CONVIVIUM
Table Talk with Food, Wine & Spirits Professionals
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Author ArchiveThe Slow Wine Guide of Italian wines in English has arrived in the US. Last week saw CPR staff embracing the Slow Food movement by hosting press, trade, interested consumers and 70 Italian wine producers at tasting events in New York and Chicago. The Slow Wine Guide adopts a new approach to wine criticism and looks at a variety of factors to evaluate wineries in their entirety, taking into consideration the wine quality, typicity and adherence to terroir, value for money, environmental sensitivity and ecologically sustainable viticultural practices. The innovative guide uses three symbols to evaluate each winery:
The level of interest and positive feedback from attendees has been terrific. Our clients at Slow Food headquarters in Bra, Italy are equally enthusiastic about their US audiences: “We are delighted. It was our first experience in the USA and we were pleased to meet with a very attentive, interested audience,” said Giancarlo Gariglio, one of the Chief Editors of the Slow Wine guide. “Both the trade and consumer audiences were engaged.” Fabio Giavedoni, the guide’s other Chief Editor, added “There is an attention here that is difficult to find in Italy, something that even our Italian producers noted. The quality of the questions and comments was excellent.” The Slow Wine guide is published in the USA by Chelsea Green and is available on amazon.com.   Related posts: Tags: Chicago, Italian wine, New York City, Slow Food, Wine The holidays sure have brought an onslaught of distracting delights, both office-based, in the form of daily cookies and cakes, and Web-based, in the form of the gift guides we pitch and assiduously scour for our own gift ideas. Added to those is the profusion of deal sites showcasing gifts tasty and trendy, outlandish and last-minute. Gilt Groupe deals take on a new luster when I sense they might satisfy one of my trickier gift recipients. Our own client, Kusmi Tea’s, website – I have to admit – has fulfilled much of my own last-minute gift list-checking. Kusmi gets my vote for the pretty presents award, at least under my Christmas tree. My favorite in the ‘outlandish’ category is probably A Small World’s ‘Favourite Experiential Gifts’ guide, which highlights such generous goodies as a Zero Gravity Flight on the Boeing 727-400 G Force One starting at $3,675 and the Momentum Adventure: trekking through mountain passes in Mongolia, crossing the deserts of Jordan, or canoeing through the Yukon… these are for the faint neither of heart nor of wallet. And so it’s a period of plenty… of receipts, daily distractions, calories and inspiration. From everyone at Colangelo & Partners, we wish for you all that it is also a period of plenty of warm moments with family and friends and of good food and drink, and the beginning of a joyful, prosperous New Year.  No related posts. Tags: gifts, holidays Slow Food Editore, the publishing arm of Slow Food, will publish its first-ever Slow Wine guide in the English language in January 2012. In lieu of the numerical ratings system common to many contemporary wine guides, the Slow Wine guide employs a comprehensive approach of visiting each and every winery at length, spending time with the owners and winemakers, and appraising the winery in is entirety, with a holistic view toward wine quality and value, sustainability, and the values of the Slow Food movement. To celebrate the arrival of this dynamic and distinctive new guide to US shores, Colangelo & Partners will host a series of events in late January and early February in NYC and Chicago for trade, press and consumers. Registration for an industry event in NYC is now open. An afternoon press briefing and walk-around tasting for press and trade will take place Monday, January 30 at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Manhattan. Registration is available at http://slowwinenyctrade.eventbrite.com/ For information about the industry event in Chicago and events for consumers in NYC and Chicago, watch this space. About Slow Food International Related posts:
Tags: Food, Slow Food, sustainability, Wine Last night I had the thoroughly gratifying experience of seeing the short comedy show, “Pig: A Restaurant,” at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Chelsea. The show is a one-woman spoof of modern restaurant culture that mocks to delectable excess such current trends as nose-to-tail dining, locavorism, celebrity chefs, food blogs, Twitter, pig-infused everything and Brooklyn. Actress Lauren Adams morphs from one hilarious foodie stereotype to the next without missing a beat. I think I lost count after her sixth or seventh (spot on) impersonation. For anyone who follows the NY food scene, this show is the best $5 you could spend on entertainment this month. You’ll think it was written with you in mind. “Pig: A Restaurant” will show again on November 