Journal_anglais SIAL - Délégation Commerciale d`Italie

File
What is the significance
of official
denominations?
Win a trip to Italy
page 4
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T H E I TA L I A N T R A D E C O M M I S S I O N N E W S L E T T E R
VOLUME 1
ISSUE 1
MARCH 2003
www.italytrade.com
Annual Italian Wine & Grappa Tasting
Link up to Italy
Italian’s best production earns its place
in Toronto and Montreal
Are you looking for a DOP
extra-virgin olive oil ? Do you
want to make sure that you
don’t miss out on the next
“ Annual Italian Wine and
Grappa Tasting ” ? It’s simple
to find answers to these questions accurately and easily by
logging on to the Italian Trade
Commission’s Web site.
The www.italytrade.com Web
site is a comprehensive database of
all Italian food and wine products.
In addition to giving you a glimpse
of these products, the site provides
details of their distributors, as well
as a cornucopia of useful information. The site will be particularly
appreciated by restaurateurs who
would like to put a finishing touch
on their wine list : for example,
product descriptions, overviews
of vineyards, and presentations by
producers will give
them the opportunity
to prepare menus
or wine and food
pairings that are simply irreproachable.
As a bonus, the site
offers a section containing recipes for a
taste of Italy. In short,
this site is worth its
weight in gold to restaurateurs
and product importers.
Sergio La Verghetta, Italian trade delegate, in the heart of the activities at Bonsecours Market in Montreal
For the last seven years, Italian wine lovers have eagerly awaited
the annual wine tasting event to try out the autumn arrivals.
It’s the “ Annual Italian Wine and Grappa Tasting ” organised by
the Italian Trade Commission. Last fall, the event provided
oenologists, restaurateurs and wine lovers the opportunity to
enjoy the offerings of about sixty Italian wine merchants.
Contest
Viva Italia
Twenty restaurateurs
captivated Sophia Loren
and thousands of guests
at Holt Renfrew store
Naturalmente Italiano, the newsletter which you received in
printed form today, will only be
available in the future through
our Web site. By subscribing,
you will be included on the
distribution list, ensuring that
you receive future issues of
Naturalmente Italiano by e-mail
when published.
Viva Italia! That is surely what the guests were saying at the two Viva Italia galas
hosted last fall by Holt Renfrew to highlight various aspects of Italian culture.
Plus, all subscribers will auto-
Organized in Toronto and Montreal in collaboration with the Italian Trade Commission,
these two wonderful initiatives were among the most important Italian events
of the year. The emphasis was on wine and fine cooking from the entire Italian peninsula.
The guest of honour of the event, legendary film actress Sophia Loren was
on hand, and took the opportunity to present her latest film, Between Strangers,
directed by her son, Eduardo Ponti. " page 4
matically be registered in the
Alitalia contest where you could
win a magnificent trip for two
to Italy.
(see details on page 4).
1, 2, 3 … click !
www.italytrade.com
On November 4, 54 merchants from regions throughout Italy participated in the wine tasting event held in Toronto. In collaboration with
Toronto Life magazine, press and special guests started the day around
11 o’clock and were joined later that afternoon by 700 restaurateurs
and hotelliers. Since statistics were last collected, wine sales in Ontario
have increased by 10%. " page 2
Director Eduardo Ponti accompanied by his mother Sophia Loren,
arriving at Holt Renfrew store in Montreal
ITALIAN TRADE COMMISSION
A word from the Italian Trade Commissioners
Profile
Share a taste of Italy Agri-food and the Italian Trade Commission
Welcome to the first issue of
Naturalmente Italiano. This
newsletter was written especially
for food and wine enthusiasts in
the industry, to bring you news
and keep you up-to-date with
Italian specialties
including
DOP products from the 21
regions of Italy.
Established back in 1926, the Italian Institute for Foreign Trade,
better known outside Italy as the “Italian Trade Commission” or
“Délégation commerciale d’Italie”, has two offices in Canada.
With a wealth of information on foreign trade, this public organization has its Head Office in Rome, 16 branches in Italy and 104
offices in 80 countries around the world. In 2002, over 19,000
Italian companies and 15,000 foreign firms have participated in
one or another of its activities.
Italian agri-food production has
earned a place of great importance
Our next issue will be sent to you by
worldwide. We have a long-standing
e-mail. It’s a practical way to keep
tradition of great-tasting foods
informed at your leisure.
and fine quality wines.
