Meet, Taste, Learn, Repeat: Vinitaly International returns to Moscow and St. Petersburg

VERONA, Italy, Oct. 9, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The political crisis of 2014 considerably transformed the Russian market. It changed consumer habits, limited the population's purchasing power, and altered the ways importers and distributors operated. Repercussions are only now behind us: Russia's economy is recuperating, and the benefits can also be found in its wine imports. According to a survey published in Wine News, in the first quarter of 2019, the country imported 193 million euros in wine and 28.6 million euros in sparkling wines. With 14.4 million euros in bubbles and 48.7 million euros in still wines, Italy has once again confirmed its position as leading trading partner.

These recent data only reaffirmed what the industry already knew: in Russia, Italian wine producers are very much at an advantage over many others, firstly, because there is no embargo on alcohol from Europe and secondly, because of Russian's unbridled passion for this Italian product. The prominent status of Italian wine currently being felt in Russia has also been determined by one of its fiercest promoters: Vinitaly Russia, the Russian wine fair for Italian wine organized by Vinitaly International and Veronafiere, now in its 16th edition.

The first stop of Vinitaly Russia will take place on October 28th, 2019, at the luxurious Lotte Hotel, in the heart of Moscow. The Moscow event will be launched by Italian Ambassador Pasquale Terraciano, and will feature a business session entitled "Meet Russian Importers" dedicated to issues concerning the Russian wine industry. Thereafter, a selected group of people including wine professionals, press, distributors and tradespeople will be invited to take part in a B2B Walk-Around Tasting. The afternoon will be dedicated to a series of educational masterclasses focusing on Italian wine regions such as Piedmont, Tuscany, Abruzzo, and Sicily, along with a special session entitled "Wine Faults". Over the past three years, producers have demonstrated a huge interest in the Russian capital and registrations to Vinitaly Moscow confirm this. In 2017 only 41 operators participated in this event, but this year the number has doubled, and 60 Italian wineries as well as 20 Russian importers (for a total of 80 operators), will be welcomed to the Russian capital.

The second stop of the Vinitaly Russia tour will take place in St. Petersburg, on October 30th, 2019, at the Kempinski Hotel Moika 22. While this second installment is usually presented in the form of a networking dinner, this year the event has been completely reinvented and transformed into a B2B Walk-Around Tasting. The tasting will see 28 producers and 16 importers come together in the name of Italian wine and will be inaugurated by Italian Consul General in St. Petersburg Alessandro Monti. Educational masterclasses will be a highlight at the St. Petersburg stop as well. Cantina Tollo and Casal Thaulero will present a focus on Abruzzo, while Simple Wine News will explore Northern Piedmont.

Vinitaly Russia's mission to promote Italian excellence can also be seen through its sponsors that will support the tour in Moscow and St. Peterburg: RCR Cristalleria Italiana, San Pellegrino, OlivaItalia, Enofrigo, The Russian Kavist Association, Pellini, Antico Eramo, AltaGamma and Pane e Salame. Official media partner of the event is Simple Wine News, while media partner is Vinnaya Karta.

To learn more about the events in Moscow and St. Petersburg, please follow us on social media and consult our website.

About
The grand Vinitaly 2020 will be held from April 19th to the 22nd. Every year, Vinitaly counts more than 4,000 exhibitors on a 100,000+ square meter area and 130,000 visitors from over 140 different countries with more than 30,000 top international buyers. The premier event to Vinitaly, OperaWine "Finest Italian Wines: 100 Great Producers," which will be held on the 18th of April, one day prior to Vinitaly will unite international wine professionals in the heart of Verona, offering them the unique opportunity to discover and taste the wines of the 100 Best Italian Producers, as selected by Wine Spectator. Since 1998 Vinitaly International travels to several countries such as Russia, China, USA and Hong Kong thanks to its strategic arm abroad, Vinitaly International. In February 2014 Vinitaly International launched an educational project, the Vinitaly International Academy (VIA) with the aim of divulging and broadcasting the excellence and diversity of Italian wine around the globe. VIA this year launched the seventh edition of its Certification Course and today counts 204 Italian Wine Ambassadors and 14 Italian Wine Experts.

SOURCE Vinitaly International