On Thursday and Friday, May 25-26, 2023, the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce South Central hosted a group of visiting Italian winemakers and grape growers for a series of tastings and meetings with Houston-based trade members.
On Thursday, at 2:30 pm at Vinology, Kroger regional wine program manager and Advanced Sommelier of the Court of Master Sommeliers Jaime De Leon led a seminar on native grape varieties produced by the wineries listed below.
Cantine Borga – Emma Borga Bianco IGT Tre Venezie 2021
Orsolani – Erbaluce di Caluso DOCG – La Rustia 2022
Tappero Merlo Domenici – Erbaluce di Caluso DOCG – Kin 2016
Colle Adimari – Chianti DOCG – Governo all’uso Toscano 2021
Malenchini – Chianti Superiore DOCG 2020
On Friday, the IACC organized a series of one-on-one tastings and meetings for the winery representatives and locally based distributors.
It was a great opportunity to learn more about three different winemaking regions in Italy — Veneto, Piedmont, and Tuscany — and the events gave local wine distributors the chance to meet with potential suppliers.
The group was led by Sebastiano Bazzano, an Italian export consultant whose company, B.Connected, helped Italian wineries find the right importer in countries around the world. A longtime partner of the IACC, Sebastiano also worked with importers and their suppliers to facilitate logistics once an importer had placed an order for his clients’ wines.