24 Feb The Monferrato in Denmark – PIEDMONT TO DISCOVER
“Piedmont to discover”
Grignolino del Monferrato Casalese DOC: curious and interesting for the Danish market
Foreign action in Copenhagen for Monferrato winemakers
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Trip to Copenhagen in Denmark last week for a group of Monferrato winemakers and vintners from the Colline del Monferrato Casalese wine protection consortium to promote, in concert with the vignerons of the Ovada docg consortium, the best winery labels.
The foreign action called “Piedmont to descover”, carried out thanks to the Psr 2014-2020 and the support of the Cassa di Risparmio di Alessandria Foundation, was particularly concentrated and satisfying in the events developed by the Wine&Food Consultant Elisa Spada, starting from the greeting of the Italian Ambassador to Denmark Luigi Ferrari and the participation of the expert Thomas Ilkjaer involved in the blind tasting.
The day opened with a seminar focused on the import situation and consumption of wine in Denmark, held by The Italian Chamber of Commerce in Denmark. Followed by the Masterclass led by Ilkjaer and aimed at around thirty operators in the sector (mainly importers, as well as Ho.Re.Ca. and media). Interesting participation also for the B2B table tasting aimed again at sector operators, but with a wider range of labels for tasting, and the B2C finale in which around a hundred people including wine lovers and experts took part.
The main protagonists of the event were the Grignolino del Monferrato Casalese doc and the Barbera del Monferrato Superiore docg.
Eight Monferrato producers are away and 3 are present only with their wines: Marchesi Cattaneo Adorno from Gabiano, Cascina Allegra from Ottiglio Monferrato, Oreste Buzio and Hic et Nunc from Vignale Monferrato, Bonzano Vini/Castello d’Uviglie from Rosignano Monferrato, Alemat from Ponzano Monferrato, Angelini Paolo from Ozzano Monferrato, Casalone Vini from Lu Monferrato, Cinque Quinti from Cella Monte, Monte Ferrato from Liedholm from Lu-Cuccaro Monferrato and Cantine Valpane from Ozzano Monferrato. Also paired with the toasted Tonda Piemonte Igp from Corilù from Lu Monferrato.
“The choice of Copenhagen was derived from the fact that the Danish market is currently one of the top 10 destinations for Italian exports of bottled wine and represents one of the few markets in which Italian wine is first, even surpassing the import of French wines – explains Spada. – Furthermore, Piedmont has long been known and appreciated as a reference tourist destination for Danish wine lovers. We are talking about a market that has a rather high average per capita wine consumption (35-40 liters/year) but, unfortunately, not always linked to food from the same country of origin. About 70% of the Danish market is occupied by wines from Italy, France, Spain and Chile; among these, Italian and French wines are the most expensive and their quality/positioning is recognized by consumers, well oriented towards fine wines and interested in certified organic and/or biodynamic wines, natural wines with designation of origin and coming from native and recognizable vines.
Although it is a rather mature market, consumers, in addition to being informed, are also very curious and eager to experiment with lesser-known wines. For this reason, while Barbera was a confirmation as it was already known, there was much more curiosity/interest for lesser-known wines such as Grignolino del Monferrato Casalese and Ovada – Spada observed; – an interest that is also an expectation with respect to a territory that we intend to know more deeply and more closely, within the great, appreciated and recognized Piedmontese wine heritage”.
Satisfaction also for the participating winemakers who, full of enthusiasm and many contacts, are now confident in a good follow-up and new collaborations between producers and between Consortia, both in Italy and abroad.