Italy at Vinitaly
VINITALY 2008 - WINES OF LOMBARDY
"LOOK FURTHER, FIND LOMBARDIA...!"
"Wine: a passion for business"
| A truly 'sparkling' wine-producing Lombardy will present a united front at Vinitaly 2008. There are several novelties to highlight and celebrate. Lombardy proudly presents a new prestigious Docg, the Oltrepò pavese metodo classico. Moreover, the well-established esprit de corps among the Lombardy Regional Council, Unioncamere Lombardia and Veronafiere has led to the extension and restyling of the Palaexpo Vini di Lombardia Pavilion which admirably showcases Lombardy wines. Palaexpo - which boasts a unique and prestigious position as it is situated at the entrance of Vinitaly and is adjacent to the congress halls and Press Office for Italian and foreign journalists - this year will be even more prominent thanks to the brand new striking coordinated graphics that convey an explicit message: There's more to Lombardy...! In fact, Lombardy holds some important world records: fashion, design, the stock exchange, the Scala Theatre, the refined shrine for lovers of music. If we look beyond this however, we can see fascinating panoramas that reveal a largely unknown Lombardy, with landscapes dotted with luxuriant vineyards, extending from the plain to the morainic hills, encircling lakes, rising to the slopes of the Alps, and clinging heroically to rocky outcrops. And therefore to appropriately convey the complexity of wine production in Lombardy an eye-catching external packaging of Palaexpo has been created. |
 Viviana Beccalossi Region of Lombardy Vice President and Council Member for Agriculture |
|
| "The wrapping", which will envelope the entire Palaexpo façade, will be 235 metres long and 9 metres high. "'Wine: a passion for business', this in a nutshell is the main theme of Vinitaly this year," explains Viviana Beccalossi, Vice President and Councillor for Agriculture of the Lombardy Regional Council. "The fair will mean five extremely important days, brim-full of events, exchanges and wine tastings, which will provide greater visibility to Lombardy and its 'wine sector' in terms of novelties and products." "It is important for me to reiterate the strategic importance of gathering together the Wines of Lombardy in a single prestigious pavilion, Palaexpo, which for the fifth consecutive year will represent a unique, extensive and well-organized showcase for our companies and their wines. The basic idea therefore is to "unite" the Lombardy wine world in a single strategic venue. The Lombardy region ranks first in terms of quality sparkling wines, but it is also the "Region with 1.000 labels", divided among our 4 great DOCGs, 15 DOCs and numerous IGTs." The restyling of the Palaexpo has entailed a new colour scheme within the stands. The internal stand fittings, in terms of shape and structure, remain the same as those of 2007, while the stand walls will all be a uniform light shaded colour. Moreover, each area has been assigned a different colour in order to allow easier identification. The Lombardy Regional Council - Department for Agriculture, together with Unioncamere Lombardia, this year will be situated in an institutional area at the centre of Palaexpo, which will host numerous tastings and other interesting events that have been agreed with the most prestigious sommelier associations in the various halls of the designated area. In an international fair such as Vinitaly, there is safety in numbers. This has obviously been clearly understood by Lombardy wine producers, who have participated in the Palaexpo project in a unified manner over the last few years. The figures confirm this and a further increase is foreseen in this year's edition. The total surface devoted to exhibitors has increased from 6.000 m2 (2006) to approximately 6.400 m2 (2008), while the number of participating companies is close to 170. The exhibition space booked by the single Wine Consortiums has increased from 2.948 m2 to the current 3.196,5 m2 (Valcalepio 245, Moscato di Scanzo 32, Ente Vini Bresciani 676, Franciacorta 897,5 , Vini Mantovani 170, San Colombano 16, Oltrepò Pavese 860 and Valtellina 300). The total surface area used by the Lombardy Region, including the institutional and service areas, is almost 4.000 m2, equivalent to more than 62% of the overall space available (the figure is usually about 46%). |
||