For the last seven years, Italian wine lovers have eagerly awaitedthe annual wine tasting event to try out the autumn arrivals. It’s the “Annual Italian Wine and Grappa Tasting ” organised bythe Italian Trade Commission. Last fall, the event providedoenologists, restaurateurs and wine lovers the opportunity toenjoy the offerings of about sixty Italian wine merchants.

Twenty restaurateurscaptivated Sophia Lorenand thousands of guestsat Holt Renfrew store

Annual Italian Wine & Grappa Tasting

T H E I T A 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 V O L U M E 1 I S S U E 1 M A R C H 2 0 0 3

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Italian’s best production earns its place in Toronto and Montreal

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Director Eduardo Ponti accompanied by his mother Sophia Loren, arriving at Holt Renfrew store in Montreal

Sergio La Verghetta, Italian trade delegate, in the heart of the activities at Bonsecours Market in Montreal

On November 4, 54 merchants from regions throughout Italy partici-pated in the wine tasting event held in Toronto. In collaboration withToronto Life magazine, press and special guests started the day around11 o’clock and were joined later that afternoon by 700 restaurateursand hotelliers. Since statistics were last collected, wine sales in Ontariohave increased by 10%. " page 2

Win a trip to Italypage 4

What is the significance of official denominations?page 2

File

Are you looking for a DOPextra-virgin olive oil ? Do youwant to make sure that youdon’t miss out on the next“ Annual Italian Wine andGrappa Tasting” ? It’s simpleto find answers to these ques-tions accurately and easily bylogging on to the Italian TradeCommission’s Web site.

The www.italytrade.com Website is a comprehensive database ofall Italian food and wine products.

In addition to giving you a glimpseof these products, the site providesdetails of their distributors, as wellas a cornucopia of useful informa-tion. The site will be particularlyappreciated by restaurateurs whowould like to put a finishing touchon their wine list : for example,product descriptions, overviewsof vineyards, and presentations by

producers will givethem the opportunityto prepare menus or wine and food pairings that are sim-ply irreproachable.

As a bonus, the siteoffers a section con-taining recipes for ataste of Italy. In short,this site is worth its

weight in gold to restaurateursand product importers.

Viva Italia

Viva Italia! That is surely what the guests were saying at the two Viva Italia galashosted last fall by Holt Renfrew to highlight various aspects of Italian culture.

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

ITALIAN TRADE COMMISSION

the evening was also an occasionto collect funds on behalf of TheFoundation Magnani Montaruli. TheFoundation’s mission is to promotetraining in Italian wine and finecooking among the students ofl’Institut de tourisme et d’hôtelleriedu Québec.

Italian production easily earns itsspecial place in International gas-tronomy. Always looked forward towith great anticipation, this is thechance for everyone to discoverwines from new vineyards andassemblages of new varieties. Allthe more reason not to miss thenext “Annual Italian Wine andGrappa Tasting”.

Better yet, Italian red wine salesnow even surpass French red winesales. This is certain to encourageprofessionals from the region tokeep up to date on what’s new onthe market.

On November 6, the event tookplace at the Bonsecours Market in Montreal with more than 280 products available for tasting. The 58 producers and wine merchants participating featuredsamples of their most recent production of vintage wines fortasting by the Quebec public. Inaddition to being a pleasant oppor-tunity to learn about the quality ofproducts offered on the market,

The reputation of the pleasures of Italian cuisine is well established. In fact, the heritage of Italian gastronomy is emulatedsuch that it has become necessary to react to preserve itsimage. The Italian legislation is taking a step to make known thedifferent denominations exclusive to authentic Italian products.These denominations also describe the quality of the productsthat carry them.

In doing so, Italy is following a tendency spreading throughout theEuropean Union. It serves not only to protect the quality of local agri-food production, but also to reassure consumers of the methods andconditions of processing these food products. Official denominationsmeet both objectives and have therefore been enthusiastically acceptedby both producers and consumers.

DOP and IGP

Which tools will provide assurance to consumers purchasing acheese or an olive oil that the product is, in fact, Italian and meetsprecise standards ?

First, the Protected Denomination of Origin ( Denominazione di origineprotetta or DOP ) label may be applied to “agricultural and food productswhose qualities and properties are essentially or exclusively derivedfrom their geographical environment, inclusive of natural and humanfactors, and whose production occurs within a delimited geographical area ”.

Correspondingly is the Protected Geographical Indication ( Indicazionegeografica protetta or IGP ) label, which applies to: “agricultural and foodproducts whose qualities and properties or reputation are derived from theirgeographical origin and whose production and/or transformation and/orprocessing occur in a given geographical area”. In this case, it is sufficientfor just one phase of production to take place in the designated area. Thesetwo denominations are protected throughout the European Union.

