to sustain their final oral exam administered by Ian D’Agata. Two VIA students, Jinglin Zhang (Beijing) and Wai Xin Chan (Singapore) were named Italian Wine Experts, while Shirley Tan (Shanghai) achieved level two Italian Wine Ambassador.

Ian D’Agata was pleasantly surprised by the results and remarked, “the level of proficiency that I witnessed during the oral exam of both Wai Xin Chan and Jinglin Zhang were nearly the best or best that I have seen since the academy opened.” He added, “perhaps the most wonderful aspect of VIA, is the community that is being created through the shared experience of Italian wine education. All over the world, VIA students are connecting and making lasting friendships.”

Wai Xin Chan from Singapore, left a career in Information Technology and dove into the wine world, where he has established himself as a successful wine communicator. Among his qualifications, Wai Xin is a Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW) and a French Wine Scholar (FWS). Wai Xin attended the Academy in Verona, last March 2015, and was the first to be awarded the title of Italian Wine Ambassador in South East Asia. He also reports on the local wine scene in a number of Singapore magazine and on-line publications

Jinglin Zhang, left North Eastern China for studies in France. She holds a bachelor’s degree in International Business and went on to obtain a master degree in Marketing. She holds a WSET level 4 diploma, currently works at Berry Bros & Rudd in London and recently launched a new blog, “When Bach Meets Barolo”. She has a passion for wines from smaller producers, and hopes to start an export business with e-commerce distribution back home in China.

Shirley Tan got her start in the wine business as a sales manager with Veuve Clicquot China. After six years with the LVMH group, she went on to launch a successful Wine import and distribution company, East Meets West Fine Wines (EMW) in 2003. After 10 years of rapid expansion, she relinquished her stakes in the company to found the China Knot Consulting firm. China Knot has worked with various wine organizations and businesses, including Istituto Grandi Marchi, Decanter, Gaja, Pio Cesare and more.

The third and final day of Vinitaly Hong Kong opened with the last session of wine2wine Asia, the educational business forum dedicated to exhibitors and visiting wine industry professionals. Debra Meiburg MW moderated “ABC to wine trade in China” with Jonathan Mather, Hong Kong based ASC Fine Wines Import, Giulia Chen Federexport, Alan Hung Executive Director PACCO and Chengdu Shangri La organizer, Shirley Tan China Knot Ltd., Fabio Piccoli Wine Meridian.

JC Viens, founder of Grande Passione and a VIA Italian Wine Ambassador, ran the third day of back-to-back wine tastings with hardly a seat empty. True to the name of his company, he brought “grande passione” to each session, with an approach to wine that offers technical “pro” insight while at the same time, involving the audience with story telling, colourful anecdotes, and folklore.

Stevie Kim, Managing Director of Vinitaly International, is pleased to see the positive reception of the various initiatives that Vinitaly International was able to bring to Hong Kong this year. She explains, “At Vinitaly Hong Kong, in addition to the traditional B2B booths represented by Italian Wineries, we were able to finally connect the dots and connect to the world by showcasing both wine2wine and the Vinitaly International Academy. Spreading the gospel about Italian Wine in this part of the world is often challenging, especially compared with the wines from French or the New World, and hence can be aided by adding a touch of “La Dolce Vita”.”

Made-in-Italy was also the protagonist of the Vinitaly Lounge where attendees were able to taste some typical Italian food thanks to the collaboration with TUTTOFOOD Milano World Food Exhibition with whom Vinitaly International will be carrying out a number of initiatives in 2017.

“We hope that the Vinitaly Lounge with Italian Food and Lifestyle setting, coupled with Vinitaly Wine Bar represented by awardees from 5StarWines, engaged the attendees enough to trigger further interest in the Italian Wine community and hopefully have them also come visit Italy,” adds Stevie Kim, concluding, with a tongue in cheek, “when more attendees come to visit Italian Wineries, to discover its territory, it is one step further toward making America great again.”

wine2wine Asia sessions were recorded live and can still be viewed on our Facebook page: @vinitalyinternational

About:
Veronafiere is the leading organizer of trade shows in Italy including Vinitaly (http://www.vinitaly.com), the largest wine and spirits fair in the world. During its 49th edition, Vinitaly counted some 4,000 exhibitors on a 100,000 square meter area and 150,000 visitors including 2,600 journalists from 46 different countries. The next edition of the fair will take place on 10 – 13 April 2016. The premier event to Vinitaly, OperaWine (http://www.vinitalyinternational.com) “Finest Italian Wines: 100 Great Producers,” will unite international wine professionals on April 9th in the heart of Verona, offering them the unique opportunity to discover and taste the wines of the 100 Best Italian Producers, as selected by Wine Spectator. Since 1998, Vinitaly International has traveled to several countries such as Russia, China, USA and Hong Kong thanks to its strategic arm abroad, Vinitaly International. In February 2014, Vinitaly International launched an educational project, the Vinitaly International Academy (VIA), with the aim of divulging and broadcasting the excellence and diversity of Italian wine around the globe. VIA has now also organized its very first Certification Course with the aim of creating new Ambassadors of Italian Wine in the World.