Vinitaly is the most important wine fair dedicated to
Italian wines, to which about 4.000 winemakers take part every year. One day
before Vinitaly begins, a much more exclusive wine event takes place: Opera
Wine, at which only 100 Italian winemakers can exhibit, only the best 100.
Compared to the long-living fair Vinitaly, which is now at
its 50th edition, having been first organized in 1967, Opera Wine is a newborn
event, since it’s only at its 5th edition in 2016.
Yet, it is already a very important event because of the
quality of the exhibitors and of the reputation it quickly gained, also thanks
to its international recognition.
It is organized by the same Vinitaly and other important
local institutions, like the Italian agriculture ministry and the Exhibition
Authority of Verona, with the contribution of what’s probably the most renowned
wine magazine in the world: Wine Spectator.
The event’s formula is as simple as that: which is the most
widespread and eminent wine magazine for English-speaking readers? And which
are the best 100 Italian wine producers according to it?
So here’s Opera Wine, the “opening event” to Vinitaly at
which the best 100 Italian winemakers, chosen by Wine Spectator, exhibit.
We could say that Opera Wine is a distillate of Vinitaly,
and indeed its audience is also restricted: entrance is allowed on invitation
only and the program includes a light lunch and the taking of a group picture
with the 100 greatest winemakers.
According to Wine Spectator, the Italian wine makers that
deserves to exhibit at Opera Wine 2016 are:
Agri Punica
Allegrini
Altesino
Argiolas
Arnaldo Caprai
Avignonesi
Mascarello
Banfi
Barone Ricasoli
Bellavista
Bellenda
Bertani
Bibi Graetz
Binomio
Bisol
Braida
Bruno Giacosa
Ca’ del Bosco
Cantina Terlan
Carpineto
Casa E. Di Mirafiore
D’Angelo
Casanova di Neri
Castellare
Castello di Albola
Castello di Ama
Mazzei
Castello di Volpaia
Cavallotto
Ceretto
Cesari
Cusumano
Damilano
Di Majo Norante
Donnafugata
Drei Donà
Elena Walch
Elvio Cogno
Falesco
Fèlsina
Ferrari
Feudi di San Gregorio
Fontodi
Tedeschi
Frescobaldi
Gaja
Galardi
Gianfranco Fino
Pra’
Hofstätter
Ippolito
Jermann
La Tunella
Le Macchiole
Librandi
Lini 910
Livio Felluga
Lungrotti
Lunae
Maison Anselmet
Marchesi Antinori
Russiz Superiore
Masciarelli
Masi Agricola
Masseria Liveli
Massolino
Mastrobernardino
Mastro Janni
Medici Ermete
Nino Negri
Odoardi
Ornellaia
Petrolo
Pieropan
Planeta
Poderi Aldo Conterno
Re Manfredi
Renato Ratti
San Felice
Sandrone
Paolo Scavino
Schola Sarmenti
Siro Pacenti
Suavia
Tabarrini
Tasca
Tenuta di Nozzole
Tenuta il Palagio
Il Poggione
Sassicaia
Tenuta Sette Ponti
Tenute Dettori
Terre Bianche
Terredora
Tommasi
Tormaresca
Umani Ronchi
Valdicava
Vietti
Zenato
Zenato
Everyone of the 20 Italian region is represented at Opera
Wine, although not equally.
The region with the lower number of exhibiting winemakers is
Lazio, which can boast only one producer among the best 100 (and it’s Falesco,
with its Lazio Montiano 2011). On the other hand, the region with highest
number of admitted winemakers is - as one would expect - Tuscany, with its 29
producers.
Opera Wine is going to take place on April 9th 2016 at the
Palazzo della Gran Guardia in Verona, in the famous Piazza Bra, just in front
of the Arena.
