The Tasting Panel magazine

September 2012

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SAN FRAN INSIDER The Long and Short of It A story and photos by Deborah Parker Wong fter two years of thoughtful tasting, Barcelona native Johana Bohorquez and her partner Max Geittmann have launched Di Vita Imports, a portfolio of organic, biodynamic and sustainably-produced Italian and Spanish wines. Having met Bohorquez and compared notes with her at numerous trade tastings, I had high expectations of the 50 or so Italian wines they presented this month during a pre-portfolio tasting held at Guerrero Art Gallery. Global Wine Company consultant Mark Bowery, ProWein's Hans Werner Reinhard and USA Wine West's Serena Campbell at Piperade. Among them were several surprising mono-varietal wines made from obscure indigenous varieties including an Ansonica IGT from Brantcatelli in Livorno and a Ciliegiolo IGT from Chianti's Fattoria Caspri. Stand- out producers like Radda's Colle Bereto (their 100% Pinot Nero Colle B Brut rosé immediately brought to mind a baked rasp- berry tart), Galfano from Marsala, and Giribaldi from the Langhe could well be the flagships for the Di Vita portfolio. To further focus their selections, Bohorquez and Geittmann asked guests to complete a survey ranking wine quality while they tasted. Their aromatic white wines rated the highest marks overall, as did reds from the producers noted. Thanks to Bohorquez's legwork, the Di Vita portfolio is sure to be a time- saver for anyone shopping this category. At some point each year, the world's largest wine trade fairs garner a mea- sure of attention from just about every member of the industry. Even if you have attended a fair in Verona, Bordeaux or London, you probably haven't visited ProWein which is held annually in Düsseldorf, Germany. It's not by accident that Germany plays host to 80 percent 28 / the tasting panel / september 2012 of the world's largest trade shows each year, wine and otherwise. Largely because ProWein is located outside of Germany's main winegrowing regions and is low-cost for exhibitors, the show has become a destination for 49 wine- growing countries around the world. Hans Werner Reinhard, Executive Vice President at Messe Düsseldorf, the company behind ProWein and 80 other trade shows globally, hosted a lunch for potential and return exhibitors at Di Vita partners Max Geittmann and Johana Bohorquez debut their portfolio at Guerrera Art Gallery. Piperade in San Francisco, where he shed some light on the show's success. "Best practices are driving the format of the show and we're sold out on the exhibitor side for 2013," said Reinhard, who is looking to grow international visitor attendance from North America and Asia. The three-day show has the reputation as a place to do business and will run from March 24–26 in 2013. "With more wholesalers now becoming importers, ProWein is poised to be the go-to place for the U.S. wine trade," said Peter Baedeker, Managing Director of Imports for Purple Wine Co. "At the moment, it's an undiscovered gem."

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