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Italian Flavor Forum VII
Loris Scagliarini – May 24, 2007
Photos by L. Scagliarini, B. Solé-March
Introduction • The Event • The Buyers' Feedback • Producers & Products
Our seventh invitation-only trade show organized in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Italian Flavor Forum VII, took place on May 21, 2007 at the Museo ItaloAmericano (Italian American Museum), located in the Landmark Building C of Fort Mason, in the heart of the cool San Francisco Marina district. We were blessed with gorgeous weather. The warm, sunny day, cooled by a pleasant breeze made the day for sailboat buffs and wind surfers who took advantage of it in the water of the bay.
As background to the wine and gourmet products tasting, we had the Museum exhibition featuring illustrations from Dante's Inferno by the late Italian artist Luisa Petruni Cellai, entitled Terra D'Inferno (Land Of Hell).
The Event
The venue was perfect. David Jones, chairman of Grand Harvest Award, a vineyards and winery management magazine published in Santa Rosa, commented that the Museo ItaloAmericano environment helped guests concentrate more on the wine.
This time around we presented 58 wines, including three sparkling white and one sparkling red, 15 dry whites, 35 dry red and four dessert wines. We lowered the number of wines offered compared to the previous Italian Flavor Forum VI, in order to concentrate on the wines that we believed offered the best price/quality ratio. The regions represented were:
In addition to extra virgin olive oil from Tuscany, Apulia, and Veneto, we presented the tasty black and green olive spreads from Veneto, Traditional Balsamic Vinegar from Modena and a line of olive oil-based body products.
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We also officially presented the Centellino, using it on top of all red wines and some white wines. I personally enjoyed hopping behind the tasting table at times to give some of the guests the test of tasting first the wine poured from the bottle, then from the same bottle, using the Centellino and observe their surprised expressions. This new wine accessory is truly the best that we have tried for aerating the wine instantly. By cascading down into the 100ml bubble, then filling the glass with it, the wine arrives at the palate with its flavor and aromas amazingly opened, even if the bottle was opened just minutes before. This was very evident during the event we had a special tasting with Melanie and Don Moffett of MDM Distribution, their business associates from Missouri, Darrin Sander of Roy's Restaurant, and a few other select guests. We opened a bottle of Brunello di Montalcino La Togata Riserva 1999 and tasted it poured from the bottle, then using the Centellino. Everyone was truly amazed by the difference between the first and second tasting, when the wine had opened up, it was able to reveal its character and complexity, as it would have done decanting for a couple of hour in a traditional decanter.
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The other characteristic which I love about the Centellino, is the fact that it allows the drinker to see which wine is being poured, which is totally missed using a traditional decanter.
Another new product, presented for the first time in the US at the Italian Flavor Forum VII is the Noccio Olio, by Piedmontese Azienda Agricola Sama. This is 100% pure hazelnut oil obtained by cold crushing either fresh, or toasted hazelnut, the last one giving the oil a stronger taste and aroma.
The guests showed appreciation for the venue, which we used for the first time, but are planning to use again in the future.
The Buyers Feedback
| We asked our guests, all wine and food professional buyers, to please judge the products using the following 100-point scale. |
- 95-100 = Excellent
- 90-94 = Very Good
- 80-89 = Good
- 70-79 = Average
- 50-69 = Not recommended
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Best of the Show
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Below we provide the best of show for each cathegory of products presented:
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Should you be interested in purchasing the products featured in this article, please use the links provided below to contact the right person.
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Producers & Products
Below please find the list of associated producers and products presented at the Italian Flavor Forum VII:
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- Italian Flavor Forum IX
Museo ItaloAmericano,
Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Italian Flavor Forum VIII
Museo ItaloAmericano,
Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Italian Flavor Forum VII
Museo ItaloAmericano,
Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Italian Flavor Forum VI
Golden Gate Yatch Club,
San Francisco, CA, USA
- Italian Flavor Forum V
Golden Gate Yatch Club,
San Francisco, CA, USA
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- Italia Gourmet Show /
Italian Flavor Forum IV
Forth Mason,
San Francisco, CA, USA
- Italian Flavor Forum III
Consulate General of Italy,
San Francisco, CA, USA
- Italian Flavor Forum II
Golden Gate Yatch Club,
San Francisco, CA, USA
- Premiere of the Italian Flavor Forum
Giorgio Ristorante Italiano,
Greenbrae, CA, USA
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