A very fine vintage for Vinitaly

South Africa did itself proud at the 2015 Vinitaly, the world’s biggest wine show, held for the 49th time at Verona, Italy. The South African stand bore the title 'Fine Wines from South Africa' and showcased de Grendel, Diemersdal, Morgenster, Belbon Hills and Audacia wines.  As always, a huge crowd constantly gathered around the stand in the international pavilion and the wine-tasting on the second last day was oversubscribed by three times. Guido Invernizzi, the sommelier who has a particular fascination with South African wines, once again presented a sparkling performance in the tasting hall while the South African Consulate General seized the opportunity to present the wines on exhibition at a glitzy presentation in the city centre of Verona of which Romeo says:

“There is no world without Verona walls                                                                       

But purgatory, torture, hell itself.                                                                                   

Hence-banished is banished from the world.”

At the International Wine Competition held after VINITALY, the largest in the world, South African wines received awards: Diemersdal in the category of red wines of the last vintage was given special mention for “Private Collection 2013” and a special mention was also obtained by Morgenster in the category of wines harvested seven years or more ago with “Cabernet Franc 2003”.

The organisers of VINITALY had invested heavily in attracting foreign buyers and hosted buyers from 140 different countries as well as 2,600 wine journalists from 46 countries.  The visitor numbers (verified by the German Fair audit firm FKM) reached 150.000 with a huge increase in visitors from the Far East – North America accounted for 55.000 (20%), the German-speaking world for most at 25% and the UK in third place with 10%. This continual appeal of VINITALY perennially cements the show in the galaxy of wine producers. The wine exhibitors numbered 4.200.

VINITALY continues to innovate – a pavilion was dedicated to organic wines with tables laid out for bio-tastings separate from the stands.

The show is co-located with SOL&AGRIFOOD for olive oil and artisanal agricultural products. At SOL, the olive oils from South African producers who received awards at Sol d’Oro Southern Hemisphere (Willow Creek, Morgenster, Tokara and Prince Albert Olives) were available for tasting. This prestigious competition will take place in 2015 in Cape Town – the announcement came at the SOL gala dinner where the Chilean olive growers’ Chairman handed over the baton to Mr Saul Molobi, the South African Consul General in Milan, while waving the South African flag.

For further information speak to Adv Glenn Babb or Tracey Babb at:

Babrius, Penrose House, 1 Penrose Rd, Muizenberg 7945   PO Box 315 Muizenberg 7950  Tel: 021 788 7069 Fax: 021 788 5616 e-mail babrius2@mweb.co.za