EXPERIENCE ITALY, ITALIAN FOOD AND WINE REIGNS AT THE SOBE WINE & FOOD FESTIVAL
A record number of visitors at the Italian pavilion of the Miami event
The 10th edition of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival closed on 27th February having
welcomed a record number of visitors. This internationally renowned event gives lovers of
great cooking and quality wine the opportunity to discover products from around the globe.
For 4 days Miami became the showcase of culinary trends and wines available on the US
market with particular attention to Italy, guest of honor at this special edition. The
Experience Italy pavilion, an entire area dedicated to the best of Italian food and wine was
organised by IEEM the American branch of the Veronese company IEM International
Exhibition Management.
Over 60,000visitors including trade professionals and wine lovers flocked to the event tents
erected on the beautiful sands of Miami’s South Beach over the course of the weekend
generating ticket sales of $4.4m to be donated entirely to the faculty of Tourism and
Hospitality Management of the Florida International University di Miami.
Experience Italy was a great success housing not only some of the most important wineries
distributed by Southern Wine and Spirits but safeguard and promotional consortiums of
some of Italy’s most well known high quality products such as Consorzio Grana Padano.
Representing high quality Italian wines were some of the member wineries of the Istituto
Grandi Marchi including Antinori, Biondi Santi, Jermann, Lungarotti, Mastroberardino, Pio
Cesare, Rivera, Umani Ronchi, Tasca d’Almerita. These were joined by three other important
names in Italian wine production : Speri, Valdo and Zardetto. To give visitors a taste of
Italian culinary tradition making the “Experience Italy” experience complete, four local
Italian restaurants (TiramesU, Mai Tardi, Cioppino, Perricone’s) took turns each day in
serving special dishes and typical products to the hungry visitors.
Each visitor to the area received a copy of a special guide which had been prepared for the
occasion including the recipes of the dishes served (all prepared using Grana Padano) and
suggestions on how to match the three Grana Padano cheeses (according to length of
maturity) with the wines of the participating wineries.
The Italian pavilion was a great success with the public and trade professionals raving about
how they had been able to familiarize themselves with some of the great wines and food
products which really stand out in the range of Made in Italy products.
“The wines, the cheese and the dishes served in the Italian pavilion are the best in the whole
festival” many of the visitors declared, “here it really is possible to learn something new about
Italian wines and food.”. “it’s the most interesting pavilion in the event and also the best
organised!” other visitors were heard saying “all the wines on show are simply extraordinary”.
Positive feedback on the quality of the fittings and fixtures, the organization and the
attendance of quality wine makers was also given by the numerous journalists who attended
the opening ceremony including Irene Moore of Where Magazine, Simone Diamet of South
Florida Gourmet and Elizabeth Smith, publisher of Wine News who defined Experience
Italy “an oasis of oenological and culinary tradition”.
The participating Italian wineries were also highly satisfied with the outcome of the event.
“An interesting and very successful event . The organisers of the Italian pavilion deserve a
round of applause” stated Nicola Baldrighi president of Consorzio Grana Padano “In our
opinion the idea to match our products with the wines of some of the best Italian wine
producers which are important ambassadors the world over for Made in Italy products was
very well done. Grana Padano is the most widely exported Italian cheese. We selected
particular forms and levels of aging to make matching with the wines more interesting”.
Valdo’s Export Director, Paolo Oliviero had this to say about the event "because of its
unusual location, the South Beach wine & Food Festival is definitely the most original event for
promoting the excellence of Italian wines to the American trade and end consumers. This has
been an unforgettable experience.".
Satisfied and sure of the success of the event, Fabio Zardetto owner of Zardetto Spumanti
declared: “I hope to be able to repeat this experience next year. The enthusiasm from the public
demonstrates just what a great moment Prosecco is enjoying on this market.” Whilst Lilly Lo
Cascio Export Manager of Tasca D’Almerita, was enthusiastic about the organisation of the
exhibition area stating: “Thanks to Experience Italy the participating wineries have had a
great number of interesting contacts with buyers and trade professionals ”.
According to Luca Speri “In the last 20 years, Amarone has made gigantic steps in terms of its
popularity and reputation on markets above all thanks to the quality we attain in our wines.
This is a reason to be very happy, it demonstrates that we have worked well and SoBe is a great
opportunity to showcase this prestigious wine to a wide public of consumers”.
“Italian wine deserves to the guest of honor at this the 10th edition of the SoBe Wine and Food
Festival because over the past 20 years it has made extraordinary progress” commented
Marquis Piero Antinori, to whom Wine Spectator dedicated one of its seminars held during
the event. “From a rather unenviable position, we’ve managed to become the most imported
wine in the US. America in the meantime has managed an incredible leap and has become the
highest consumer of wine in the world. No-one would have ever believed that 10 years ago. The
Miami market is not only a local market but is also a very vast and International market and
the entry to all of South America.”.
Giada de Laurentiis, well loved TV star in the US as well as patroness of the Italian Pavilion
and the Italian in Paradise evening said : “ Anything to do with Italy is always met with
great interest in the US. Americans love Italy and absolutely must have something Italian in
their life or on their plates every day. Cuisine and wine are obviously the most immediate
way to transport yourself in Italy.. at least for a moment”.
President of Southern Wines Mel Dick’s summed it up succinctly “It was great. You did
Italian wine and food proud, well done guys!”.