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Italian Flavor Forum IX
Loris Scagliarini – May 20, 2008
Photos by L. Scagliarini

Introduction • The Event • The Buyers' Feedback • The Blind Tasting

	The top-of-the-bottle mini decanter, Centellino, featured on the invitation reproduced above, turned out to be the Best of Show product, with an average score of 98.5.

On May 14, 2008, San Francisco, the rest of the Bay Area, and the Sacramento Valley are in the midst of a heat wave which keeps almost some of the expected guests to the invitation-only Italian Flavor Forum IX, 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, from attending.

That said, the staff of WineCountry.IT had the opportunity to get to know the wine buyers and distributors who visited the show better. In addition, we were honored by the visit of the new Italian Consul General, Fabrizio Marcelli, who recently took office and is responsible for the West Coast consular jurisdiction, which includes an area many times the size of Italy, expanding from California to Alaska, Washington state, Oregon, Utah, Arizona, Nevada and Hawaii.

We had a long chat about the current state of the import business, which has been hit badly by the drop in value of the dollar, which makes everything imported more expensive, at a time when the US economy is in dire straits.

Click on the images above to see short videos featuring the Italian Flavor Forum IX

IFF IX

For the ninth Italian Flavor Forum we decided to change the layout for the wines. Instead of setting the wines in the order in which we would like to serve them, we divided both white and red wines by region and by variety, closing with 21 Sangiovese 100%, or Sangiovese-based wines. This way the guests have the opportunity to compare wines made with the same grapes, whose characteristics are affected by the terroir, environment, and winemaking techniques.

Azienda Agricola Barollo, guest of honor of the show, was brought to the Italian Flavor Forum IX
by the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce West, of Los Angeles, CA

First of all, the first table after checking in features the Azienda Agricola Barollo, from Treviso, in the North Eastern Veneto region of Italy, who presented four white wines: one Chardonnay DOC Piave, two Chardonnay IGT Veneto (Frater White and Vintage Zero), one Pinot Grigio IGT delle Venezie, and two red wines: a 100% Merlot and one Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon blend called Frater Red IGT Veneto.

Two sparkling Proseccos and 17 white wines followed the opening by Barollo

Following the Azienda Agricola Barollo we presented two varieties of Prosecco, the Brut and Extra Dry by Azienda Agricola Malibràn, one sparkling rosé and two sparkling red Lambrusco wines from Azienda Agricola Mauro Zini, 17 white wines from seven different Italian regions, 42 red wines from eight regions and three dessert wines from as many regions.

One frothy rosè and two frothy red Lambruscos are offered after the whites and before the dry red wines

All together we presented 71 Italian quality boutique wines. The breakdown by region of the wines presented, is the following:

• Tuscany, 31 wines,
• Piedmont, 10 wines,
• Veneto, 10 wines,
• Sardinia, 5 wines
• Friuli Venezia Giulia, 5 wines,
• Campania 4 wines,
• Emilia Romagna, 3 wines
• Apulia, 3 wines

WineCountry.IT's Cinzia Mandati pours a Primitivo di Manduria using
the Centellino, the amazing top-of-the-bottle decanter made in Tuscany.

We also presented two organic extra virgin olive oils from Apulia and one from Tuscany in addition to balsamic vinegar from Modena from the Emilia Romagna region. Alberto Malvestio, owner of the gelateria (ice cream parlor) Al Mare Gelato in Berkeley, presented vanilla or strawberry gelato (Italian for ice cream) with 32-year old traditional balsamic vinegar from my private stock, and Fior di Latte gelato with organic extra virgin olive oil and kosher salt.

Another successful product which scored 95 points average, turned out to be the balsamic vinegar from Modena. This is a new product line of 12-year-old, for which WineCountry.IT is currently conducting a study to give it a marketing name, create the logo, and design the label appositely for the US market.

