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Italian Flavor Forum News

• Italian Flavor Forum VIII
  Museo ItaloAmericano, San Francisco, CA
  Loris Scagliarini – November 15, 2006
  Our eighth invitation-only trade show organized in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Italian Flavor Forum VIII, took place on November 14, 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.
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• Italian Flavor Forum VII
  Museo ItaloAmericano, San Francisco, CA
  Loris Scagliarini – May 24, 2006
  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.
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• Italian Flavor Forum VI
  Golden Gate Yacht Club, San Francisco, CA
  Loris Scagliarini – November 24, 2006
  The Italian Flavor Forum VI, or our sixth invitation-only trade show organized in the San Francisco Bay Area, took place on November 21, 2006 at the Golden Gate Yacht Club, located at the end of the pier at One Yacht Road, in the heart of the Marina district. The weather was gorgeous and it was a pleasure looking out the windows at the bay, with the rock of Alcatraz to the right and the glowing orange structure of the majestic Golden Gate Bridge to the left. Actually, it was so hot through the glass windows that poor Lionello Rosso, owner of Poderi Rosso and producer of the excellent Barberas d'Asti DOC, as well as of the gorgeous Barbera and Cabernet Sauvignon Monferrato Doc Infinito (Endless), had to ask for some kind of shading, as his back was to the west in the bright sunny afternoon.
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• Italian Flavor Forum V
  Golden Gate Yacht Club, San Francisco, CA
  Loris Scagliarini – June 29, 2006
  For the Italian Flavor Forum V we returned to one of our favorite locations by the San Francisco Bay, the Golden Gate Yacht Club, located at the end of the pier at One Yacht Road, in the heart of the Marina district.
  
  We enjoy the place so much, and the comments from our guests were so positive that we have already reserved the Commodore room for the Italian Flavor Forum VI, to be held on November 21, 2006.
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• Italia Gourmet Show / Italian Flavor Forum IV
  Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA
  Loris Scagliarini – March 20, 2006
  The premiere Italia Gourmet Show, which included the fourth Italian Flavor Forum, took place on March 14, and 15, 2006 at Fort Mason's Landmark Building 'A', in San Francisco, CA.
  
  Over 300 business professionals, including importers, distributors, brokers, restauranteurs, wine bars, resellers, wine collectors and trade writers visited the show tasting the about 100 products presented by 38 producers from ten Italian regions.
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• Italian Flavor Forum III
  Consulate General of Italy, San Francisco, CA
  Loris Scagliarini – January 13, 2006
  When I awoke the morning of Wednesday, January 11, 2006 the rain was drumming down on the roof of our wooden bungalow and I felt my heart sink. Nonetheless, always the positive thinker that I am, I told myself that that was just what the weather report had said: rain at night and into the morning, by noon turning to cloudy and, by 3:00 PM, the sun would actually show up. Looking out the window at the little stream running through our backyard, I saw the muddy water was running fast and was close to overflowing. I had to make an effort to keep my spirits up.
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• Italian Flavor Forum II
  Golden Gate Yacht Club, San Francisco, CA
  Loris Scagliarini – October 27, 2005
  Wednesday, October 19, 2005 was an unusual beautiful sunny day for this time of year in San Francisco. The sky was blue and there was no trace of the fog that had enveloped the Bay the day before and would the day after, to hide the fabolous view of the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz or the Marin Headlands across the bridge. We took it as a very good omen for the Italian Flavor Forum II.
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• Premiere of the Italian Flavor Forum
  Giorgio Ristorante Italiano, Greenbrae, CA
  Loris Scagliarini – May 30, 2005
  As people in the US celebrate the Memorial Day weekend and over 1,000 wineries all over the Italian boot open their doors to the masses for the Cantine Aperte (Open Wineries) event on Sunday, May 29, in Italy, we are compiling the results from the premiere of Italian Flavor Forum, held Wednesday, May 25th in the San Francisco Bay Area.
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• Vitigni Autoctoni (Italian Native Vines):
  Witness to the Past and Protagonists of the Future
  Rosa D'Ancona – June 10, 2005
  Rosa D'Ancona, journalist and wine expert from Sicily, starts a new, interesting column introducing and explaining the roughly 350 Italian Vitigni Autoctoni, or Italian native vines, taking us on fascinating journeys across Italy, touching on each region and presenting all of the native grapes, from the 'ubiquitous' ones, such as the famed Sangiovese, that is found in many central regions, to the very local, such as Sagrantino, that is found just in one zone of the small Umbria region. It will be a long, engaging trip into the fascinating traditions of the Italian wine world. Kick back and enjoy every single installment.
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• Aosta Valley Native Vines
  Rosa D'Ancona – January 31, 2007
  "Difficult and heroic", thus could be defined viticulture in the Aosta Valley.
  
