American wine magazine Wine Spectator revealed its selection of 103 Italian wine producers for OperaWine 2020 (Vinitaly’s grand opening event) during wine industry forum wine2wine in Verona, Italy, on November 25 2019. OperaWine 2020 is scheduled to take place on April 18 2020, in Verona. Wine Spectator Senior Editor Bruce Sanderson travelled to Verona to unveil the line-up of the selected producers in the presence of Giovanni Mantovani (CEO of Veronafiere), Gianni Bruno (Veronafiere Exhibition Manager Area Wine & Food), and Stevie Kim (Managing Director of Vinitaly International). At wine2wine, Sanderson also presented the results of a survey conducted among Wine Spectator readers about trends in Italian wine consumption in the United States.
Verona, Italy (December 12 2019) – During Veronafiere and Vinitaly’s annual business forum wine2wine (November 25-26 2019), Wine Spectator Senior Editor Bruce Sanderson announced the OperaWine 2020 line-up of 103 Italian wine producers chosen by the American wine magazine. The selected producers will be pouring their wines during Vinitaly’s exclusive gala, which is scheduled to take place on Saturday April 18 2020. The full list of Italian wine producers selected by Wine Spectator is available below and at the following link: https://www.vinitalyinternational.com/vincitori-operawine-2020/. OperaWine is the only tasting event that Wine Spectator organizes outside the United States.
Wine Spectator Senior Editor Bruce Sanderson (center-left) with OperaWine 2020 Italian wine producers and Veronafiere and Vinitaly representatives at wine2wine in November.
At the end of the first day of wine2wine, attendees gathered in the main auditorium for the official announcement of the OperaWine 2020 selected producers (the session was live-streamed on wine2wine Facebook channel). Veronafiere CEO Giovanni Mantovani opened proceedings by thanking Wine Spectator for their untiring work in supporting Italian wines and Wine Spectator’s senior editor Bruce Sanderson then called on stage the selected producers. In this year’s edition, Wine Spectator featured 11 new producers who will pour their wines for the first time at OperaWine 2020 and 10 wineries that will be returning to the event after a hiatus of a few years. In his opening speech at wine2wine, Sanderson commented on the rationale behind the compilation of the OperaWine list: “Lately, we have asked producers to pour older vintages, library selections, which we think make the event more interesting. Over the years we have also changed the line-up quite a bit. Probably each year we change about 15 to 20% of the producers and since the first edition we have had about 200 different producers participating in OperaWine.”
After the announcement, producers were called on stage to pose for the traditional group photograph and were given a personalized wine bottle to commemorate the inclusion in the OperaWine 2020 selection. The bottle was offered by wine2wine sponsor ATIU.
In another session at wine2wine, Sanderson also illustrated the results of an online survey conducted among Wine Spectator readers about wine consumption in the United States with a particular focus on Italian wine. Highlights of the survey include the primacy of Italy as the favorite among old world regions (59,17%) as well as interesting data regarding consumer habits, with women (57,66%) purchasing Italian wine according to grape varieties and men (66.15%) purchasing according to producer of winemaker. Sanderson’s presentation followed by Q&A is broadcast in full on the wine2wine Facebook channel.
OperaWine 2020 | Finest Italian Wines – 100 Great Producers Selected by Wine Spectator
ABRUZZO Binomio
ABRUZZO Masciarelli
BASILICATA Elena Fucci
BASILICATA Paternoster
BASILICATA San Martino
CALABRIA Odoardi
CALABRIA Vincenzo Ippolito
CAMPANIA Feudi di San Gregorio
CAMPANIA Mastroberardino
CAMPANIA Montevetrano
CAMPANIA Nativ
CAMPANIA Quintodecimo
EMILIA-ROMAGNA Cleto Chiarli e Figli
EMILIA-ROMAGNA Tenuta Pederzana
FRIULI/VENEZIA-GIULIA Bastianich
FRIULI/VENEZIA-GIULIA Gravner
FRIULI/VENEZIA-GIULIA Jermann