17th at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre on West 26th St near 8th Ave. http://newyork.ucbtheatre.com/shows/view/2850 The “invitation”… No related posts. Tags: Food, restaurants, theater. locavore ‘Vinitaly In The World’ completed its 2011 United States tour with a full day of events at New York City’s Metropolitan pavilion on October 19. Over 500 members of the US wine trade and press attended the day’s events. The 2011 US tour also included a day of seminars and tastings on Monday, October 17 at the Italian Embassy in Washington, DC. This is the 14th international tour of Vinitaly. The 2011 tour includes Russia, the United States, China and Korea with representatives making a stop in Japan as well. Vinitaly in the World is dedicated to opening up the exciting world of new Italian wines, new vintages and other developments to US wine press and trade including importers, distributors, retailers, restaurateurs and sommeliers and conversely to educating Italian wine producers about the US market. This year’s tour featured more specialized seminars, including one entitled “How has social media added to the conversation about wines? Is there a place for standardization and what makes someone an authority?” Another seminar spoke to the difference that communications technologies have made in the wine business and how online sales are affecting the wine trade. Additionally, for the first time ever, the Worldwide Sommelier Association offered a master class was for sommeliers, featuring Italian indigenous varieties. Related posts:
Tags: Italian wine, Vinitaly, Wine Last week I had the pleasure of tasting a gorgeous array of wines from throughout the Rhone Valley at an early evening event at Capitale on the Lower East Side. Many of the wines I tasted were fairly young, nearly all quite pleasant, and one really stood out: a 2005 Gambert de Loche Hermitage Cave de Tain. Apart from the wine, what stands out in my memory is the sheer cleverness of the event set-up itself. “Flights and Flights” was the theme, which meant the entire event played upon the experiences of flight. The registration desk was fitted out with a airport-style check-in desk and even a fake illuminated board of flight departures. The entrance was a long, red carpet promenade lined with vintage suitcases. The welcome speech was given airline-style with clever admonitions, such as “do not fasten your seatbelts.” Entertainment integrated “flight,” as well, with aerialists and juggling balls, wine bottles, baguettes… I’ve seen this level of creativity at industry events before but rarely for the sort of wine region or trade organization from which I’d expect a standard early afternoon, walk-around tasting. I think the latter is an excellent vehicle for straightforward evaluation of wines to assist purchasing decisions or writing reviews. But I would love to see more “serious” wine trade presentations take a creative spin like this from Rhone Valley Wines. Erol Senel describes the event in more poetic detail (and with photos!) on his blog, Senel Wine at http://senelwine.com/2011/09/28/the-sensuality-of-the-rhone/ No related posts. Tags: red wine, Rhone wine, wine tasting This October, Italian wine lovers, producers, and writers will gather with their trade partners-in-wine to celebrate the US arrival of the Vinitaly in the World Tour. The US Tour will begin in Washington DC with a day of exclusive trade and press tastings and business seminars on Monday, October 17th at the Italian Embassy. The tour will move to New York City on October 18th with a fundraiser, open to the public and held in cooperation with the American Cancer Society. Events will conclude with a final day of tastings and business seminars for the wine trade and press at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York City. This year the seminar themes will be: ‘Technology and Innovation in the Wine Industry’, geared toward importers and distributors and ‘Scoring and the Media’s Influence on Consumer Purchase Habits’, geared toward restaurateurs and retailers. There will also be a seminar educating Italian producers on the workings of the United States market, dedicated tastings featuring the wines of Sicily and Morellino di Scansano, and a special Master Class with the Italian Sommelier Society (AIS) for sommeliers and wine educators. Vinitaly is the largest wine fair in the world with over 4,500 producers and 150,000+ visitors annually. The event is held every year in April in Verona, Italy (46th edition: Verona March 25-28, 2012).This year marks the 14th international tour for Vinitaly. The tour will be stopping in Russia, China and Korea with representatives making a stop in Japan as well. Press and trade registration for the Washington DC and New York City events is now available at the following links: For more information about the Vinitaly in the World Tour, please visit http://www.vinitalytour.com/ Related posts:
Tags: Italy, sommelier, Vinitaly, Wine |
