Barolo, "Collisioni 2015" aims to the culture of wine

On Monday, 4th May, at Enoteca Regionale del Barolo, at 6:00 p.m., Ian D’Agata and Filippo Taricco present the new Wine Project of the Festival

Alongside the worldwide famous names of music, literature and performing arts, "Collisioni", this year more than ever, is preparing to bring to Barolo also the big names of wine.

Opinion leaders, journalists, buyers from the United States to Japan will arrive in the small town in the heart of the Langhe from 18th to 21st July on the occasion of the Festival that has established itself among the not to be missed events in the Italian summer.

It is the Wine Project, a highly prestigious and of international cultural format orchestrated by the Wine & Food Creative Director Ian D’Agata, an authoritative signature of Decanter and Vinous and Scientific Director of the Vinitaly International Academy.

So, along with Sting and Mark Knopfler, in the informal atmosphere of the Festival, wine writers and importers from all over the world and selected by D’Agata will meet, with particular attention to the US market and to emerging countries like China and Korea. In the historic village of Barolo, in effect, critics, market experts, sommeliers, journalists, buyers will interact in tasting and meetings with winemakers, wine–lovers and those who are curious about stories.

Three are the rooms that will be dedicated to study of the food and wine culture (Tempio dell’Enoturista, Enoteca Regionale del Barolo, Tasting Room del Castello).

On Monday, 4th May, at 6:00 p.m., at Enoteca Regionale del Barolo, Ian D’Agata and the artistic director of "Collisioni" Filippo Taricco will meet and discuss with the many producers who for years have been supporting the festival and with those who wish to take part in this new edition. A round table open to everyone to gather ideas and make improvements to a program which last year recorded the sold out in every tasting. The goal is to make know the wines of Piedmont to thousands of people who arrive in Barolo from all Italian regions and from abroad, but also to create moments of meeting and dialogue among producers, journalists, critics, buyers and opinion leaders.

«In thinking and creating the program – D’Agata days – my idea was to meet two requirements. On the one hand, lead to "Collisioni" the most important journalists and wine critics in the world, to deepen roots in the territory and establish a custom among the wine critics? international scene, the wines of Piedmont and their producers. On the other hand, I created panels of tastings and lectures understandable to the general public, dynamic and attractive meetings to involve thousands of fans who every year, from all over Italy and abroad, come to "Collisioni" also to discover the great Piedmont wines, learn how to taste them, to know the stories and the producers».

At "Collisioni" there will be, among others: Jeannie Lee Choo, by far the most important wine writer of the East, Bernard Burtschy, chief editor of Figaro Vin, and many Masters of Wine, like Pedro Ballesteros Torres, Susan Hulme and Charles Curtis. The Expert Panel of "Collisioni" is further enriched with the presence of some of the top sommeliers in the world, authentic opinion leaders such as Kathryn Morgan, Master Sommelier at the head of the Range, the most fashionable restaurant in Washington DC, Nicola Munari, head sommelier of Taillevent, from France, with two Michelin stars, Yang Lu, chief wine corporate buyer of all the Shangri–La hotels, and Jeremy Ennis, head sommelier of the Savory restaurant at the Westin Hotel in Toronto, Canada.

In addition to the many international experts, a group of some of the best Italian winewriters and journalists such as Luciano Ferraro of Il Corriere della Sera, Fabio Turchetti of Il Messaggero, Alessandro Bocchetti of Gambero Rosso, Andrea Gori of Intravino, Fernanda Roggero of Il Sole 24 Ore, Michele Longo (Barolo&Co, Best Wines in Italy Guide).

PARTNERS – The Wine Project of "Collisioni" this year takes advantages of important territory partnerships: among them, the partnership with the Consortium of Barolo Barbaresco Alba Langhe and Dogliani, with the Consortium of Barbera d’Asti and Monferrato Wines and with the Consortium for the Protection of Roero.

ROUND TABLES – "Collisioni" 2015 will also have, for the first time, an entire section dedicated exclusively to business meetings with focus groups of experts and producers who will discuss, in a series of seminars specially designed and dedicated to four wine markets (USA, Canada, China and Austria/Germany/Northern Europe) but also "meetings on the contrary", presentations of foreign experts of regions and wines of specific Italian wine regions.

TWINNINGS WITH FRENCH WINES – In the wake of the increasingly international character of the festival, another innovation will be the twinning of mutual understanding and enhancement of the great wines of Piedmont with the producers/guests from other European countries, such as Burgundy, the Rhone and the producers of Grand Crus Beaujolais, in a series of tastings of their wines but also in comparison with the wines of Piedmont. At "Collisioni" 2015 there will be eight of the top producers of Grand Cru Beaujolais, and six of the most famous producers of Gevrey–Chambertin, a well–known center in Burgundy associated with the production of some of the most famous and expensive red wines in the world. The presence of three of the most famous companies in the Rhone (Georges Vernay, Gangloff, and PJ Villa) is to mention, that not only will lead a tasting of their great white wines (Condrieu) and red wines (Cote Rotie and Saint Joseph) but, in pure "Collisioni" style, will go up on the stage for a spectacular jam session of their band (formed by three producers with three of their friends): The Grapeful Dead.

FOOD – Finally, the Wine Project of "Collisioni" opens to food in a much stronger than in the past way, with an increased number of food and wine matching tastings, as well as of those dedicated to the discovery of the excellent local cuisine. To this end, D’Agata called Fabio Turchetti, a prestigious journalist of Il Messaggero, to act as a coordinator to "Food Collisioni", to strengthen more and more this aspect of the Festival.



Cs: IShock