Posted By Joel on February 8, 2010

Walk. Standstill. Then go. That was the name of game making my way down Lexington Ave. and across 45th…46th…47th street traffic. Intersections can be the most interesting of places: cross-street realities of different people, shapes, deportments, attitudes, and opinions. You can learn a good deal there if you tune-in.

The largest Italian wine event outside of Italy’s borders – VINO 2010 Italian Wine Week, held recently in New York City - proved to be an intersection of a different kind with producers, importers, distributors, industry leaders, bloggers, writers, foodies and a host of others convening to make the world of Italian wine go round.

A collaboration of the Italian Trade Commission, Italy’s regional governments, Vinitaly and Buonitalia, the VINO 2010 program included wine events, discussion panels, seminars, and tastings. I attended a Meet n’ Greet the Vintners gathering, the Italian Masters Grand Tasting and the Italian Wine Exchange Grand Tasting.

The panoramic scale of the Italian Masters and Wine Exchange tastings was staggering and gave testimony to Italy’s oenological complexity. The Italian Masters Tasting, featuring Tuscany and Prosecco, was staged by the Consortia representing producers of Brunello di Montalcino, Chianti Classico, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore. The Italian Wine Exchange Tasting featured producers and wines from all over Italy.

Meet n’ Greet the Vintners introduced attendees to Italian wines which have never before been imported in the US. The event was an excellent lens through which one could begin to comprehend just how many “undiscovered” wine producers of Italy stand ready to bring high quality, artisan wines into the US market. By the way, don’t form an impression of the undiscovered artisan winemaker as “newbie” for lack of a current import connection: I tasted some super wines from this group.

Between sips and hand-shakes flowed good discussion among many producers and attendees, with enthusiastic producers happily chatting away about wine, local tradition, history, terroir, people, etc., connections that reverberate an important, unique cultural message central to Italian wine.

There were a few characters whose interests seemed to orbit more around announcing their opinions of which wines they considered to be “the best”…or, more alarmingly, “the worst”. But, they were easy enough to spot and even easier to avoid Oh, well…at every intersection, there is always someone for whom it’s all just concrete and a light doing red, yellow, green.

Categories: Culture, Wine
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