The new line of aged balsamic vinegar from Modena, for which WineCountry.IT is currently devising the name, logo and label especially for the US market, to emphasize the true origin and quality of the product, comes in a special, cone-shaped, 250 ml bottle. Please note the thickness of the aged vinegar, as it slides slowly down in the bottle after being poured. This is the result of long years of ageing in small, aromatic wood barrels.
Find out more about how the original balsamic vinegar from Modena is produced.
Download original recipes featuring the balsamic vinegar from Modena.

Of course, we poured all the red wines using the Centellino, the amazing top-of-the-bottle decanter that WineCountry.IT imports from Tuscany.

Pouring Caliscana Sangiovese wine with the top-of-the-bottle decanter, Centellino

The feedback sheets which were filled in and returned by many guests showed wide appreciation for all products presented, with the exception of one guest who tasted most of the wines, awarding 20 to 60 points to most of them. Amazingly enough, though, the wine-stained feedback form is filled with appreciative notes such as "good", "cool", "OK", so I don't know how to take this. In any case, we added the evaluations as is to calculate the average score.

The Buyers' Feedback

Guests compare notes and exchange opinions about our wines

The Best of the Show

• Best Overall Product:
  Centellino top-of-the-bottle hand-blown decanter imported from Tuscany.
• Best White Sparkling Wine:
  Ruio – Valdobbiadene Prosecco DOC Spumante Brut, produced by Azienda Agricola Malibrán, from Veneto
• Best Red and Rosé Sparkling Wine:
  Rosato Italiano IGT 2007, produced by Azienda Agricola Mauro Zini, from Emilia Romagna
• Best Dry White Wine:
  Verduzzo DOC Colli Orientli del Friuli 2005, produced by Azienda Agricola Mosolo Gleni, from Friuli Venezia Giulia
• Best Dry Red Wine:
  Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Riserva La Togata 2001, produced by Tenuta La Carlina s.a.s., from Tuscany
• Best Dessert Wine:
  Tres Montes Moscato di Sorso Sennori DOC, produced by Romangia Società Cooperativa, from Sardinia
• Best Extra Virgin Olive Oil:
  Olivolo Extra Virgin Olive Oil IGP Toscana, produced by Azienda Agricola Buccelletti - Casali in Val di Chio, from Tuscany, and
  Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil DOP Dauno, produced by Azienda Agricola Masseriola, from Apulia, with 92 points average each.
  

WineCountry.IT Jenny Snodgrass (left) explains the characteristics of the wines she pours to a client.

Italian Flavor Forums offer the opportunity to socialize, taste, and planning what to purchase.

The Blind Tasting

One Italian and six US experts participated in the blind tasting face-off between three California and three Italian wines.

The California wines:

1. Barbera 2003, by Kunde Estate
2. Il Brigante 2002 (Cabernet / Merlot blend), by Castello di Amorosa, produced by Suttui for the new Castello di Amorosa label.
   [Castello di Amorosa is the realization of a dream for Daryl Suttui, owner of the vineyards and popular picnic area at V. Sattui Winery, on Highway 29, between the towns of Rutherford and Saint Helena. The construction of Calistoga's Castello di Amorosa was completed by Paolo Ardito, an old friend of mine from Bologna, Italy.]
3. Pinot Noir 2001, by Seven Lions Winery

The Italian wines:

1. Barbera D'asti DOC 2004 Superiore Vigna del Carlinet, By Poderi Rosso Giovanni
2. Barengo Toscana IGT 2004 (Sangiovese), by Tenuta La Carlina
3. Il Tempio Toscana IGT 2002, by Azienda agricola La Carletta

The experts who kindly accepted to be part of the jury are Loretta and M. C. Wong, wine buyers, Aaron Luna, wine expert, Nicola Barollo, Italian wine producer, Dominick Sebastiani, wine buyer for Wine Viking, Lisa Grzelak, wine lover, and Walter Vornbrock III, a wine writer and journalist.

The Blind Tasting

The winner turned out to be the Cabernet / Merlot Il Brigante 2002 by Castello di Amorosa with the average score of 7.314 on a ten scale point.

Unfortunately, two of the Italian wines had problems, the Super Tuscan Il Tempio was oxidated, and the Sangiovese Barengo was lightly corked, so it was practically one Italian Barbera facing off three select California wines.