TRENTINO AT VINITALY 2008, IN ITS 42nd YEAR:
IT TAKES JUST A SIP TO DISCOVER THE REGION!

Verona, PAV. 3, Thursday, 3 April – Monday, 7 April

Vinitaly 2008, the country’s most important international trade exhibition, is just days away, and Trentino and its producers are literally bubbling with excitement. Once again, the stand promoted by the Autonomous Province of Trento and the Trento Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Agriculture and Crafts – with 400 square metres – will be in Pavilion 3. It will feature an institutional area to present and offer tastings of the region’s most distinctive wines: TRENTODOC, Trentino DOC Nosiola, Trentino DOC Müller Thurgau, Trentino DOC Marzemino, Teroldego Rotaliano DOC, Trentino DOC Vino Santo and Trentino Grappa. Sommeliers will tell visitors about the wines and, through them, take them on a journey to discover this territory.

The goal of the Trentino space in Pavilion 3 is to offer visitors an initial point of contact, highlight the characteristics of the wines, emphasise the differences between the various types and talk about the territory, stepping aside to allow the winemakers – the true stars of the event – to play a leading role with their new proposals for 2008. TRENTODOC will have its own special space that will help visitors discover the excellence of Trentino, matched with finger food proposed by the award-winning chef Rinaldo Dalsasso.

Trentino will also have its own space with the presentation of all the distilleries that are part of the Institute for the Protection of Trentino Grappa. The production of grappa is extremely important in the area. The large number of distilleries (more than 30 of the 130 in Italy), combined with a relatively low production (8%), means a top-quality end product, as excellent, hard-working and well-established micro-distilleries use the freshest marc to yield extraordinarily complex bouquets.

The institutional area will host the Fondazione Mach–Istituto Agrario di San Michele all’Adige, a source of pride not only in the field of winemaking but also in other areas, given its importance in the fields of research, the training of future winemakers, consultancy and services to aid producers. At the information desks, visitors can learn everything they need to know about the finest that Trentino has to offer: the Enoteca Provinciale at Palazzo Roccabruna, the ‘Wine and Flavours Routes”, tourist offers for summer 2008, and information about winemakers and distillers.

For Vinitaly 2008 there will be many prestigious opportunities to learn about and taste TRENTODOC, the leading symbol of Trentino winemaking. Two international-level events will be held at the Palaexpo, presenting ten important ‘champions’ of this extraordinary classic-method sparkling wine. Following the presentation of the group label dedicated to this wine, held in Trento this past November, it has become evident that the value of this product must be conveyed to Italian and international professionals. The title of the event is TRENTODOC MILLESIME AND RESERVE. THE REASONS FOR EXCELLENCE. TEN ‘CHAMPIONS’ IN TASTING.
The two events are scheduled for Thursday, 3 April, and Friday, 4 April, at 3.30 p.m. at the Sala Golf in the Palaexpo. Anyone who is interested in participating in this unique opportunity to learn about the quality of TRENTODOC can sign up by e-mail at progettovino@visittrentino.it (reservations are free of charge). They will be led by an expert on the subject, Mariano Francesconi, President of the Trentino branch of the Italian Sommelier Association. During the two events, he will be joined by two important figures who have contributed to making TRENTODOC a successful product on the national and international scene. By discussing the wine, the speakers will explain why Trentino is Italy’s leading producer of classic-method sparkling wine.

Throughout the five days of Vinitaly, TRENTODOC will be featured in the Ristorante D’Autore, an extraordinary culinary event. Renowned award-winning chefs will match their dishes with Italy’s leading wines. One of the wines proposed here is TRENTODOC, which will be present on every table in the elegant customised bucket created by Trentino SpA. The room will also feature a display area with all the TRENTODOC wines presented in the institutional space.

At 5 p.m. on Friday, 4 April, the institutional stand will host the NATIONAL ‘MERLOT D’ITALIA’ COMPETITION, an event that, over the years, has become an establishment in the town of Aldeno, involving the mayor and his staff in promoting this wine. This top-level ceremony, held at the stand, will award the best Merlot producers. With this event, the competition staff has introduced the public to the figures who have helped establish the outstanding reputation of Italian wine. Three of the most notable examples are enologist Riccardo Cottarella, the prestigious winemaker Marchese Frescobaldi and the wine publisher Pino Khail, all of them supporters or active parts of the organisation.