We would like to invite you to the
many events the Italian Trade
Commission promotes nationwide. Don’t miss the next trade
exhibitions, tastings and seminars,
where you’ll get a sampling of our
Italian creations.
Don’t forget to subscribe so that you
don’t miss the opportunity of being in
touch with Italy and all it has to offer.
Angelo Infusino
Toronto Office
Sergio La Verghetta
Montreal Office
of Italy through activities conceived to support the Protected
Denomination of Origin (DOP) products.
The objective is to keep the Canadian public aware of the different
qualities of products, their specific features and their traditional and
historical background. This clientele includes both industry and
consumers and the Commission makes it a point to educate these
customers in how to distinguish products that actually come from Italy,
from those that only appear to. Lists of stores carrying DOP products
are made available to consumers, within a campaign to support the
efforts of approximately 140 Italian agri-business firms, of which 45%
are wine producers. And rightly so, knowing that between September
2001 and August 2002, consumption of Italian red wines increased by
14.65% in Quebec and 10.6% in Ontario !
The Italian Trade Commission’s mission is to favour commercial
exchanges between Italy and the rest of the world, stimulate industrial
and technological collaboration, and facilitate partnerships to support
the internationalization of the Italian economy and promote “Made
in Italy” products in foreign markets. The Commission also offers
information and assistance to Italian businesses, through its network
Other DOP products of note supported in the program are: olive
of foreign offices.
oils (around 22% of the 140 DOP businesses), cheeses, prosciutto
Although the Italian Trade Commission oversees the promotion of a wide originale di Parma, condiments and organic products as well as fruits
variety of economic sectors, it pays particular attention to agri-food and vegetables.
production. When you think of Italy, you think “great food” and “great
In summary, the Commission has many things on its plate, all Italian of
wines”. But, in the endeavour to make the Canadian marketplace
course, that benefit all stakeholders.
more familiar with what Italy has to offer, today the Commission aims
specifically at promoting specialty foods and wines from the 21 regions
File
Annual Italian Wine & Grappa Tasting
The time is here for official denominations
Italian Producers
The reputation of the pleasures of Italian cuisine is well
established. In fact, the heritage of Italian gastronomy is emulated
such that it has become necessary to react to preserve its
image. The Italian legislation is taking a step to make known the
different denominations exclusive to authentic Italian products.
These denominations also describe the quality of the products
that carry them.
Better yet, Italian red wine sales
now even surpass French red wine
sales. This is certain to encourage
professionals from the region to
keep up to date on what’s new on
the market.
(cont’d)
the evening was also an occasion
to collect funds on behalf of The
Foundation Magnani Montaruli. The
Foundation’s mission is to promote
training in Italian wine and fine
cooking among the students of
l’Institut de tourisme et d’hôtellerie
On November 6, the event took
du Québec.
place at the Bonsecours Market
in Montreal with more than Italian production easily earns its
280 products available for tasting. special place in International gasThe 58 producers and wine tronomy. Always looked forward to
merchants participating featured with great anticipation, this is the
samples of their most recent chance for everyone to discover
production of vintage wines for wines from new vineyards and
tasting by the Quebec public. In assemblages of new varieties. All
addition to being a pleasant oppor- the more reason not to miss the
tunity to learn about the quality of next “Annual Italian Wine and
products offered on the market, Grappa Tasting”.
In doing so, Italy is following a tendency spreading throughout the
European Union. It serves not only to protect the quality of local agrifood production, but also to reassure consumers of the methods and
conditions of processing these food products. Official denominations
meet both objectives and have therefore been enthusiastically accepted
by both producers and consumers.
DOP and IGP
Which tools will provide assurance to consumers purchasing a
cheese or an olive oil that the product is, in fact, Italian and meets
precise standards ?
First, the Protected Denomination of Origin ( Denominazione di origine
protetta or DOP ) label may be applied to “ agricultural and food products
whose qualities and properties are essentially or exclusively derived
from their geographical environment, inclusive of natural and human
factors, and whose production occurs within a delimited
geographical area ”.
Correspondingly is the Protected Geographical Indication ( Indicazione
geografica protetta or IGP ) label, which applies to: “ agricultural and food
products whose qualities and properties or reputation are derived from their
geographical origin and whose production and/or transformation and/or
processing occur in a given geographical area ”. In this case, it is sufficient
for just one phase of production to take place in the designated area. These
two denominations are protected throughout the European Union.
