14th CONCORSO ENOLOGICO INTERNAZIONALE
40th VINITALY, Verona-Italy
28 March – 02 April 2006
a report of the proceedings by a member of the JURY from Singapore
(with photos see http://www.happyvines.com/VinItaly06)
SAME STROKES : DIFFERENT FOLKS
This Competition brings together a whole host of personalities, nationalities and types into ONE hotel and ONE venue. It offers great opportunity to interact or not. To establish new friendships and deepen or strengthen old ones or not. It is an amalgamation of cultures but only one culture is foremost - the culture of WINE that binds all participants. We talk about everything under the sun but ultimately the subject of WINE tend to crop up. "Oh, I just tasted this wonderful PX ........ 1941, no less!!!" "Ugh! So much wood and no fruit in some of these wines!" "I find it so difficult to taste all those sweet wines ......... then, there are those awful Roses, ...... wish they would put in some serious effort with this style!" "The last flight made my day. I had a wonderful flight of old vintage reds that were simply delicious!" Such gems and lemons are found, day in and day out throughout this Competition.
What a wonderful way to spend time on your favourite beverage. It must be! For you to travel all the way to Verona and endure a strict and tight regime of tastings, full fledged lunches, back to tastings until 08:00pm, then, off to a full evening's social programme of wine drinking, social interaction, full-blown debates and full dinner menus to end at past midnight. Then, up again for a full breakfast needed to fortify you for the first morning session at 09:30am, sharp!! All this while, your teeth & tongue gets darker and darker coated with grapeskin extract, if you are not careful.
The main conductor of this orchestra of wine personalities is Dr. Guiseppe Martelli. His organisation of this Competition is like clockwork with typical Italian flair. Each morning, without fail, he greets all Jurors and thank them for being so punctually seated at their tasting desks. Then, he reads out the previous session's statistics as if we were all shorthand secretaries. This is done in Italian for the sake of all our Italian eonologists, then, promptly translated into English by his very able assistant for the rest of us.
So sorry if you do not understand either language. Apparently so, since we had someone asking for the Competition rules to be spelt out all over again, although he had a whole file-full left for him in his hotel room, upon his arrival. In prim & proper Italian, nevertheless, with a touch of indignation, Dr. Martelli repeated the whole Competition rules to the cohort, which was duly translated by his able assistant. The rest of us, who have done the dutiful, sat and twiddled our thumbs and the minutes ticked along, destroying Dr. Martelli's precise timings. Nevertheless, "If you have any further clarifications, please do not hesitate to contact me, here at my podium." ends Dr. Martelli.
More were yet to come.
Towards the end of the first flight on the first morning, the air-conditioning poured out sorrowfully, at the back of the tasting room. The second flight of the morning was cancelled and the cohort was sent back to the hotel for early lunch that was served, on-time, nonetheless.
Now, the sommeliers were on the roll. In precise fashion, left hand holding the concealed bottle sample, right hand neatly tucked against the small of their backs, they marched out of the preparation room that will make any soldier swoon with envy. "Prego." says Dr. Martelli, and each of the 21 sommeliers marched towards the first Juror and poured out a generous tasting portion of wine. Then, the next four until all are duly served. "Sommelier, Grazie." intoned Dr. Martelli, and they filed out to whence they came ready to retrieve the next bottle sample of the flight.
At 3.6% of the time, a hand is raised asking for a second sample. A very good low rate of just 136 rejects out of 3,735 bottles of wine. The second bottle is presented without disrupting the rhythm or the Sommeliers' Parade.
Nevertheless, this year's proceedings had a greater share of disruptions compared to 2004. We had several disputed classifications, which needed to be resolved. I had a flight of white wines that suddenly turned distinctly DARK RED. Wrong bottle sample! A flight of liqueur wines, mainly sweet, with one very dry Marsala right in the middle of them all. "Fortified Wine" might be a better translation from the Italian.
Then, it happened, again, as with each year. Only differently. The sommeliers marched out with the first flight of the day and stood awaiting the signal from Dr. Martelli. "Prego" he intoned, and the sommeliers duly marched out of the tasting room, without pouring a drop!
Precise and strict silence is maintained and ALL mobiles are switched off, during the tasting sessions. On the same morning, in the beginning of the second flight, a lone but loud beeping was heard. Dr. Martelli's eyes narrowed and his long stare reached out to the offender. Immediately, a whole series of mobile phone beeps, whistles and tones were heard throughout the room! Dr. Martelli face changed into a wide grin.
