Emozioni dal Mondo

The biggest emotion of the 8th International Oenological Competition “Emozioni dal Mondo Merlot e Cabernet Insieme” speaks Italian and comes from Trentino: The Great Gold Medal was awarded to the Trentino Cabernet Sauvignon by Vivallis s.c.a. (Rovereto –Trento – Italy).

18th to 20th October saw the eighth edition of the international wine competition "Emozioni dal Mondo: Merlot e Cabernet Insieme" (Emotions of the World: Merlot and Cabernet Together) take place in the city of Bergamo in the heart of the Valcalepio DOC region, which has been the exclusive the wine capital of the Bordeaux blend since 2005. This year’s edition took place in the Art Museum ALT, a disused cement factory in Alzano Lombardo not far from Bergamo.

Amazingly this competition is one of only five wine contests in Italy having an international content (NB: Italy has a population of over 50 million). This is organised by the local winemakers' guild Consorzio Tutela Valcalepio and is under the patronage of the O.I.V. – Organisation Internationale de la Vigne et du Vin – who were this year represented by Peter Hayes from Australia.

Enrico Rota, the Consorzio's President made the following statement during his opening address: "We hope that having given our committees the chance to taste in such a powerful and emotional space as ALT in Alzano Lombardo, contributed to increasing even more the emotional side of the tastings. We organized the tasting committees inside the old warehouse of ItalCementi renewed as an art museum ALT so as to welcome the art collection of the Radici Family.

"Indeed, this year we decided to celebrate the region's productivity at its best, demonstrating that Bergamo not only produces excellent wines and food specialities but also excellent products in other fields, cement for instance. This, as many others, is the perfect symbol of a land of workers, a land of producers who don’t neglect the importance of emotions,” added Sergio Cantoni, director of the Consorzio and the Vignaioli Bergamaschi.

213 samples took part coming from 15 countries. Seven tasting committees comprised of 75 tasters from the ranks of producers, technicians and journalists arriving from 30 countries. This year they awarded a single great gold medal which went to Cabernet Sauvignon 2006, Vivallis, Rovereto, Trentino DOC, Italy. 58 gold medals and 3 silvers were also given out. In line with the regulations of O.I.V, which allows for only 30% medals, no further silver medals were handed out.

Apart from the above-mentioned medals, every participating country has the opportunity to gain a journalists' prize, which is given only by those jury members who are journalists, to the best wine from each country represented (provided the wine achieves a minimum rating of 85 points). Our Baloun Winery from Velké Pavlovice thus again excelled by defending this special trophy Premio della Stampa from Bergamo, so far awarded every year, which was also a very emotional moment indeed.

Once again the work of the sommeliers during the tasting sessions was of the highest professional level. This was carried out by seven top sommeliers from Bergamo. They were perfectly attired in black, with a silver tastevin on a silver chain around their necks, the service was faultless, with humility and no polemics, unlike some of their grand Prague counterparts who spend more time criticising the wines rather than serving them.

Another really emotional experience was the Gala Dinner for 140 guests held at Taverna Colleoni in the old Alta Città (Upper Town) of Bergamo historical centre. It was a fine way of concluding the competition. The international guests also had the chance to admire the 100 charming chimes warning that the city gates are about to close in Piazza Vecchia - these bells ring out every night at 10 p.m.

Complete competition results: www.emozionidalmondo.it

Source: Press release Consorzio Tutela Valcalepio
Photo: Helena & John Baker

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