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By Ingram Kant
Vinci is a picturesque small Tuscan town, west of Florence and
best known for its most famous son, Leonardo da Vinci, "da"
in Italian meaning "from".
Leonardo da Vinci, not only was a great artist but also was celebrated
as a sculptor, architect, engineer and scientist. Today, his name
becomes a symbol of great wines.
Giovanni Nencini, Director of Marketing and Sales for Dalle Vigne,
the producers of Leonardo da Vinci wines, was on his first visit
to Phuket, to co-host an evening of Tuscan food and wine at Salvatore's
family-style restaurant in Phuket town.
The Dalle Vigne winery, deep in the heart of the Chianti area,
has been in Vinci for a few decades and today 180 growers produce
high quality wines on 500 hectares of vineyard
This week visiting Thailand last week in Canada, Giovanni travels
the world, constantly brand building his innovative wines.
From 1995 the vineyard has been making "a more serious Chianti,",
more "serious" because it has to remain a minimum of 2
years in the cellar before it becomes available to the public, unlike
normal Chianti wines that are allowed to be sold after only 6 months
in storage. The accolade for the success of this new reserve wine
came in 2002 when it was awarded the trophy for "The Best Value
Red Wine of the Year" at the Wine Challenge in London - the
largest wine competition in the world. A blind tasting of some 10,000
wines by 400 wine tasters of which the top 40 are all Masters of
Wine.
The most important market for the winery remains Italy, at about
35% of total production but the future looks increasingly interesting
in America after the company's recent signing of an agreement with
Gallo Brothers to represent them throughout the USA.
Italasia is the importer in Thailand for the wines from this winery
and confirms that
South East Asia is becoming a very important destination for these
wines as user sophistication grows, especially in local populations
and particularly in Thailand. Italasia's policy is to offer high-end
quality Italian wines to the Thai market. In Phuket Italasia keeps
only enough wine in stock for a one-week demand, due to the difficulties
in ensuring perfect storage conditions.
They feel one of the best ways to introduce the wines to the public
is to give them their natural accompaniment, excellent Italian food
from the region where the wine is made, Tuscany. As it is well recognised
that Salvatore's is one of the best provider of excellent Tuscany
dishes, the marriage resulting in this wine tasting evening became
a natural one.
The menu enjoyed by the relaxed and voluble gourmets began with
tasty Crostoni - Tuscany toasted bread with many different toppings,
accompanied by 2002 Galestro Toscana wine; followed by antipasto
delighted by 2001 Chianti Leonardo; chased by Gnocchetti with homemade
sausage and Cannelloni ricotta complimented by the excellent 2000
San Zio; climaxed by Tuscan Pot Roast, captivated by the superb
1999 Chianti Riserva.
The Dalle Vigne winery began working with Italasia one year ago
and "results so far", reports Giovanni, are "very
satisfactory, exceeding the sales expectation for the first year."
Bangkok sales represent 65% of the business, where the wines are
available in the very best hotels.
"The biggest obstacle to market growth" laments Giovanni,
"is the taxation levied on wines imported into Thailand. This
is especially damaging to wines that are known as providing an excellent
price quality ratio."
The wines are available only in the best restaurants and hotels
in Thailand at the moment. Hopefully in 2004 they may become available
to the general public.
Salvatore's Restaurant has become an institution for Italian gourmets
in Phuket town, despite the fact that he has been in the current
location for only 3 years; - previously he had two restaurants in
Patong, catering largely for the tourist trade; whereas many of
his customers today are regulars living in Phuket. Salvatore has
enjoyed the relationship with Italasia over many years and is highly
satisfied with their wines and their support.
Giovanni arrived in Phuket only two hours before the event began
and enjoyed it so much that he is already looking forward to returning
to host another such evening at some time in the future. "I
particularly enjoy the 'family' atmosphere of Salvatore's restaurant,
especially as I am travelling so much and living in hotels. Also,
it compliments the unhurried tasting of the wines."
The success of the evening was indeed due to the very informal
and relaxed atmosphere in a homely restaurant, away from a more
formal five-star hotel ambience, lacking pretension; an intimate
style of dining, enhanced by Salvatore's friendly visits to each
table offering his personalized service and ensuring his extended
"family" is at ease. I was just a little disappointed
not to hear him break into song!
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