FRIULI/VENEZIA-GIULIA Livio Felluga
FRIULI/VENEZIA-GIULIA Marco Felluga
LAZIO Famiglia Cotarella (già Falesco)
LIGURIA Terenzuola
LOMBARDIA ArPePe
LOMBARDIA Bellavista
LOMBARDIA Ca’ del Bosco
LOMBARDIA Nino Negri
LOMBARDIA Rainoldi
MARCHE Garofoli
MARCHE Umani Ronchi
MOLISE di Majo Norante
PIEMONTE Aldo Conterno
PIEMONTE Cavallotto
PIEMONTE Elvio Cogno
PIEMONTE Falletto di Bruno Giacosa
PIEMONTE G.B. Burlotto
PIEMONTE G.D. Vajra
PIEMONTE Giuseppe Mascarello & Figlio
PIEMONTE Marchesi di Barolo
PIEMONTE Massolino
PIEMONTE Michele Chiarlo
PIEMONTE Nervi Conterno
PIEMONTE Paolo Scavino
PIEMONTE Produttori del Barbaresco
PIEMONTE Renato Ratti
PIEMONTE Roagna
PIEMONTE Vietti
PUGLIA Felline
PUGLIA Gianfranco Fino
PUGLIA Tormaresca
SARDEGNA Cantina Sociale di Santadi
SARDEGNA Tenute Sella & Mosca
SICILIA Benanti
SICILIA Graci
SICILIA Morgante
SICILIA Passopisciaro (Tenuta di Trinoro)
SICILIA Planeta
SICILIA Tasca d’Almerita
TRENTINO/ALTO ADIGE Cantina Terlano
TRENTINO/ALTO ADIGE Cantina Tramin
TRENTINO/ALTO ADIGE Elena Walch
TRENTINO/ALTO ADIGE Ferrari
TRENTINO/ALTO ADIGE Maso Martis
TRENTINO/ALTO ADIGE Tenuta San Leonardo
TOSCANA Altesino
TOSCANA Antinori (Guado al Tasso & Castello della Sala)
TOSCANA Biondi-Santi
TOSCANA Boscarelli
TOSCANA Canalicchio di Sopra
TOSCANA Carpineto
TOSCANA Casanova di Neri
TOSCANA Castello Banfi
TOSCANA Castello d’Albola
TOSCANA Castello di Ama
TOSCANA Castello di Volpaia
TOSCANA Eredi Fuligni
TOSCANA Fontodi
TOSCANA Il Poggione
TOSCANA Le Macchiole
TOSCANA Lisini
TOSCANA Marchesi de’ Frescobaldi
TOSCANA Ornellaia
TOSCANA San Felice
TOSCANA San Filippo
TOSCANA San Giusto a Rentennano
TOSCANA Tenuta San Guido
TOSCANA Valdicava
UMBRIA Arnaldo Caprai
UMBRIA Lungarotti
UMBRIA Tabarrini
VALLE D’AOSTA Grosjean
VENETO Allegrini
VENETO Cesari
VENETO Gini
VENETO Le Colture
VENETO Leonildo Pieropan
VENETO Maculan
VENETO Masi
VENETO Mionetto
VENETO Nino Franco
VENETO Prà
VENETO Roberto Anselmi
VENETO Tommaso Bussola
VENETO Zenato
About Vinitaly:
The grand Vinitaly 2020 will be held from April 19 to 22. Every year, Vinitaly counts more than 4,000 exhibitors on a 100,000+ square meter area and 130,000 visitors from over 140 different countries with more than 30,000 top international buyers. The premier event to Vinitaly, OperaWine “Finest Italian Wines: 100 Great Producers selected by Wine Spectator” which in 2020 will be held on April 18, one day prior to Vinitaly, will unite international wine professionals in the heart of Verona, offering them the unique opportunity to discover and taste the wines of the 100 Best Italian Producers, as selected by Wine Spectator. Since 1998 Vinitaly International travels to several countries such as Russia, China, USA and Hong Kong thanks to its strategic arm abroad, Vinitaly International. In February 2014 Vinitaly International launched an educational project, the Vinitaly International Academy (VIA) with the aim of divulging and broadcasting the excellence and diversity of Italian wine around the globe. VIA this year launched the seventh edition of its Certification Course and today counts 215 Italian Wine Ambassadors and 15 Italian Wine Experts. Since its foundation in 2014, over 560 candidates from all over the world have taken VIA’s courses.
About Wine Spectator:
Wine Spectator is the world’s leading authority on wine. Anchored by Wine Spectator magazine, a print publication that reaches around 3 million readers worldwide, the brand also encompasses the Web’s most comprehensive wine site (WineSpectator.com), mobile platforms and a series of signature events. Wine Spectator examines the world of wine from the vineyard to the table, exploring wine’s role in contemporary culture and delivering expert reviews of more than 15,000 wines each year. Parent company M. Shanken Communications, Inc., also publishes Cigar Aficionado, Whisky Advocate, Market Watch, Shanken News Daily and Shanken’s Impact Newsletter.
Clearly the selection process is not based solely upon wine quality. How much money do these wineries have to pay to be included on this list? What do they pay to participate in such a tasting?