  History diverges on how viticulture was introduced into the region. On one hand there are some who believe that the Romans were responsible for the introduction of the first vines. On the other hand, there are those who believe that the plant was already present in the region long before the Romans showed up, and that it was known to the natives Salassi.
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• Piedmont Native Vines
  Rosa D'Ancona – December 23, 2006
  Despite the crises that have hit the wine world in Italy and worldwide in recent years, the Piedmontese enological sector is doing rather well. Given the current critical global situation, this regions' wines are facing marketing difficulties, however they are nowhere close to the hardships faced by other Italian and international wine production zones.
  
  Such positive results are mostly due to the production philosophy adopted by the whole regional wine sector, which is ever more focused on turning out high quality products, in all price ranges and for all the wine varieties, based on both international and native vines.
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• Lombardy Native Vines
  Rosa D'Ancona – November 1, 2006
  Though Lombardy is known worldwide as the Italian industrial and service hub, the region has a rich agricultural legacy, of which wine constitutes a sizable part.
  
  The vitiviniculture tradition in this regions has very ancient roots, reaching as far back as the Etruscans, the Euganei and the Romans. In fact, Roman writers such as Catullo and Virgil, among others, wrote about the quality of Lombard wines.
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• Trentino Alto Adige Native Vines
  Rosa D'Ancona – April 1, 2007
  When someone mentions the Trentino region the first thing that comes to mind is the apples, however, despite the fact that apple orchards provide the main regional specialty crop, viticulture has carved a respectable niche for itself. Thanks to the strong terroir characteristics of its wines, the regional enological products compare favorably and hold their own, both in the Italian and the international markets.
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• Friuli Venezia Giulia Native Vines
  Rosa D'Ancona – July 1, 2007
  Friuli Venezia Giulia is among the most prominent Italian regions in the national and international world of wine thanks to the combination of a variety of factors. First of all, there is an excellent synergy among climate, vine and terroir, as well as an abundant use of a variety of of native varieties, some of which date back around 2000 years. In addition, the production quantity remains fairly low, but is more and more focused on high quality wines, thanks to the implementation of innovative techniques in the vineyards as well as in the cellars.
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• Veneto Native Vines
  Rosa D'Ancona – May 15, 2007
  With its 78,000 hectares (over 192,742 acres) of vineyards and an average yearly production of 8,825 million hectoliters (over 223 million gallons) of wine, Veneto is among the largest wine producing regions in Italy.
  
  Thanks to the great environmental variety, the respect and, in certain cases, the recuperation of ancient native vines at risk, and above all, to the dynamism of its producers, this region provides a great variety of high quality, valuable wines. The positive energy of the vitivinicultural sector of this region is reflected in the three DOCG, 22 DOC, and nine IGT wines produced.
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• Liguria Native Vines
  Rosa D'Ancona – March 1, 2007
  Along with olives, viticulture is among the most ancient and widespread agricultural activities in Liguria. In this region the olive groves and the vineyards thrive on the the ridges overlooking the Mediterranean, as well as in the interior, in particular on the terraced hillsides that characterize the the regional viticulture. They are the legacy of tireless efforts by generations of farmers.
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• Emilia-Romagna Native Vines
  Rosa D'Ancona – August 30, 2006
  The Emilia-Romagna region is possibly the most famous Italian food valley, both nationally and world wide. It is not by chance that the regional capital, Bologna, was known in the Middle Ages as La Grassa (The Fat One, as even in those hard times, good healthful food and wine of similar quality were rarely absent even upon the poorest dinner tables.
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• Tuscan Native Vines
  Rosa D'Ancona – July 16, 2006
  Tuscany is a world famous wine region, whose historic links to the cultivation and development of vitiviniculture can be traced back to Etruscan and Roman times. Currently, the region is at the forefront among the wine production zones which act as international ambassador for the wines made in Italy.
  
  With the alternating of hills, valleys and Mediterranean coastline, the regional landscape appears to be made to order for vine growing. Additionally, there's the large number of vine types grown in the region, where the native varieties have achieved excellent results, and the international vines have produced successful wines on the world market.
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• Marche Native Vines
  Rosa D'Ancona – June 1, 2006
  The roots of viticulture in the Marche region of Italy are more than just ancient. In fact, fossil remains of vitis vinifera dating back to the Iron Age have been found in archeological digs in the province of Ascoli Piceno. Furthermore, the fame of local wines is celebrated in ancient documents.
  
