On march the 25th, the 49th edition of Vinitaly (one of the most important wine fairs in the world) has closedd the doors, after four days of meetings and crowds, exchanges and tastings, conferences and parties, projects and greetings, as well as celebrations, toasts, walkways, photos and videos, tweets and reviews, competitions, winners and losers, news and presentations, tips, discoveries and lines to get the shuttle, to park, at the toll.

A list like this could be enough to bring the chaos more or less organized of such a container, a fair greatly important, especially this year, in view of Expo 2015.

Vinitaly tells us an info: we cannot believe the institutions do not understand the real weight of wine&food sector otherwise this fair would not grow that much and politicians would not spend time, words, interviews in it. So, once there, they should see with their own eyes the potential and the degree of interest from all countries in the world. Then, a bit of responses are missing, the ones which would help agriculture to shine involving wine&food tourism too, activities which would help Italy to overcome the crisis for sure, it is not utopia!

Vinitaly is absolutely growing also thanks to the weight of exports that are more and more important for the all of the Italian wineries, please find here are some numbers related to this past edition:

• 150 thousand visitors with much more Far East (Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia)
• 2,600 journalists from 46 countries
• Professional (as buyers) from 140 countries (20 more than 2014)
• Over 4000 exhibitors

It represents Italy and its wine in miniature, one can range from a Sicilian product to a Venetian one, from Barolo to Taurasi, from Primitivo to Chianti, from Montepulciano to Vermentino in 10 minutes, the time to go from one pavilion to another one. Yet,  different guided tastings and some conventions went on.

Many of the conferences this year have focused on the (right) approach to some foreign markets of interest, such as the usual US one, which remains a crucial market for the most of the wineries, as well as Japan and China which -instead- require a different approach because of the cultural distance that has often caused some failures and requires the attention of those who actually live there and know local dynamics. This is why and how a recent and very interesting matter, Neuromarketing, has been introduced and  reported by the Italian professor mr. Vincenzo Russo, who has applied those studies to wine&food sector offering practical demonstrations right during the fair by the appropriate equipment capable of measuring perspiration, respiration, heart rate and so the real emotions one feels when tasting a wine. I voluntarily submitted to tests to better understand how emotions can influence our purchasing decisions, to put it briefly. The classical market research based on questionnaires or interviews seem to be weak because we are conditioned by too many factors, including cultural ones, and bring us to lie or really perceive somenthing differently sometimes, consciously but even unconsciously.

Regarding the wines, it would be impossible to mention the all, I’ll focus on some news:

• The new sparkling wine produced in Franciacorta area (north of Italy) by Villa Crespia winery: it is called “Millè”, vintage 2007, 100% Chardonnay in a turquoise packaging resulting original and young; a wine fresh and quite complex at the same time that ms. Michela Muratori and her staff promoted with a t-shirt “Millè addicted”! Smart as always!
• Ceraudo winery (from Calabria region, still southern Italy) has shown the good quality of the last vintage 2014 and, in particular, we have chatted about their news for Expo 2015 as the young ms Caterina, son of the owner, mr. Roberto, chef of their Michelin starred restaurant, will be protagonist of some of the culinary events in Milano.
• Yet Vinitaly becomes important showcase for a new wine of Tenuta Terre Nobili winery, located in Calabria – southern Italy: it is called “Ipazia”, stylish as all production of mrs. Lidia Matera, the owner.
• 2 are the news of the notorious winery “Feudi di San Gregorio” (still from Campania region, southern Italy), the white Biancolella typical of Ischia, island in front of Napoli along with Capri and Procida; and the red Piedirosso, both very young but very cool and pleasant. Successful experiments according to the very first evaluations of the winery itself!
• it is signed by Villa Sandi, very known winery located in Veneto (north-east of Italy) and it is called “Opere Serenissima”, the first sparkling wine produced by Classic Method according to the specifications created in 2011 by Veneto Region, where Prosecco with its Charmat method is more popular, congrats!
• I am not surprised that Icardi (from Piemonte region – north of Italy) ties its brand to Cottolengo: charity Insitute in Torino! (#jesuisunepersonne)
• “Le ali di Mercurio” (literally “(mr.) Mercurio’s wings”): the booth of the enologist mr. Vincenzo Mercurio with some of the wineries he follows in southern Italy as consultant. An important initiative: the south get together making the life easier especially to foreign visitors considering the size of the fair and its chaos as, this way, you could know more than 1 winery with one stop;
• Cerri Merry” by Tenuta Cavalier Pepe winery, which Mrs. Milena Pepe, released before but that here at the fair has fascinated Italians and foreigners: Aglianico wine flavored with cherry to drink as it is with dessert for example or as a base for long drinks adding tonic or sparkling wine. Energy from campania region (southern Italy).

Well, from this point of view you could find thousand Vinitaly, thousand fairs just depending on the author of the report and and then his/her personal tour, tastings and conferences… have fun!