Especially for wines
Viticulture, the pride of Italian agri-food production, belongs to a category unto itself. The Italian wine industry has clearly expressed its intention to maximize the proportion of classified wines such that the bulk
of national production carries a designation.
Classifications commence with the Typical Geographical Indication
( Indicazione geografica tipica or IGT ). This designation is applied
to wine produced in a broadly defined geographical region and from
approved grape varieties. The geographic indication is sometimes
accompanied by a mention of the variety.
To date, 121 regions of the country have presented their production
standards to authorities and have defined them as IGT. In Sardinia,
where the interest in designation is particularly high among producers,
15 wines already carry the label.
Next in quality are wines carrying a Controlled Origin Denomination
( Denominazione di origine controllata or DOC ) label. This quality label is
attributed to wines produced in a delimited, usually small to medium
sized, area, from precise grape varieties and in accordance with strict
production controls. There are more than 300 DOC regions.
page 2
A conforming label
Whether classed IGT, DOC or DOCG, all classified wines carry
a label confirming its designation. It includes the name of the
producer or bottler, the location where it was bottled, an indication
of the net volume and the percentage of alcohol.
The Italian producers featured more than 280 wine products
at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
One rung higher, is the DOCG quality level ( “ G ” for garantita,
indicating “ DOC guaranteed ” ). DOCG wines have qualities which are
particularly prized and enjoy a national and international reputation.
They are subject to even stricter controls. Italy recognizes 450 wines
(of IGT, DOC or DOCG quality ). Of this number, only 22 have received
the DOCG designation.
Organic food & wine also bear a label
Consumers have higher and higher expectations for cleanliness and
environmental protection. Consequently, organic production is making
slow but steady progress. In Italy, authorized organizations maintain
control by regulating the use of the designation “ Organic ”.
Rules governing production from the preparation of the soil, planting
and right up to the presentation of the product on shelves, determine
whether the label may be affixed.
Giuseppe Manenti and Sergio La Verghetta of the
Italian Trade Commission with Louis L. Roquet (centre),
President and General Manager of la Société des alcools du Québec
T H E I TA L I A N T R A D E C O M M I S S I O N N E W S L E T T E R
Food Shows & Special Events
More than 50 top Italian producers at the SIAL MONTRÉAL
Wineries and food companies will demonstrate the remarkable
combination of quality, tradition and regional diversity of Italian
fine wines, cheeses, pastas, extra virgin olive oils and more. An
event not to be missed.
wineries
abruzzo
3
Stefania Pepe & C.
organic and
food products
abruzzo
3
emilia romagna
3
Cantine Sgarzi Luigi
friuli venezia giulia
3
Ca’Tullio
3
calabria
3
3
3
lazio
3
Coprovi
3
Floricoltori Riviera Dei Fiori
3
3
3
lombardia
3
3
Tenimenti Castelrotto
Madeinitaly.com
3
3
3
3
Antica Cantina Sant'Amico
La Vite
Lucangeli Aymerich Di Laconi
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
Aurelio Settimo
Cantine Sant´Agata
Capetta
Deltetto Carlo
Le Ginestre
Punset
Tenuta Olim Bauda
Tenuta Rocca
puglia
3
3
Agrialp
Vigne & Vini
veneto
3
3
3
Cantina Beato Bartolomeo
da Breganze
Monte del Fra'
Montelvini
Frantoio Bianco
piemonte
3
3
3
piemonte
Agrioil
Campania Food
Con. Ca. Bi.
Napoletana Caffè
Promolio Qualita'
