Twenty Italian producers of Prosecco DOC presented 60 of their wine labels, including a large number of Prosecco DOC Rosé – a pink sparkling wine that is a novelty even on the Italian market, launched only in 2020. The list of exhibitors included some big and famous names, such as Villa Sandi, Bottega and Astoria. However, most of the exhibitors were presenting their sparkling wines here on the Croatian market for the very first time.
In addition to winemakers, the fair was also attended by Cibus Et Terra, a manufacturer of handmade equipment for winemakers. The organisers of this event were the Vinoljupci (Wine lovers) Association and the Italian-Croatian Chamber of Commerce, with the support of the Embassy of the Republic of Italy and the Consortium for the Protection of the Name Prosecco DOC from Treviso.
Irena Lucic, the project manager of the Vinoljupci Association, and Andrea Perkov, the director of the Italian-Croatian Chamber of Commerce, spoke at the opening of the Prosecco Days 2021 fair. The Ambassador of the Republic of Italy in Zagreb, HE Mr. Pierfrancesco Sacco pointed out the importance of cooperation between Italy and Croatia and stressed that such events serve to connect and strengthen not only business between the two neighbouring countries but also interstate cooperation.
The Vice Director of the Consortium for the Protection of Prosecco DOC, Mr. Andrea Batistela, pointed out that he hopes that this is only the first such fair in a series, and that he believes in successful future cooperation between Italian winemakers and Croatian wine professionals. Finally, the delegate of the Mayor of Zagreb Tanja Operta, head of the City Office for Economy, Energy and Environmental Protection, thanked those present at Prosecco Days 2021 for the initiative to strengthen Italian-Croatian business relations and stressed that such projects will always be supported by the City of Zagreb.
Although Prosecco Days 2021 was primarily conceived as a business fair with the aim of strengthening existing and creating new business links between Prosecco DOC producers and Croatian wine professionals, distributors, retailers and the HoReCa sector, the fair also aroused great interest among wine lovers.
Over the two-day fair programme, in addition to tasting sparkling wines, a lecture entitled “Prosecco DOC – past, present, future” was held by Andrea Perkov. The first mention of Prosecco dates back to the thirteenth century and has a special emphasis placed on it during the Renaissance period when it was known as “a wine that provides longevity and beauty”, while today it is one of the most important export products of Italy: Every fourth bottle of wine produced in Italy is prosecco, and as many as 80 percent of produced Prosecco DOC is consumed outside of Italy.
As part of the fair, four wine workshops were held, which were designed and led by wine blogger Nenad Trifunovic Vinopija in cooperation with winemakers.
There was also a gala dinner “Prosecco & Diamonds” where, in addition to delicious food, sparkling wines were accompanied by – diamonds. The partner of the gala dinner, Zlatarnica Rodic, prepared a short, educational lecture on diamonds for those present, and the present representatives of the fairer sex had the opportunity to be photographed with this precious jewellery.
Diamonds weren’t chosen at random as the theme of this dinner – as the most precious and shining stone best conveys the value that prosseco has for Italians: they compare the two and often refer to prosecco as diamonds in a glass.
Italy and Croatia are neighbouring countries linked by a long history of economic cooperation When it comes to wine production, distribution and exports, the figures prevail in favour of the Italians, known for being the world’s wine leaders. Although popular sparkling wines obtained from the glera variety have been present in Croatia for a long time now, there is more than enough room for market expansion of Prosecco DOC.
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