Wine Spectator's selection of best Italian wine producers for OperaWine 2020 unveiled during business forum wine2wine

VERONA, Italy, Dec. 11, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- During Veronafiere and Vinitaly's annual business forum wine2wine (November 25-26 2019), Wine Spectator Senior Editor Bruce Sanderson announced the OperaWine 2020 line-up of 103 Italian wine producers chosen by the American wine magazine. The selected producers will be pouring their wines during Vinitaly's exclusive gala, which is scheduled to take place on Saturday April 18 2020. The full list of Italian wine producers selected by Wine Spectator is available below and at the following link: https://www.vinitalyinternational.com/vincitori-operawine-2020/. OperaWine is the only tasting event that Wine Spectator organizes outside the United States.

At the end of the first day of wine2wine, attendees gathered in the main auditorium for the official announcement of the OperaWine 2020 selected producers (the session was live-streamed on wine2wine Facebook channel). Veronafiere CEO Giovanni Mantovani opened proceedings by thanking Wine Spectator for their untiring work in supporting Italian wines and Wine Spectator's senior editor Bruce Sanderson then called on stage the selected producers. In this year's edition, Wine Spectator featured 11 new producers who will pour their wines for the first time at OperaWine 2020 and 10 wineries that will be returning to the event after a hiatus of a few years. In his opening speech at wine2wine, Sanderson commented on the rationale behind the compilation of the OperaWine list: "Lately, we have asked producers to pour older vintages, library selections, which we think make the event more interesting. Over the years we have also changed the line-up quite a bit. Probably each year we change about 15 to 20% of the producers and since the first edition we have had about 200 different producers participating in OperaWine."

After the announcement, producers were called on stage to pose for the traditional group photograph and were given a personalized wine bottle to commemorate the inclusion in the OperaWine 2020 selection. The bottle was offered by wine2wine sponsor ATIU.

In another session at wine2wine, Sanderson also illustrated the results of an online survey conducted among Wine Spectator readers about wine consumption in the United States with a particular focus on Italian wine. Highlights of the survey include the primacy of Italy as the favorite among old world regions (59,17%) as well as interesting data regarding consumer habits, with women (57,66%) purchasing Italian wine according to grape varieties and men (66.15%) purchasing according to producer of winemaker. Sanderson's presentation followed by Q&A is broadcast in full on the wine2wine Facebook channel.

OperaWine 2020 | Finest Italian Wines – 100 Great Producers Selected by Wine Spectator