Especially for wines

Viticulture, the pride of Italian agri-food production, belongs to a cate-gory unto itself. The Italian wine industry has clearly expressed its inten-tion 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 fromapproved grape varieties. The geographic indication is sometimesaccompanied by a mention of the variety.

To date, 121 regions of the country have presented their productionstandards 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 isattributed to wines produced in a delimited, usually small to mediumsized, area, from precise grape varieties and in accordance with strictproduction controls. There are more than 300 DOC regions.

Annual Italian Wine & Grappa Tasting

Italian Producers (cont’d)

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 organi-zation has its Head Office in Rome, 16 branches in Italy and 104offices in 80 countries around the world. In 2002, over 19,000Italian companies and 15,000 foreign firms have participated inone or another of its activities.

The Italian Trade Commission’s mission is to favour commercialexchanges between Italy and the rest of the world, stimulate industrialand technological collaboration, and facilitate partnerships to supportthe 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 of foreign offices.

Although the Italian Trade Commission oversees the promotion of a widevariety of economic sectors, it pays particular attention to agri-foodproduction. When you think of Italy, you think “great food” and “greatwines”. But, in the endeavour to make the Canadian marketplace more familiar with what Italy has to offer, today the Commission aimsspecifically at promoting specialty foods and wines from the 21 regions

of Italy through activities conceived to support the ProtectedDenomination 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 productsare made available to consumers, within a campaign to support theefforts of approximately 140 Italian agri-business firms, of which 45%are wine producers. And rightly so, knowing that between September2001 and August 2002, consumption of Italian red wines increased by14.65% in Quebec and 10.6% in Ontario !

Other DOP products of note supported in the program are: olive oils (around 22% of the 140 DOP businesses), cheeses, prosciutto originale di Parma, condiments and organic products as well as fruitsand vegetables.

In summary, the Commission has many things on its plate, all Italian ofcourse, that benefit all stakeholders.

Welcome to the first issue ofNaturalmente Italiano. Thisnewsletter was written especiallyfor food and wine enthusiasts inthe industry, to bring you newsand keep you up-to-date withItalian specialties includingDOP products from the 21regions of Italy.

Italian agri-food production hasearned a place of great importanceworldwide. We have a long-standingtradition of great-tasting foodsand fine quality wines.

We would like to invite you to themany events the Italian TradeCommission promotes nation-wide. Don’t miss the next tradeexhibitions, tastings and seminars,where you’ll get a sampling of ourItalian creations.

Our next issue will be sent to you bye-mail. It’s a practical way to keepinformed at your leisure.

Don’t forget to subscribe so that youdon’t miss the opportunity of being intouch with Italy and all it has to offer.

Angelo InfusinoToronto OfficeSergio La VerghettaMontreal Office

Agri-food and the Italian Trade Commission Share a taste of Italy

page 2 T H E I T A 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

The time is here for official denominationsFile

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 receivedthe DOCG designation.

Organic food & wine also bear a label

Consumers have higher and higher expectations for cleanliness and environmental protection. Consequently, organic production is makingslow but steady progress. In Italy, authorized organizations maintaincontrol 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, determinewhether 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

The Italian producers featured more than 280 wine products at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

A conforming labelWhether 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.

ProfileA word from the Italian Trade Commissioners

February 16-17-18 TORONTO The Canadian-International Food & Beverage Show DOP Italian exhibitorsFebruary 24 MONTREAL Wine & Food Tasting Piemonte RegionFebruary 26 TORONTO Wine & Food Tasting Piemonte RegionFebruary / March CANADA In store promotions DOP speciality foodsMarch 3 MONTREAL Dinner – Montreal High Lights Festival Chianti Classico Black Rooster & Parmigiano ReggianoMarch TORONTO and MONTREAL In-store promotions – LCBO and SAQ outlets Chianti Classico Black Rooster & Parmigiano ReggianoMarch TORONTO Promotions in restaurants Chianti Classico Black Rooster & Parmigiano ReggianoMarch / April MONTREAL Promotions in restaurants Chianti Classico Black Rooster & Parmigiano ReggianoApril 2-3-4 MONTREAL SIAL DOP Italian exhibitorsApril 10-11-12-13-14 VERONA VINITALY Italian and International Wine ExhibitionApril TORONTO Cooking Course Emilia-Romagna RegionApril / May TORONTO Promotions in restaurants Emilia-Romagna RegionMay QUEBEC Promotions in restaurants Emilia-Romagna RegionMay OTTAWA Promotions in restaurants Emilia-Romagna RegionMay MONTREAL Cooking Course Emilia-Romagna RegionMay MONTREAL Promotions in restaurants Emilia-Romagna Region