The fool of 1st April was called - twice!!
Following Dr. Martelli's lead, the Jurors took these disruptions in their stride and the whole proceedings ended on schedule on Sunday morning by lunchtime.
Here are some of the varied personalities at this year's Competition.
At first meeting, John looked like the retired Santa Claus, who has come to play with wine. His shock of gleaming white hair and full beard made him look the part. His walking stick that doubled as a mobile seat makes one wonder if this Santa had a bad fall during one of his chimney decends. But no, Count John Umberto Salvi MW has been a wine personality for a very, very long time. To be precise, he is "around" the 25th member of the august Institute of Masters of Wine. A true English Gent of royal Italian parentage, John has been living in Margaux, France for over 38 years, tracking the effect of weather on Bordeaux vintages. These statistics, he shares with the world, through a very technical subscription newsletter. Besides all this highly technical stuff, he also writes for various other international wine publications translated into French, Spanish, Italian or more. He has been a fixture at this Competition, since the beginning, being on the organising committee with Dr. Martelli. As John warms up to you, you begin to see the true English Gent in him. Ready for a chuckle or a fib or laugh. Play the ladies if he had half a chance! Most of all, he truly enjoy good company and good food. He is diplomatic but it does not stop him from speaking his mind. John is a valuable member of the wine fraternity counting among his close friends, Steven Spurrier, Michael Broadbent, the Peppercorns and any wine personality you care to name.
At the other "end", if you like, still wet behind her ears, is Cathy van Zyl MW. A South African of Scottish blood, Cathy was elected the 250th Master of Wine, in late 2005. That makes her the only South African-based MW. Cathy has no airs about her, despite the MW, and warms up to people easily. However, she expresses precise opinions in her website blogs. The most recent ruffling of feathers was her demand for accountability in the use of artificial flavours in South African Sauvignon Blancs. In the same vein, the tasting notes in her website are totally independent and unbiased. These form the basis for the annual South African 2nd best-selling publication (after the Bible) "John Platter South African Wines" guide. This guide is a whole year's work by 12 independent wine tasters, who taste through about every wine produced in South Africa. Besides all these wine-tastings, she oversees her household overun by her 9-year old son and work mainly from home, if she is not travelling. Leisure time is spent at a seaside cottage, where she dives for abalone or lobsters in the choppy waters of the Cape.
Mr. Subhash Arora is a man with a urgent mission. The President of the Delhi Wine Club and founder of the Indian Wine Academy, Subhash is on overdrive to lead Indians into the exciting and healthy world of wine. He took a course in Italian to be able understand how Italian winemakers tick. French, for perhaps, the same reason. The next language within his sights is, probably, Spanish, where he has had an eye-opening experience at Alimentaria 2006. However, not simply a quick learner of languages but quick to understand the basis that form the cultures of the world. He is able to communicate at all levels of society, which makes him, the man to know in India's fast emerging wine society circle.
Lionel Lau is one of Malaysia's "new wave" wine pioneers. He was a handful of wine merchants that broke the multinational liquor companies' hold on the wine trade in Malaysia. A pioneer in the import of South African wines into Malaysia, these wines continue to have a special meaning to him. His retail store held one of the more amazing & exciting array of wines in Kuala Lumpur. Then, came cut-throat rivals and unfair competition in the industry. He intended to soldier on despite being unable to refuse an offer from an overseas wine merchant, intent on expanding into Malaysia. Differences in viewpoints with hisnew partners forced his departure from distribution into the new realm of consultancy and writing. He currently writes for The New Straits Times and ad-hoc articles for "Flavours", the leading Food & Beverage glossy in Malaysia.
Charles Chow moonlights as "Anggur" for "The Edge", writing on various aspects on wine for this leading business newspaper. Despite being a moonlighter, Charles managed to publish a tongue-in-cheek tome on wine, titled "Talking Cork" in 2002. One would be lucky to discover a copy left on some bookshelf somewhere in Malaysia. A generous personality with his bubbly wife, Baldesh, this couple brought light conversation, during mealtimes after a hard day's tasting. Flights of sweet wine took a toll on his rather dry wine preference but that is precisely what wine judging is all about - objectivity despite the subjectivity. By the way, Charles fly high as Legal & HR Director of the fastest growing Malaysian corporation, Air Asia Berhad, hopefully, spreading the culture of wine, far and wide throughout Malaysia.