• ABRUZZO                     Binomio
• ABRUZZO                     Masciarelli
• BASILICATA                     Elena Fucci
• BASILICATA                     Paternoster
• BASILICATA                     San Martino
• CALABRIA                     Odoardi
• CALABRIA                     Vincenzo Ippolito
• CAMPANIA                     Feudi di San Gregorio
• CAMPANIA                     Mastroberardino
• CAMPANIA                     Montevetrano
• CAMPANIA                     Nativ
• CAMPANIA                     Quintodecimo
• EMILIA-ROMAGNA         Cleto Chiarli e Figli
• EMILIA-ROMAGNA         Tenuta Pederzana
• FRIULI/VENEZIA-GIULIA     Bastianich
• FRIULI/VENEZIA-GIULIA     Gravner
• FRIULI/VENEZIA-GIULIA     Jermann
• FRIULI/VENEZIA-GIULIA     Livio Felluga
• FRIULI/VENEZIA-GIULIA     Marco Felluga
• LAZIO                         Famiglia Cotarella (già Falesco)
• LIGURIA                     Terenzuola
• LOMBARDIA                 ArPePe
• LOMBARDIA             Bellavista
• LOMBARDIA             Ca' del Bosco
• LOMBARDIA             Nino Negri
• LOMBARDIA             Rainoldi
• MARCHE                     Garofoli
• MARCHE                     Umani Ronchi
• MOLISE                     di Majo Norante
• PIEMONTE                     Aldo Conterno
• PIEMONTE                     Cavallotto
• PIEMONTE                     Elvio Cogno
• PIEMONTE                     Falletto di Bruno Giacosa
• PIEMONTE                     G.B. Burlotto
• PIEMONTE                     G.D. Vajra
• PIEMONTE                     Giuseppe Mascarello & Figlio
• PIEMONTE                     Marchesi di Barolo
• PIEMONTE                     Massolino
• PIEMONTE                     Michele Chiarlo
• PIEMONTE                     Nervi Conterno
• PIEMONTE                     Paolo Scavino
• PIEMONTE                     Produttori del Barbaresco
• PIEMONTE                     Renato Ratti
• PIEMONTE                     Roagna
• PIEMONTE                     Vietti
• PUGLIA                     Felline
• PUGLIA                     Gianfranco Fino
• PUGLIA                     Tormaresca
• SARDEGNA                     Cantina Sociale di Santadi
• SARDEGNA                     Tenute Sella & Mosca
• SICILIA                             Benanti
• SICILIA                             Graci
• SICILIA                             Morgante
• SICILIA                             Passopisciaro (Tenuta di Trinoro)
• SICILIA                             Planeta
• SICILIA                             Tasca d'Almerita
• TRENTINO/ALTO ADIGE     Cantina Terlano
• TRENTINO/ALTO ADIGE     Cantina Tramin
• TRENTINO/ALTO ADIGE     Elena Walch
• TRENTINO/ALTO ADIGE     Ferrari
• TRENTINO/ALTO ADIGE     Maso Martis
• TRENTINO/ALTO ADIGE     Tenuta San Leonardo
• TOSCANA                     Altesino
• TOSCANA                     Antinori (Guado al Tasso & Castello della Sala)
• TOSCANA                     Biondi-Santi
• TOSCANA                     Boscarelli
• TOSCANA                     Canalicchio di Sopra
• TOSCANA                     Carpineto
• TOSCANA                     Casanova di Neri
• TOSCANA                     Castello Banfi
• TOSCANA                    Castello d'Albola
• TOSCANA                     Castello di Ama
• TOSCANA                     Castello di Volpaia
• TOSCANA                     Eredi Fuligni
• TOSCANA                     Fontodi
• TOSCANA                     Il Poggione
• TOSCANA                     Le Macchiole
• TOSCANA                     Lisini
• TOSCANA                     Marchesi de' Frescobaldi
• TOSCANA                     Ornellaia
• TOSCANA                     San Felice
• TOSCANA                     San Filippo
• TOSCANA                     San Giusto a Rentennano
• TOSCANA                     Tenuta San Guido
• TOSCANA                     Valdicava
• UMBRIA                     Arnaldo Caprai
• UMBRIA                     Lungarotti
• UMBRIA                     Tabarrini
• VALLE D'AOSTA                 Grosjean
• VENETO                     Allegrini
• VENETO                     Cesari
• VENETO                     Gini
• VENETO                     Le Colture
• VENETO                     Leonildo Pieropan
• VENETO                     Maculan
• VENETO                     Masi
• VENETO                     Mionetto
• VENETO                     Nino Franco
• VENETO                     Prà
• VENETO                     Roberto Anselmi
• VENETO                     Tommaso Bussola
• VENETO                     Zenato

About VINITALY:

The grand Vinitaly 2020 will be held from April 19 to 22. 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 selected by Wine Spectator" which in 2020 will be held on April 18, 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 215 Italian Wine Ambassadors and 15 Italian Wine Experts. Since its foundation in 2014, over 560 candidates from all over the world have taken VIA's courses.

About WINE SPECTATOR:

Wine Spectator is the world's leading authority on wine. Anchored by Wine Spectator magazine, a print publication that reaches around 3 million readers worldwide, the brand also encompasses the Web's most comprehensive wine site (WineSpectator.com), mobile platforms and a series of signature events. Wine Spectator examines the world of wine from the vineyard to the table, exploring wine's role in contemporary culture and delivering expert reviews of more than 15,000 wines each year. Parent company M. Shanken Communications, Inc., also publishes Cigar Aficionado, Whisky Advocate, Market Watch, Shanken News Daily and Shanken's Impact Newsletter.

SOURCE Vinitaly International