Date Place Activity Theme

page 3 T H E I T A 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

Calendar of activities

More than 50 top Italian producers at the SIAL MONTRÉALFood Shows & Special Events

wineriesabruzzo3 Stefania Pepe & C.

emilia romagna3 Cantine Sgarzi Luigi

friuli venezia giulia3 Ca’Tullio

lazio3 Coprovi

liguria3 Floricoltori Riviera Dei Fiori

lombardia3 Tenimenti Castelrotto3 Madeinitaly.com

marche3 Antica Cantina Sant'Amico 3 La Vite3 Lucangeli Aymerich Di Laconi

piemonte3 Aurelio Settimo3 Cantine Sant´Agata 3 Capetta 3 Deltetto Carlo 3 Le Ginestre 3 Punset3 Tenuta Olim Bauda3 Tenuta Rocca

puglia3 Agrialp 3 Vigne & Vini

veneto3 Cantina Beato Bartolomeo

da Breganze3 Monte del Fra'3 Montelvini

organic andfood productsabruzzo3 Dolciaria Castellana 3 Olio Corvino

calabria3 Delizie di Calabria3 L’Olivicola Cosentina 3 Nuova Madeo

campania3 Agrioil3 Campania Food3 Con. Ca. Bi. 3 Napoletana Caffè3 Promolio Qualita'

liguria 3 Frantoio Bianco

piemonte3 Dicaf3 Fiorentini Alimentari3 Rondolino 3 Tuttovo

puglia3 Agrialp3 Consorzio Salento Alimentare3 F.lli Galantino 3 Francesco De Padova3 Masserie di Sant´Eramo 3 Sud Italia Alimentari

sardegna 3 Domenico Manca

sicilia 3 Belice Food3 Licata Paolo3 Oranfrizer

umbria 3 C. U. Fr. Ol.3 Del Sero3 Renzini

Wineries and food companies will demonstrate the remarkablecombination of quality, tradition and regional diversity of Italianfine wines, cheeses, pastas, extra virgin olive oils and more. Anevent not to be missed.

For further information, contact the Italian Trade Commission. Torontotoronto.toronto@ice.it Tel.: (416) 598-1566

Montrealmontreal.montreal@ice.it Tel.: (514) 284-0265

www.italytrade.com

ITALIAN TRADE COMMISSION

restaurateur who acted as a culi-nary coordinator for the event.Since the main goal was to pro-mote Italian cuisine, Apollo buriedhimself in books in order to createas authentic a menu as possible. “ Iquickly realized that the bestapproach was to favour time-tested country cooking. For everyregion, I tried to use ingredientsthat represented it most accurately. ”White truffle, which is only servedat exceptional tables, belt fish, wellknown in the Adriatic but rare in this part of the world… manydishes that are little known heretickled taste buds on this evening.

The banquet was prepared in collaboration with a teamrepresenting five other MontrealItalian restaurants.

In addition to difficulties pre-sented by the event’s large scale,the organizers had to preserve theflavour, presentation and salubrity

of everything that wasbeing served. Theytherefore reserved afacility belonging to the Académie Culinaire,located in Old Montreal.Over 20,000 gourmetcanapés were trans-ported from the facilityin refrigerated trucks.

There was also theneed to allow all thesebeautiful people (a thou-

sand guests in formal attire) tomove around for three hours next toPrada purses and Giorgio Armanicreations and other high-enditems… without staining anything!The organizers therefore hired some80 servers, provided the teams withwalkie-talkies, placed a specialsquad – fluent in Italian – at SophiaLoren’s service, and everything wentoff without a hitch!

Dinner cocktails

On September 12, the prestigiousretailer Holt Renfrew, hosted thefirst gala at its flagship store inToronto. To ensure that it wouldbe a success, 13 establishmentswere asked to participate. Inpreparing the menu for theevening, every restaurateurhad to take inspiration fromthe 13 highlighted regions ofItaly, such as Calabria andLombardy. They then had todesign a tasting station thatwould allow the 1500 or soguests to discover theseregional delights. Profits fromthe event were donated to theVilla Charities.

In Montreal, the event had twostages. First, a cocktail washeld at the Montreal Museumof Fine Arts. Three hundred guestsattended the film premiere and hadthe pleasure of hearing SophiaLoren talk about it. Hors-d’oeuvresfrom the Italian gastronomic tradi-tion were served by Le Latinirestaurant, which catered the eventon an exceptional basis.