  In Roman times, the 'Vino Piceno' (Wine from the Piceno area) was well known throughout the empire and the white Verdicchio wine was already fairly appreciated.
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• Latium Native Vines
  Rosa D'Ancona – May 1, 2006
  Vitiviniculture in the Latium region has roots in truly ancient times, dating as far back as to the Etruscans, who were known to have grown vines in what's currently the Viterbo province. During the Roman times though, Rome became the imperial capital and vine growing was further developed and spread throughout the whole region.
  
  Vine and olive groves found their ideal environment in the volcanic soil of the Castelli Romani (Roman Castles) area, where their cultivation was mentioned in works by the poets, Tibullo, Orazio and Catullo, as well as in more scientific writings of the time, such as the Naturalis Historia (Natural History) by Plinio the Elder.
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• Umbria Native Vines
  Rosa D'Ancona – April 1, 2006
  Viticulture in the Umbria region has deeply rooted traditions. many archeological findings reveal that two different civilizations, the Etruscan and the Umbri, cultivated vines in the area long before the arrival of the Romans. Another indication of the natural inclination of this region for winemaking, is the fact that in course of time several native vine varieties developed locally, such as Grechetto, Verdello, Drupeggio, Procanico, Trebbiano Spoletino and various types of Malvasia, among the white grapes, and Sagrantino, Sangiovese and Ciliegiolo among the red grapes.
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• Campania Native Vines
  Rosa D'Ancona – March 1, 2006
  The Campania region has played a truly important part in the evolution of viticulture and worldwide enology, with a vine-growing tradition that dates back to the 13th century BC. Most likely the first vines were brought to this region by the ancient Greeks. Viticulture was then further developed by the Romans who, more than any other civilization, contributed to spreading the culture of vine growing and winemaking.
  
  The archeological sites of Ercolano and Pompei offer one of the most important insights into the everyday life of the Roman times. In those towns, frozen in time by the sudden lava eruption of nearby Vesuvio volcano, the symbols and references to enology are among the most recurrent.
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• Abruzzo Native Vine
  Rosa D'Ancona – November 15, 2005
  Though Abruzzo is well known for its pristine environment, having earned the definition of 'Regione Verde d’Europa' ('European Green Region'), few know that viticulture was introduced in this region by the Etruscans in the Sixth or Seventh century B.C.. Viticulture knowledge and techniques were passed from generation to generation and improved upon over the course of time, making Abruzzo currently the fifth largest wine producing region of Italy.
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• Molise Native Vines
  Rosa D'Ancona – December 15, 2005
  Vine cultivation in the Molise region was already practiced by the ancient Samnites, who produced wine and other fermented drinks, having learned the trade from the Greeks and the Etruscans.
  
  Though vine growing has had its ups and downs in the history of this region, the particularly favorable climate has contributed to establishing an interesting wine culture.
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• Apulia Native Vines
  Rosa D'Ancona – January 28, 2006
  As a result of the re-qualification and re-evaluation process of the unique Apulia region vitivinicultural legacy, promoted by local producers and public administrators, the regional wines have met with the favor of the Italian and international markets in recent years. In addition, the current trend has attracted attention and investment from Northern Italian entrepreneurs. This is a true rebirth for the wine producing sector, one which was unimaginable just 20 years ago,. Back then just a very small amount of wine was bottled and most product was shipped up north, where it was used in several quality blends.
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• Basilicata Native Vine
  Rosa D'Ancona – October 1, 2005
  As mentioned in the introduction to this column, wine is part of the cultural heritage of a region and its inhabitants.
  Basilicata is certainly among the Italian regions that have long promoted wine quality appreciation among the various market players, including end users or consumers, making detailed information about the variety of grapes produced and particular local situations affecting wine production available to them.
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• Calabria Native Vines
  Rosa D'Ancona – September 1, 2005
  This Italian region has been well known for the quality of the local grapes and wines since time immemorial, so much so that in Ancient Greece they were awarded as prizes to the Olympic winners. This is the region that was first called Enotria, or 'Land of Wine', the name that ultimately defined Italy for the Ancient Greeks. We are talking about Calabria, the area whose viticulture and winemaking traditions are interwoven with the region's own history, which have been this way for thousands of years.
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• Sicilian Native Vines
  Rosa D'Ancona – June 29, 2005
  In the past, the majority of wines made with native Sicilian vines were used to produce either simple local wines, or sold in bulk to be used in northern Italian and French blends. Currently though, after years of hard work, local producers and administrators alike understand perfectly that, in order to sustain what is sometimes called the enological 'Sicilian Miracle', the industry must push the envelops with regards to unique and typical wines.
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• Sardinian Native Vines
  Rosa D'Ancona – July 31, 2005
  Sardinia is an Italian island with a splendid wine production area. In this region, viticulture represent an excellent mixture of cutting edge technology and centuries-old traditions which, we must emphasize, have been greatly influenced by the many invasions which the island underwent for centuries in the past.
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