Italian Wine Tasting at Milan Wine Week
Italian Wine Tasting: Interview with Federico Gordini on Italian wine tasting during Milano Wine Week
With the global pandemic affecting the regular schedule of Italian wine tasting events in key cities around the world, how is the wine trade reaching journalists in New York City?
Italian wine is of key importance to the US market.
Italian wine is of key importance to the US market. Despite recent challenges, Italy has maintained its position as the number one international supplier of wine. According to Statistica.com.
The US imported over 1.3 billion dollars of Italian wine in 2019 alone.
Partially responsible for fueling this desire are the Italian wine tasting events held in key cities around the world. One of the most important is the Milan Wine Week.
Milano Wine Week in New York
Because of the global pandemic, the “normal” Italian wine tasting events around Milan wine week were canceled or changed.
Many producers and regional organizations took the Italian wine tasting events online instead.
Many producers and regional organizations took the Italian wine tasting events online instead.
For that reason, the invitation to a physical Italian wine tasting surprised New York City journalists to the point they had to read it twice to verify it was an “in-person” event.
Il Gattopardo Restaurant - Italian Wine Tasting
The invitation for the Italian wine tasting came from the team behind Federico Gordini, the event’s creator and president.
According to the invitation, the Italian wine tasting event would be an all-day affair, held at one of the most exclusive Italian restaurants in the city, Il Gattopardo
For those outside Manhattan, this sleek Italian restaurant is near the theater district and Times Square in midtown (54th street).
Local residents and international visitors respect Il Gattopardo for its quality of food and well-trained servers. With their white jackets and charming manner, they are the epitome of the highest standard of international service.
Federico Gordini: Milano Wine Week Creator and President
Italian Wine Tasting: The New Era
At the time of the Milano Wine Week event, most New York City restaurants were not yet open indoors.
So it with great anticipation, journalists arrived at the Il Gattopardo restaurant, required masks covering eager faces.
At the door, the Il Gattopardo restaurant hostess quickly took a temperature reading. Guests then descended the stairs to the presentation.
The Live Milano Wine Week Seminar
Journalists assembled themselves for the Italian wine tasting at the tables. Each place setting respected social distancing regulations.
Mask-wearing servers poured wine in pre-set glasses shortly before each glitch-free presentation started.
I was impressed by the excellent coordination between the restaurant and the presenter (live from a simultaneous seminar with journalists in Miami).
For that reason, I felt compelled to follow up and ask Federico Gordini a few questions.
Question: Mr. Gordini, how did you select Il Gattopardo in New York for your Italian wine tasting event?
Mr. Gordini responds: We first researched locations that could be suitable for hosting tastings. I made this in compliance with the limitations imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
We needed a hall large enough to seat the journalists. With the new rules of social distancing, we collaborated with International Event & Exhibition Management (ieemusa.com) which knows the US market very well.
Question: What was your aim in having a simultaneous tasting in Miami, NYC, and Milan?
Mr. Gordini responds: Milan is the headquarters of this event. This is the first significant international post-Covid Italian wine tasting event with a digital component. Our aim was to create an Italian wine tasting event combining wine producers, restaurateurs, and journalists.
We worked directly with New York City and Miami in the USA, but during the week, we also had the connection with China, Shenzhen and Shanghai, Russia and Moscow. In Canada, we had a tasting in Toronto too.
Question: What were the key points in the organization between the seminars and the restaurants?
Mr. Gordini responds: We had several considerations for the restaurant which would host the seminar and tastings. One of the most important was being able to accommodate the journalists with appropriate social distancing between the guests. We also needed to have some separate rooms for interviews. And highly experienced management to help organize it all.
Final Observations
New York journalists are very grateful to Mr. Gordini, I.E.E.M, and the team at Il Gattopardo for providing such a safe environment for this Italian wine tasting event.
During this Italian wine tasting, journalists benefited from socially distanced seating and requirement of masks.
Yet besides health and safety, New York City journalists remain grateful for the very well-known experts giving the presentations and the quality of wine from Italy’s best producers.