Then, the first group joined 700 other people attending agala held at the downtown Holt Renfrew store. To allowthe guests to truly appreciate everything that Italy has to offer in the way of fashion, design and cosmetics, the manage-ment of this prestigious store invited them to move around all four floors. There were fifteen stations set up in the promenade ( eight with food andseven with wine ),each representing oneor two of Italy’sregions. “ This banquetwas challenging in two ways, ” explainsGiovanni Apollo, a

Participate in our ALITALIA contest

Win a trip to Tuscany! Sophia Loren (cont’d)

Viva Italia

Turin, Slow Food hostTrend

In Turin this fall, some 500 exhibitors from all over the worldattracted 150,000 slow food disciples to the Salone del Gusto( “ Taste Show” ). This five-day-long biennial exhibition is thelargest public event for this movement which encourages peopleto “ Eat better, eat less and eat more slowly. ”

Slow food was founded in 1986, when a handful of courageous friendsfrom Piedmont, led by food writer Carlo Petrini, were fed up with seeingMcDonald’s and company impose their culinary culture throughout theworld. They therefore ironically created an organization named slow food.Their slow food is everything that fast food isn’t. Yet it seems slow foodis also destined for greatness…

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 countriesincluding Canada.

This movement, whose emblem is the snail, exists outside its main show-case, the Salone del Gusto. Specifically, it has set up its “sentinels”, thatis, a structure that allows endangered culinary jewels in need of supportto be discovered anywhere in the world. To preserve food biodiversity,the movement created the Ark of Taste, a repertoire of endangereddomestic species (like the Ischian rabbit raised in tuff pits three metresdeep or the native hens from the Amidi cooperative in Guatemala, whichare 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 aspecific pig-farming method that requires a certain breed of pig to befattened for two extra years and used in a particularly tasty mortadella.

Slow food has also made gastronomy available to everyone by creatingthe Taste Education Program, which organizes sensory workshops that

are open to all. In addition, it will launch, in September 2004, theUniversity 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 introduceseveryone else to local products. There are nine convivia in Canada thatorganize various activities. For example, the movement is takingadvantage of the Montreal High Lights Festival to present the trea-sures of Catalonia.

Some people, like colourful French activist José Bové, try to eliminatethe omnipresence of fast food restaurants from the landscape by picketing. Slow food has chosen another method: the seduction of thetaste buds and the marketing of quality. Let’s hope that it reaches itsgoal, even if it is at a snail’s pace…

Information: www.slowfoodquebec.com

Discover Siena, beginning with Piazza del Campo, home of the famousPalio horse race. Explore medieval streets and visit the PinacotecaNazionale with its unique collection of Renaissance masterpieces.

Drive through the Tuscan countryside and see San Gimignano, with itsmany towers, the Etruscan city of Volterra, and the medieval towns ofCertaldo, Cortona and Monteriggioni.

Revel in the countryside of Chianti,Montalcino and Montepulcianowhere some of the world’s finestwines are produced.

Your Alitalia trip includes around-trip ticket for two departingfrom Toronto and a 6-night stayin a 4-star hotel.

To participate, simply registeron-line at www.italytrade.com

Contest rules and regulationsavailable at: www.italytrade.com

No purchase necessary

Visit Tuscany and find out why this romanticregion has lured and captivated visitorsthroughout time.

The next issue ofNaturalmente Italianowill be distributedthrough the Internet.

Subscribe for free by logging on to www.italytrade.com and have thechance to win a trip for two to Italy.

IMPORTANT

They helped make the galas a success !In Toronto : Biagio's, Grano, La Bruschetta, Mistura, Noce, ORO, Prego Della Piazza, PrimiRistorante, 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

Riccardo Agostino from Via del Parco restaurant oversees

one of the food stations.

The Italian Foreign Trade Minister, Adolfo Urso cutting the inaugural ribbon at the Viva Italia event in Toronto with

Beniamino Quintieri, President of the ItalianTrade Commission (on his right)

The Italian flag throwers animated Bloor Street in downtown Toronto.

Moreno De Marchi from Le Latinirestaurant surrounded by his

squad of chefs

1501 McGill College AvenueSuite 520Montreal, Quebec H3A 3M8Tel.: (514) 284-0265Fax: (514) 284-0362montreal.montreal@ice.it

438 University AvenueSuite 1818, Box 112Toronto, Ontario M5G 2K8Tel.: (416) 598-1566Fax: (416) 598-1610toronto.toronto@ice.it

ITALIAN TRADE COMMISSION