FIJEV Tuscany trip: day one (post 2) – buy wine

 

Poster@entrance to the tasting@Stazione Leopolda

The 'buy wine' event is being held at Stazione Leopolda and includes a number of tastings centred around Tuscan wines including an opportunity for producers to meet importers and agents from around the world.

 Inside the courtyard of the old station

Old station sign

Inside one of the tastings

 

An opportunity for producers to meet buyers

Paolo Ignesti, director of the promotion of Tuscany

 

Exchange of gifts between Tuscany and FIJEV (Hervé Lalau)

Someone left speechless by Hervé's eloquence

 

FIJEV Tuscany trip: day one

 Detail of the Church of Santa Maria, Firenze

Ninth edition of the Selezione dei Vini Toscana 
We start today with a tasting this morning of this year's 85 winning wines that were selected in Siena by a jury between 19th and 22nd November. For the first time this included a journalist from FIJEV. We will have a further opportunity to taste the winners this afternoon before heading off into Chiantishire. First up will be a visit to John Matta's Castello Vicchiomaggio before heading to our hotel in Castellina in Chianti followed by a visit and dinner at Rocca delle Macie. 

View from the Hotel Roma, Firenze

 

Lanciola@Gustavino

 

2006 Le  Masse di Greve, Chianti Classico Riserva, Lanciola

Sadly we had a pretty disappointing range of wines from Lanciola at our opening meal at the Ristorante Gustavino. They included a rather sweet, oaky Chardonnay rather in a Californian style and Pinot Noir with cooked fruit, presumably because the site is too hot. Quite why one would bother to plant Pinot Noir in Tuscany at a relatively low altitude (200 metres) is beyond me. The above single vineyard 2006 Chianti Classico Riserva was perhaps the best wine. It didn't help that the wines were served a little too warm.

More evidence that so called 'international' varieties such as Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, although widely known and popular, do not suit all climates. Onwards and upwards, I trust!

Fortunately the evening was rescued by a very fine tie – I can't claim great expertise in this area of clothing but I can distinguish class when I see it. However, the hue wasn't quite right for the vin santo...

40% of 5: Marc Vanhellemont and Hervé Lalau

A trio of Les Cinq

Piazza Santa Maria using the Andrew Barrow effect also homage to Pisa

I'm now in Florence waiting to meet up with the 17 other journalists on this multi-national press trip to Tuscany. Among the 17 are Hervé Lalau and Marc Vanhellemont, two of my co-bloggers on Les 5 du Vin, so 40% of Les 5 are together in Tuscany for a few days.   

This morning at Gatwick it was quite a rare occasion as the QueasyJet to Pisa actually left early. Once we arrived in Pisa I caught the bus to the centre of Florence, which took an hour or so and gets you to Florence's main railway station. We are staying tonight in the Hotel Roma on the Piazza Santa Maria – just a very short walk from the station. 

Sunrise in Forest Hill, South London

Over the Alps

Rather dubious statue@Pisa Airport – may be entitled Silvio, perhaps?

Via della Scala – view from Hotel Roma – dusk falling

Hervé's post on Les 5 du Vin is also about this trip.

Off to Tuscany for Selezione dei Vini di Toscana

An old bridge in the centre of Florence

Flying off on QueasyJet today to Pisa and then on by bus to Florence for the start of a FIJEV (International Federation of Wine and Spirits Journalists and Writers) press trip to Tuscany for the Selezione dei Vini di Toscana.

Part of the official explanation:

'The “Selezione dei Vini di Toscana” returns, the winemakers’ contest organized every two years by Toscana Promozione, in collaboration with Enoteca Italiana of Siena, the Associazione Enologi Enotecnici Italiani[1], the Protection Consortiums, the Chambers of Commerce and the ICE[2].

The Selection’s main objectives are to enhance the best regional wine productions, in order to use them in the course of promotional actions to be carried out both in Italy and abroad, and to stir Tuscan producers to achieve an ever higher quality. And the Tuscan wine world is always keen on taking up the gauntlet of quality thrown down by the Selection, as witnessed by the incredible rise in the number of submitted wines: from 317 in 1989 to over one thousand and five hundred in 2008.'

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[1] Italian Association of Winemakers and Wine Experts

[2] Institute for Foreign trade

Reports on the trip to follow.