Sr. Franco Giacosa, despite overseeing one of the largest wine conglomerates in Italy, still allow time to sit through the entire Competition, tasting with the rest of the Jurors. This shows the importance he places on this Competition, at least, for the Italian wine industry. Sr. Giacosa firmly established his reputation as a super eonologist with the wine "Duca Enrico" of Duca di Salaparuta in "remote" Sicily. Remote, then, when Nero d'Avola was a backwater grape varietal for local consumption only and for fortifying Chianti during poor harvests. Franco made "Duca Enrico" and Nero d'Avola stand up to be counted among Italy's great wines. Currently, Nero d'Avola is the best selling varietal in restaurants throughout the country. Then, Franco moved to Zonin in 1997. He accepted the task to transform Zonin from a great supplier of ordinary wine to a major producer of high quality wine in Italy's seven finest wine regions and Virginia, USA. Nine years on and results are beginning to show. I had the pleasure to sample some of his wines at a dinner in the underground wine cellar of Antica Bottega del Vino with a select group of Jurors. CLICK HERE
Ms. Kate Hardy, is legal counsel & as representative of the Office Internationale de la Vigne et du Vin, oversees the proceedings. She is also involved in the tastings, which is "old hat" to her, since she is a member of the famous Hardy clan of Australia.
Peter Blattmann is a German in Canada and writes for Calgary Luxury Lifestyle Magazine.
Cesar Calderon of Mexico is the Spanish-speaking group leader. A bubbly personality, he ensures that his group enjoys themselves and obtain more wine than the other tables.
Lau Chin Sun publishes his own independent wine magazine "Wine Now" in Hongkong for the discerning consumer.
Daniel Greve Schels is blond Chilean, writing for "Que Pasa" and a member of the younger set. Nicholas Ryan arrived in Verona with only the shirt on his back. His luggage travelled the globe several more times before it arrived to allow him junk his 3-day old clothes. From then on, he was the life of the young party, which included Deirdre Laffan, a fresh writer from Dublin, Ireland, Kate (above) and Yevheniya Rodionova, who looks like her own newly-elected Ukrainian Prime Minister.
Michael Schaefer, Society of Wine Educators, suffered a bad back almost throughout the whole episode but managed to attend most sessions in controlled suffering with the help of a local chiropractor. His endurance was amazing having decided to join us for lunch at a local restaurant on the last Competition day and undertaking a 1-1/2 km walk back to the hotel.
Arto Murtovaara is editor of "Kaleva" in Finland. A regular in the wine competition circuit in Europe, he is one of the more experienced tasters among the Jurors.
The Czech Republic had two representatives, Zdenek Reimann and Jiri Trapek. They joined my table at the opening dinner. Zdenek promptly displayed a flair for wine art, spraying our table cloth and my camera with red wine. I was still cleaning red wine stains from nooks in my camera on the last day! Zdenek was a lively personality writing for "Vino & Styl".
Osvaldo Sanchez Salgado represented "Tinto y Blancos" in Argentina. Osvaldo is a precisely dressed and striking person that adds life to any table at lunch.
Frank Schoonhoven, Holland was the prime mover and organiser of our excellent dinner below Antica Bottega del Vino. My sincere thanks for including me into the select group of Jurors to enjoy excellent food & wine that evening.
India sent 2 Jurors, this year. The second person, Savio Rodrigues is editor of "Express Hospitality" in Mumbai. He assumes the challenging task of introducing "Wine Culture" to his part of India.
Another almost permanent fixture in this Competition is Jose Antonio Martins da Fonseca, President of the Portuguese Oenologist Association. He was my fellow panel member both in 2004 AND 2006. Talk about a random draw!
There were many other personalities and a blur of Italian eonologists, too many to meet and have a decent conversation with. Head nods were made and a few words spoken with writers from China, Taiwan, Poland, Yair Koren of Israel is an old friend from 2004, Hungary and Germany. Eonologists from Switzerland, Germany, Spain's Murcia and La Mancha regions, Hungary, Uruguay, Argentina and Cyril Payon of Languedoc, France, Austria and even Brazil.