liguria
3
marche
Delizie di Calabria
L’Olivicola Cosentina
Nuova Madeo
campania
3
liguria
Dolciaria Castellana
Olio Corvino
3
Dicaf
Fiorentini Alimentari
Rondolino
Tuttovo
www.italytrade.com
puglia
3
3
3
3
3
3
Agrialp
Consorzio Salento Alimentare
F.lli Galantino
Francesco De Padova
Masserie di Sant´Eramo
Sud Italia Alimentari
sardegna
3
Domenico Manca
sicilia
3
3
3
Belice Food
Licata Paolo
Oranfrizer
umbria
3
3
3
C. U. Fr. Ol.
Del Sero
Renzini
Calendar of activities
Date
Place
Activity
Theme
February 16-17-18
TORONTO
The Canadian-International Food & Beverage Show
DOP Italian exhibitors
February 24
MONTREAL
Wine & Food Tasting
Piemonte Region
February 26
TORONTO
Wine & Food Tasting
Piemonte Region
February / March
CANADA
In store promotions
DOP speciality foods
March 3
MONTREAL
Dinner – Montreal High Lights Festival
Chianti Classico Black Rooster & Parmigiano Reggiano
March
TORONTO and MONTREAL
In-store promotions – LCBO and SAQ outlets
Chianti Classico Black Rooster & Parmigiano Reggiano
March
TORONTO
Promotions in restaurants
Chianti Classico Black Rooster & Parmigiano Reggiano
March / April
MONTREAL
Promotions in restaurants
Chianti Classico Black Rooster & Parmigiano Reggiano
April 2-3-4
MONTREAL
SIAL
DOP Italian exhibitors
April 10-11-12-13-14
VERONA
VINITALY
Italian and International Wine Exhibition
April
TORONTO
Cooking Course
Emilia-Romagna Region
April / May
TORONTO
Promotions in restaurants
Emilia-Romagna Region
May
QUEBEC
Promotions in restaurants
Emilia-Romagna Region
May
OTTAWA
Promotions in restaurants
Emilia-Romagna Region
May
MONTREAL
Cooking Course
Emilia-Romagna Region
May
MONTREAL
Promotions in restaurants
Emilia-Romagna Region
Toronto
Montreal
[email protected] Tel.: (416) 598-1566
[email protected] Tel.: (514) 284-0265
For further information, contact the Italian Trade Commission.
ITALIAN TRADE COMMISSION
page 3
T H E I TA L I A N T R A D E C O M M I S S I O N N E W S L E T T E R
Participate in our ALITALIA contest
Viva Italia
Win a trip to Tuscany!
Sophia Loren (cont’d)
Visit Tuscany and find out why this romantic
region has lured and captivated visitors
throughout time.
Discover Siena, beginning with Piazza del Campo, home of the famous
Palio horse race. Explore medieval streets and visit the Pinacoteca
Nazionale with its unique collection of Renaissance masterpieces.
Drive through the Tuscan countryside and see San Gimignano, with its
many towers, the Etruscan city of Volterra, and the medieval towns of
Certaldo, Cortona and Monteriggioni.
Revel in the countryside of Chianti,
Montalcino and Montepulciano
where some of the world’s finest
wines are produced.
Your Alitalia trip includes a
round-trip ticket for two departing
from Toronto and a 6-night stay
in a 4-star hotel.
To participate, simply register
on-line at www.italytrade.com
Contest rules and regulations
available at: www.italytrade.com
No purchase necessary
Turin, Slow Food host
In Turin this fall, some 500 exhibitors from all over the world
attracted 150,000 slow food disciples to the Salone del Gusto
( “ Taste Show ” ). This five-day-long biennial exhibition is the
largest public event for this movement which encourages people
to “ Eat better, eat less and eat more slowly. ”
Slow food was founded in 1986, when a handful of courageous friends
from Piedmont, led by food writer Carlo Petrini, were fed up with seeing
McDonald’s and company impose their culinary culture throughout the
world. They therefore ironically created an organization named slow food.
Their slow food is everything that fast food isn’t. Yet it seems slow food
is also destined for greatness…
This movement, whose emblem is the snail, exists outside its main showcase, the Salone del Gusto. Specifically, it has set up its “sentinels”, that
is, a structure that allows endangered culinary jewels in need of support
to be discovered anywhere in the world. To preserve food biodiversity,
the movement created the Ark of Taste, a repertoire of endangered
domestic species (like the Ischian rabbit raised in tuff pits three metres
deep or the native hens from the Amidi cooperative in Guatemala, which
are stronger and more fertile than their cousins from elsewhere).
Anything goes when it comes to saving culinary heritage. For example,
slow food suggests “ sponsoring a pig ” to those who want to preserve a
specific pig-farming method that requires a certain breed of pig to be
fattened for two extra years and used in a particularly tasty mortadella.
Slow food has also made gastronomy available to everyone by creating
the Taste Education Program, which organizes sensory workshops that
are open to all. In addition, it will launch, in September 2004, the
University of Gastronomic Sciences, where future “ food culture ”
professionals will learn to combine good meat with good conscience.
On a more local level, there are now 550 slow food convivia ( for
“ conviviality ” ), which are regional cells where each person introduces
everyone else to local products. There are nine convivia in Canada that
organize various activities. For example, the movement is taking
advantage of the Montreal High Lights Festival to present the treasures of Catalonia.
