Foodex Japan – now at its 41st edition – is considered to be one of the most important food and beverage exhibitions in Asia and the first in Japan, and it represents a great commercial event in all the Southern-East Asia.
The Italian winery Varvaglione – more and more oriented to new markets – confirms its participation to Foodex Japan that is taking place in Tokyo from 8th to 11th March 2016.

This fair is aimed at introducing a variety of agricultural products, including beverage, culinary specialities, organic food, wine and spirits.
Foodex Japan has already represented one of the many access points to the Asian market, allowing to start excellent cooperations and to encourage new interest for Varvaglione’s wines.

Varvaglione invites all visitors to the Foodex Japan fair from Tuesday 8th to Friday 11th March 2016, in the Italian Area, hall 4, booths 21, 22, 23.

More information www.vigneevini.eu

 

 

From 19th to 24th June, seven foreign wine journalists will be taking part in an educational tour. The Movimento Turismo del Vino Puglia has been organising tours for five years to allow well-known foreign wine journalists to discover the region’s wines and territories, accompanied by the producers. The project is part of the CMO 2014 – 2015 promotional programme and adds to the Movimento’s fifteen-year experience of organising press tours for the Italian and foreign press.

The guests for this edition of “Vini di Puglia” are coming from the United States, Japan, China and Switzerland to see, touch, listen and above all to taste the many aspects of Puglia, starting of course with the region’s wines.
The busy programme of winery visits will cover the entire region, starting from Magna Grecia with its princely Primitivo vine, then moving into the Salento with its different interpretations of Negroamaro, to finish in the Castel del Monte area with exploration of the regal Nero di Troia.
Together with the stops at the wineries to meet the wine-growers, the journalists will also visit some of the region’s important cities and have the chance to enjoy some of Puglia’s loveliest and most interesting landscapes and historical sites.

Seven wineries are taking part in the project, acting as representatives of the region’s successful wine industry: Carvinea (Carovigno - Br), Tenute Eméra (Lizzano - Ta), Varvaglione Vigne&Vini (Leporano - Ta), Antica Masseria Jorche (Torricella - Ta), Leone de Castris (Salice Salentino – Le), and Rivera (Andria). Winery tours and wine-tasting will give the journalists first-hand experience of the most important aspects of Puglia’s wine sector. Firstly come the native vines, without forgetting the whites, the rosés and the sparkling wines in Puglia’s vast range.

The international guests on the tour are renowned: from the USA Patricia Guy and Matthew Delaney Logan; from Japan Junko Iwamoto; Joel Jernet from Switzerland, and the three gusts from China are journalists Meiqin Kuang and Xania Wong from Hong Kong, and buyer Torge Thies.

They will then have the task of recounting their experience of Puglia when they return home, telling their public about the region’s wines, specialities and typical products waiting to be discovered.

 

PROGRAME:

The tour starts from Magna Grecia, the Primitivo Land

Friday 19th June

Arrival to the airport, transfer to Manduria and check-in at the exclusive Masseria
Light lunch in Masseria and relax at the swimming pool
6.00 p.m. Introduction of Puglia as a wine region and presentation of the tour
8.00 p.m. Welcome dinner and overnight stay at Masseria

 

Saturday 20th June

9.00 a.m. Presentation of Puglia wine territories and of the tour

9.30 a.m. Departure to Leporano

10.30 a.m. Arrival to winery Varvaglione Varvaglione Vigne & Vini

13.00 p.m. Transfer to Marina di Pulsano

13.30 p.m. Lunch at restaurant La Barca di Ciro

3.30 p.m. Leave Marina di Pulsano heading back to Masseria Potenti

4.30 p.m. Arrival to Masseria Potenti – quick rest

5.30 p.m. Leave Masseria and drive to Torricella towards the winery Antica Masseria Jorche

6.00 p.m. Arrival to the winery, conducted by owner family Gianfreda. Wine tasting and visit to the winery www.jorche.it

8.30 p.m. Dinner at Antica Masseria Jorche

11.00 p.m. Return to Masseria Potenti and overnight stay

Sunday 21th June

10.00 p.m. Transfer to Lizzano

10.30 p.m. Arrival to Tenute di Eméra by Claudio and Alessandra Quarta

3.00 p.m. Transfer to Guagnano

3.30 p.m. Arrival at Feudi di Guagnano winery. Meeting with one of the owner partners Gianvito Rizzo, visit and tasting of the wines

