A Taste of Croatia in Umbria-- Preview of the Next IWINETC Location

One of the highlights of the 2012 International Wine Tourism Conference was the Wines of Croatia tasting held to introduce attendees to next year's conference location in Zagreb. Of course this event was one I'd been looking forward to ever since the announcement was made in the conference program. I've become a huge fan of Croatian wines in the last year, and I was excited to hear what others at the conference thought about the wines as they tried them for the first time.

Over 15 wines from the regions of Danbue, Slavonia, Istria and Dalmatia were poured.

There were many raves for the whites including the Kozlović Malvazia from Istria and the Iločki Podrumi Graševina Vrhunska.  The clear favorite among the reds was the "Donkey" Dingač Placvac Mali from Vinarija Dingač. People were quite intrigued by the Dingač and it's distinct briny notes. Also the Festigia Merlot was favored for it's balance and rich flavor.

I particularly enjoyed the Gracin Babić, the Korlat Syrah, and the Matošević Malvasija Alba. I was surprised there was no Teran to taste, but that will just give everyone something to look forward to when they arrive in Croatia next year.

Next year's conference will be held March 15-17th. March !?! I guess that means my annual Wine Pleasures birthday celebration has ended. But you kids born in March...get it together and apply for the blogger trip.

See you in Croatia. Zivili! (Oh and if you can't wait a year, you may want to visit this week --April 13-15 2012 --at the Zagreb Wine Gourmet Weekend--details here)

Links to all Posts in this Series:

Part 1 --International Wine Tourism Conference 2012 –PREVIEW

Part 2--Wine Tourism Does Not Exist-- IWINETC 2012

Part 3--Wines of Italy: Birthday on the Wine Trail

Part 4--Wines of Italy: The Great Indoors of Benevento

Part 5--Wines of Italy: Goretti –Wine & Winetherapy 

Part 6- Wines of Italy: Terre Margaritelli - Torgiano  

Wines of Italy Series: Terre Margaritelli - Torgiano

Before I even visited Terre Margaritelli I’d become acquainted with their wine just by checking into my room at the Hotel Gio where I was assigned one of the signature wine rooms, a room that is designed and decorated by one of the local winemakers, and mine was, you guessed it… the Terre Margaritelli room. 

There I was surrounded by the Terre Margaritelli vineyard in the form of a huge wall mural, as well as a desk and table made of wine barrel staves. On the table was a bottle of Mirantico, two glasses and a Terre Margaritelli corkscrew. It was just too enticing to ignore and low and behold, the bottle practically opened itself! I mean that’s the point of these wine theme rooms…you are immersed in an environment designed by the winery, so sampling the wine is almost required…at least that’s my excuse. The Mirantico--a blend of Sangiovese, Canaiolo, Merlot, and Cabernet had a lovely aroma of violets and roses with great structure and lovely long finish. I’m glad I tried it and even happier that I got to meet the man who designed the room at the Terre Margaritelli winery the following night. 

Federico Bibi, Sales and Marketing Director of Terre Margaritelli Winery and his wife Jennifer McIlvain turned a cold and blustery night into a warm and welcoming evening of food, friendship and most of all fabulous wines. While half of our group was in the kitchen with Jennifer learning how to make gnocchi, the rest of us chatted with Federico about everything from the design theory behind the labels, to the history of the Margaritelli family land, and the organic winemaking process. You can watch a video slideshow of how the evening unfolded here, or at the bottom of this post.

I really enjoyed these wines and especially appreciated the opportunity to compare the differences in the Mirantico red blend poured from the 750 ml bottle and from the magnum. I normally don’t buy magnums but this was surely an object lesson as to why I should. The wine showed characteristics many levels beyond that in the standard size bottle, a fuller, richer palate refined and complex at the same time.

That night, back in my Terre Margaritelli room, I reached up to turn off my lamp made from bottle of Greco di Renabianca Grechetto, and I felt even more connected to a special winery that may very well have been my favorite in all of Umbria. Before checking out the next day I bought a bottle of the Mirantico from the Hotel Gio wine shop to ensure a taste of Umbria upon my return home. 

When your travels bring you to Umbria (and they should!) make plans to visit Terre Margaritelli just outside Perugia in Torgiano. And for a complete “eno-gastronmical” experience contact Jennifer at Life…Italian Style for cooking classes and an insider peek into the savory flavors and unhurried nature of the Umbrian lifestyle.