Some people, like colourful French activist José Bové, try to eliminate
the omnipresence of fast food restaurants from the landscape by
picketing. Slow food has chosen another method: the seduction of the
taste buds and the marketing of quality. Let’s hope that it reaches its
goal, even if it is at a snail’s pace…
Information: www.slowfoodquebec.com
IMPORTANT
ITALIAN TRADE COMMISSION
1501 McGill College Avenue
Suite 520
Montreal, Quebec H3A 3M8
Tel.: (514) 284-0265
Fax: (514) 284-0362
[email protected]
Dinner cocktails
On September 12, the prestigious
retailer Holt Renfrew, hosted the
first gala at its flagship store in
Toronto. To ensure that it would
be a success, 13 establishments
were asked to participate. In
preparing the menu for the
evening, every restaurateur
had to take inspiration from
the 13 highlighted regions of
Italy, such as Calabria and
Lombardy. They then had to
design a tasting station that
would allow the 1500 or so
guests to discover these
regional delights. Profits from
the event were donated to the
Villa Charities.
In Montreal, the event had two
stages. First, a cocktail was
held at the Montreal Museum
of Fine Arts. Three hundred guests
attended the film premiere and had
the pleasure of hearing Sophia
Loren talk about it. Hors-d’oeuvres
from the Italian gastronomic tradition were served by Le Latini
restaurant, which catered the event
on an exceptional basis.
Trend
The movement now has 70,000 members, not only in Italy, which
is home to 40,000 followers, but also in Switzerland ( 3000 members ),
in the United States ( 9000 members ) and in about 40 other countries
including Canada.
Moreno De Marchi from Le Latini
restaurant surrounded by his
squad of chefs
438 University Avenue
Suite 1818, Box 112
Toronto, Ontario M5G 2K8
Tel.: (416) 598-1566
Fax: (416) 598-1610
[email protected]
The next issue of
Naturalmente Italiano
will be distributed
through the Internet.
Subscribe for free by logging
on to www.italytrade.com and have the
chance to win a trip for two to Italy.
restaurateur who acted as a culinary coordinator for the event.
Since the main goal was to promote Italian cuisine, Apollo buried
himself in books in order to create
as authentic a menu as possible. “ I
quickly realized that the best
approach was to favour timetested country cooking. For every
region, I tried to use ingredients
that represented it most accurately. ”
White truffle, which is only served
at exceptional tables, belt fish, well
known in the Adriatic but rare
in this part of the world… many
dishes that are little known here
tickled taste buds on this evening.
Riccardo Agostino from
Via del Parco restaurant oversees
one of the food stations.
The banquet was prepared
in collaboration with a team
representing five other Montreal
Italian restaurants.
In addition to difficulties presented by the event’s large scale,
the organizers had to preserve the
flavour, presentation and salubrity
of everything that was
being served. They
therefore reserved a
facility belonging to
the Académie Culinaire,
located in Old Montreal.
Over 20,000 gourmet
canapés were transported from the facility
The Italian Foreign Trade Minister,
in refrigerated trucks.
Adolfo Urso cutting the inaugural ribbon
at the Viva Italia event in Toronto with
Beniamino Quintieri, President of the Italian
Trade Commission (on his right)
There was also the
need to allow all these
beautiful people (a thousand guests in formal attire) to
move around for three hours next to
Prada purses and Giorgio Armani
creations and other high-end
items… without staining anything!
The organizers therefore hired some
80 servers, provided the teams with
walkie-talkies, placed a special
squad – fluent in Italian – at Sophia
Loren’s service, and everything went
off without a hitch!
Then, the first group joined
700 other people attending a
gala held at the downtown
Holt Renfrew store. To allow
the guests to truly appreciate
everything that Italy has to
offer in the way of fashion, design
and cosmetics, the management of this prestigious store
invited them to move around
all four floors. There were
fifteen stations set up
in the promenade
( eight with food and
seven with wine ),
each representing one
or two of Italy’s
regions. “ This banquet
was challenging in
two ways, ” explains
The Italian flag throwers animated
Giovanni Apollo, a
Bloor Street in downtown Toronto.
They helped make the galas a success !
In Toronto :
Biagio's, Grano, La Bruschetta, Mistura, Noce, ORO, Prego Della Piazza, Primi
Ristorante, Romagna Mia, Sotto Sotto, Toula, Via Allegro Ristorante, Zucca Trattoria
In Montreal:
La Medusa, Le Latini, Piccola Italia, Ristorante Lucca, Via del Parco, Via Roma