Organised by Trentino S.p.A.
For information: progettovino@visittrentino.it - tel. 347 8548409
Trentino will be at Vinitaly in Pav. 3
www.visittrentino.it/vinitaly

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TRENTODOC.
BUBBLES OF EXCELLENCE CREATED AMONG THE DOLOMITES

One of the finest premium wines of Trentino and a firm favourite is the spumante metodo classico called “TRENTODOC” to underline the link with the land where it is produced. It is the most ‘uncorked’ metodo classico in Italy: over seven of the almost twenty million bottles consumed in our country are produced in the 27 wineries of the province of Trento. Here the wide range of temperature between day and night and the marked difference between summer and winter allow the grape here, and only here, to acquire the organoleptic characteristics considered to be ideal for a base spumante of quality. The base wine of “TRENTODOC” is principally obtained with Chardonnay grapes, the most widely cultivated vine in Trentino, although to a lesser extent, it may contain small percentages of Pinot Blanc and Pinot Noir. 700 hectares, situated in 58 Trentino communes, are planted with Chardonnay, plots of land occupying the calcareous soil on the hillsides, between an altitude of 200 and 800 metres, where the grapes ripen slowly.

THE GAMBLE
The “Trentino bubbles” were not created by chance. The term Trento – spumante dates back to 1902, when a young oenologist, with a diploma from the Royal School of Agriculture in San Michele all’Adige (even today a first rate oenological laboratory) and vinicultural experience in Champagne, decided to return to Trento and put into practice the secrets he had wheedled out of the French. His name was Giulio Ferrari and he wanted to create a spumante that would express the culture and history of his land, where wine has been a household name for centuries, and honour wine by finding a proper and rewarding pleasure in producing it. “TRENTODOC” was created for this reason and on the intuition of Giulio Ferrari, who planted the first Chardonnay vines to produce spumante and he involved the farmers in the valleys around Trento and particularly in Valle dell’Adige in this gamble. He was the first to start a small, but top quality production, right in the heart of the town, a few steps from Piazza Duomo. This small production led to the creation of the first Trentino spumante factory, soon followed by other wine cellars that have invested a great deal in this sector and obtained products of excellent quality, authenticated by the denomination “TRENTO”, the first Controlled Denomination of Origin of spumante metodo classico recognised in Italy and second in the world after Champagne.

A PRODUCTION CONTROLLED FROM THE VINEYARD TO THE CELLAR
Apart from the high quality of the base grapes, “TRENTODOC” depends on the reliability of the production system. The harvesting and vinification of the grapes are codified and regulated by the Wine Association of Trentino and must all be carried out within the province: from harvesting by hand to the crushing of the grapes and making the spumante. This follows the strict rules of the metodo classico, based on the second fermentation in the bottle with riddling and disgorging, followed by a long period of maturation on the yeasts to guarantee a product of recognised finesse. In Trentino this takes at least fifteen months for the “brut” and “rosè” spumante and thirty-six months for the spumante boasting the qualification “Riserva”.

INCOMPARABLE EXPERIENCES OF THE SENSES
The D.O.C. Trento includes two types of spumante, the White (also Millésimé and Riserva) and Rosato. Crystalline in its golden hues, a dense and persistent stream of bubbles, a creamy compact froth. TRENTODOC, round in structure, dry and full in impact, releases variegated fruity fragrances, with tones of freshly baked bread, yeast, vanilla, and also notes of exotic fruits, aromas that range from the fresh nuances of golden delicious apple and white chocolate to the sweet note of jasmine.
It should be served cool, but not ice-cold, in flute glasses, at a temperature between 8 and 12° C, after being chilled in a bucket of ice cubes.
The “TRENTODOC” is a complete wine that can accompany the whole meal, from the starter to the dessert (in the latter case with a demi-sec). It partners most dishes of the Mediterranean cuisine and those – no matter how variegated - of regional gastronomic traditions. With fish (fried fish, crustacea, stewed fish, fish sauces, fish baked in the oven with wine and herbs), white meat, and also rice, pasta with vegetables and – a decidedly unusual and tasty “combination” with sausage meats. It is “classic” with mature granular cheeses and with savouries. The Rosato instead pairs well with fish soup, parma ham, seafood, macaroni pie and roasted poultry.