Links to all Posts in this Series:

Part 1 --International Wine Tourism Conference 2012 –PREVIEW

Part 2--Wine Tourism Does Not Exist-- IWINETC 2012

Part 3--Wines of Italy: Birthday on the Wine Trail

Part 4--Wines of Italy: The Great Indoors of Benevento

Part 5--Wines of Italy: Goretti –Wine & Winetherapy

Part 6- Wines of Italy: Terre Margaritelli - Torgiano   

International Wine Tourism Conference 2012 --PREVIEW

I'm back! It was cold, wet and snowy!  But the weather did not dampen the enthusiasm or the flavor of the fabulous wines in Italy. I have so much to tell about my whirlwind tour of Italy's wine regions and the 2012 International Wine Tourism Conference held in Perugia in Umbria. I also took a side trip to Puglia after the conference and sampled some of the wines there too. But for now, here is a sneak peak-- just the tip of the ice(wine)berg of posts to come in the following weeks:

Kick-off Dinner in Orvieto

Pasta Making at Arnaldo - Caprai Winery

The International Wine Tourism Conference

Regal Dinner at Castelo dell' Oscano 

Grand Tasting of Italian Wines led by Jane Hunt

The Awesome Wines of Puglia

The Amazing Wines of Croatia

A Night Out at Terre Margaritelli

The Real Houeswives Wine Bloggers of Umbria

The Food and Wine of Campania at Terre del Principe

The Sublime Wine and Food Parings at Villa Matilde

Under the Volcano at Grotta del Sole

There's much much more to come about all the people, places, stellar birthday celebrations, and of course the wines....so stay tuned or better yet sign up for posts to be sent via email.

Ciao ciao--

Links to all Posts in this Series:

Part 1 --International Wine Tourism Conference 2012 –PREVIEW

Part 2--Wine Tourism Does Not Exist-- IWINETC 2012

Part 3--Wines of Italy: Birthday on the Wine Trail

Part 4--Wines of Italy: The Great Indoors of Benevento

Part 5--Wines of Italy: Goretti –Wine & Winetherapy   

Part 6 -Wines of Italy: Terre Margaritelli - Torgiano

International Wine Tourism Conference 2012--Perugia, Umbria

I can't believe it's only 60 days away--the 2012 International Wine Tourism Conference is fast approaching. The location for the conference is deep in the heart of Umbria, Italy in the town of Perugia, a beautiful medieval town set high on a hill with tremendous views of the surrounding valleys. Perugia, the capital city of Umbria is well known as an art center, as well as for it's Jazz and Chocolate Festivals and the Università per Stranieri the Univeristy for Foreigners that was recently in the news for all the wrong reasons. Last year the conference was held in Portugal and you can find a list of links to all my posts about it here. Or I guess I mean this years conference, as it was just this past February.

The conference hotel for IWINETC 2012 is Hotel Gio and it's looks like the ideal setting with it's Jazz  and Wine themed rooms. Check out that bedside lamp and desk chair in the photo below!

The 2012 Conference Program is packed with some great sessions including two with Michael Wangbickler ( @mwangbickler) who hails from my neck of the woods here in California. A few program highlilghts include: Wines of Italy Grand tasting led by Master of Wine Jane Hunt, Wines of Puglia tasting and a Wines of Croatia tasting. Yay! I just visited Croatia in October and very excited to see what wines will be featured at the conference.

I'm looking forward to making new contacts and seeing old friends from last year including: Norm Oches, Paul and Merrill Bonarrigo, Melba Allen , the power couple Lara Dunston & Terrence Carter, also hope to see Jethro if his busy schedule allows.

Most of all I'm looking forward to the Blogger/Media trip which is a wonderful learning experience and major fun too. The trip takes us to Montefalco, Orvieto, Torgiano, and the Campania wine region and will include:

* Truffle hunting in teams. Release the hounds!

* Cooking classes, food & wine pairings and an olive oil museum.

* Wine, Wine, Wine and more wine at select wineries.

Birthday dinner at Quinta do Pego

Once again it will be my birthday during the trip. It will be hard to beat the celebration we had this year on the Douro-- read about it here... but I'm sure it will be equally spectacular somewhere under the volcano in Campania.

If you are considering attending the conference--don't delay-- it will be here before you know it. If you are a wine blogger it's a great event to get acquainted with wines from around the world as well as from the host country. And for those of you who are travel writers, the event is the perfect place to meet tour operators and wine region destination managers from around the globe.

See you in Umbria!

For more information and to register, visit the Wine Pleasures site: http://www.iwinetc.com/