6.00 p.m. Transfer to Lecce

6.40p.m. Walk in the baroque historical centre of Lecce

8.00 p.m. Dinner at restaurant

10.00 p.m. Return to the hotel and overnight stay

Monday 22th June

9.00 Transfer to Salice Salentino

10.00 Visit to winery Leone de Castris. Meeting with ownerPiernicola Leone de Castris and wine tasting

12.00 p.m. Transfer to Carovigno

1.00 p.m. Arrival to the winery Carvinea. Wine tasting and light lunch

4.30 p.m. Continue the trip towards north

6.00 p.m. Stop in Alberobello, icon of Puglia in the world

7.00 p.m. Continue travel to Trani

8.30 p.m. Arrival to Trani.

9.00 p.m. Dinner at Restaurant

Tuesday 23th June

8.30 a.m. Breakfast

9.30 a.m. Departure to Andria

10.00 a.m. Visit to the winery Rivera and meeting with Sebastiano de Corato, president of the Consorzio Movimento Turismo del Vino Puglia. Wine tasting

1.00 p.m. Transfer to Montegrosso di Andria (10 mins drive), aperitivo in Pietro Zito's vegetable garden and lunch at his restaurant Antichi Sapori

4.30 p.m. Leave the restaurant heading to Castel del Monte

5.00 p.m. Visit to Castel del Monte

6.00 p.m. Transfer to Trani and stroll in the historical centre

8.30 p.m. Dinner at restaurant

11.00 p.m. Return to B&B and overnight stay

Wednesday 20th June

8:30 a.m. Breakfast and leave to final destinations.

 

Japanese journalist Junko Iwamoto, visitor in Puglia in the educational tour “Vini di Puglia V”, talks about Puglia and Nero di Troia on the september issue of the japanese on line magazine Punta.jg:

read article >>

 

 

 

written by John Foy
Last June, I visited one of the hottest areas of Italy (in temperature not fashion) and was cold most of the week.

Puglia, which is the heel of Italy's boot-shape, is one of the country's prime sources for olives, vegetables and wine. With thoughts of its Mediterranean climate and sun-filled days, I packed my summer shirts and light-weight pants, leaving jackets and umbrellas in the closet.

But after landing in Brandisi in southern Puglia, I discovered that the region has two climates: a cool north and a sunbaked south. I went north.

Rivera winery lies an hour north of Bari and is a major winery in the Castel del Monte appellation, named for the octagonal 13th-century castle built by the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II. Its eight towers with eight rooms on each floor is a splendid monument in the middle of nowhere--but as the Michelin Guide states "it's worth the journey" to this UNESCO World Heritage site.

Rivera was founded in 1948 by Sebastiano de Corato and produced its first wine two years later. Today the enterprise is directed by Sebastiano's son Carlo and grandsons Marco and Sebastiano; it encompasses 185 acres planted with indigenous grapes such as fiano, bombino, nero di troia and montepulciano, as well as the international varietals chardonnay and sauvignon blanc.

The cool north wind ripens the grapes slower than in the torrid southern section of Puglia, giving Rivera's wines an added measure of acidity and subtracting a degree or two of alcohol.

The 2013 Rivera Castel del Monte Preludio 1 Chardonnay is fermented and aged in stainless-steel temperature-controlled tanks, which captures the mineral content of the vineyard and releases it with chardonnay's pronounced pear and guava flavors of this perfectly balanced wine. It was an ideal match with my shrimp risotto.

In 1949, de Corato blended the local red grapes nero di troia and montepulciano. It took another two decades of working with these grapes before the family settled on a blend of 70 percent nero di troia and 30 percent montepulciano and named the wine Il Falcone.

The 2008 Il Falcone merges aromas of vanilla, black fruit and leather with an arch of delicious blackberry, red fruit and tobacco flavors riding on soft tannins to a long, fruit-filled finish. Its exquisite pairing with a grilled Berkshire pork chop made it easy to understand why Il Falcone is one of the leading red wines of Puglia.

After concluding my visit at Rivera, I had the chance to stop at the renowned Castel del Monte; but it was overcast, the wind was blowing and rain clouds were moving my way. The chilly air kept me in the car; we were headed south where my wardrobe fit the climate and the sun built brawny wines.

Allied Beverage Group in Carlstadt distributes the Rivera wines. The 2013 Rivera Castel del Monte Preludio 1 Chardonnay retails for about $14; the 2008 Il Falcone is approximately $30.

A Glass of Wine appears every week in Today. John Foy may be reached at.

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