Taste of Italy

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  • Thank you to Taste of Italy El Paso attendees and exhibitors!

    Thank you to Taste of Italy El Paso attendees and exhibitors!

    Thank you to everyone who participated in the first-ever Taste of Italy El Paso!

    20+ Italian wineries, 200+ products, and 80+ trade members in attendance!

    The Italy-America Chamber of Commerce Texas couldn’t have been more pleased with the first-ever Taste of Italy El Paso on Thursday, October 12 at the Park Tavern in downtown.

    IACC director Alessia Paolicchi was thrilled to welcome a number of El Paso business leaders and dignitaries, including the General Consul of Mexico Mauricio Ibarra Ponce De Leon, and legacy restaurateurs and Texas Restaurant Association El Paso Chapter past and current president Leo and Vanessa Duran, his daughter, owners of L&J Café, one of the city’s culinary icons and institutions.

    Also in attendance were Chris Lane and Tresa Rockwell, founders of the El Paso Wine Fest.

    Given the fantastic results obtained with this first-ever El Paso incarnation of the now traveling Taste of Italy, the largest trade fair in the U.S. devoted exclusively to Italian food and wine, the organizers are looking forward to expanding the event and partnering with leading businesses and trade groups in the city.

    Stay tuned for next year’s dates and partners! And thank you to the wonderful city of El Paso for the warm reception! Special thanks also to host venue Park Tavern for the superb support and food!

  • Wines fit for a Pope! An exclusive tasting of Roman (Latium) wines October 10 at Vinology.

    Wines fit for a Pope! An exclusive tasting of Roman (Latium) wines October 10 at Vinology.

    The IACC Texas is pleased to welcome three wineries from Rome on Tuesday, October 10 at Vinology in Houston.

    The wines grown in the volcanic soils in the farmland and hills that surround the capital have been favorites of Popes for centuries.

    But they have garnered scarce attention in the U.S. where wine professionals are just beginning to appreciate their depth, nuance, and longevity.

    We’ll feature products by Latium wineries Parvusager, Principe Pallavicini, and Cantine Silvestri.

    We hope you can join us for what is sure to be an extraordinary tasting. Our resident wine educator, Jeremy Parzen, will be on hand to guide us through the wines.

    Wines Fit for a Pope!
    Tuesday, October 10
    2:30-5:30 p.m.
    Vinology
    Google map

    Click here to register.

    Image via the Principe Pallavicini Facebook.

  • Taste of Italy El Paso 10/12: Register now!

    Taste of Italy El Paso 10/12: Register now!

    The IACC Texas is thrilled to announce that registration is now open for Taste of Italy El Paso on October 12 at Park Tavern restaurant and events space (above)!

    Click here to register for the walk-around tasting. See below for a list of participating wineries.

    We have a great lineup of speakers for the noon 12 p.m. seminar: Marcos Pena, an Italian wine specialist for leading wine retailer Spec’s, with more than 20 years of experience; Angelo Ferrari, owner of a Texas-based importer of fine Italian wines, Beviamo International; and Jeremy Parzen, author of the popular blog DoBianchi.com and an expert on the wines of Italy.

    The class is currently full. Click HERE to enter the WAITLIST. This registration will guarantee access to the Walk-Around tasting at 1 p.m..

    Jeremy will be moderating the panel.

    The theme of the seminar will be “Applications for Italian Wines beyond the Traditional Italian Restaurant.”

    For the occasion, the panelists will be discussing wines from Tuscany, Piedmont, Veneto, Sardinia, Abruzzo, and Sicily.

    We look forward to seeing you in El Paso!

    Here’s the complete lineup of wineries participating in the walk-around tasting:

    Citra (Abruzzo)
    La Guardiense (Campania)
    Cantine Campana (Emilia Romagna)
    Tenute Villanova (Friuli)
    Parvus Ager (Lazio)
    Principe Pallavicini (Lazio)
    Cantine Silvestri 1929 (Lazio)
    La Montina (Lombardy)
    Cantina di Casteggio (Lombardy)
    Cascina Baràc (Piedmont)
    Scrimaglio (Piedmont)
    Vini Bosco (Puglia)
    Jerzu Antichi Poderi (Sardinia)
    Cantine di Oliena (Sardinia)
    Vini Tola (Sicily)
    Zumbo (Sicily)
    Tenuta Cantagallo (Tuscany)
    Le Farnete (Tuscany)
    Valvirginio (Tuscany)
    Fattoria Svetoni (Tuscany)
    Vindare (Tuscany)
    Duca della Crogna – Trasimeno (Umbria)
    Villa Bucher (Umbria)
    Bresolin (Veneto)
    Domini Veneti (Veneto)

    Image via the Park Tavern Facebook.

  • Taste of Italy’s first event in El Paso, October 12!

    Taste of Italy’s first event in El Paso, October 12!

    We are pleased to share registration links for the Taste of Italy El Paso wine seminar and Grand Tasting, Thursday, October 12 in El Paso:

    Click here to register for the event’s wine tasting and seminar led by Italian wine educator Jeremy Parzen, author of Do Bianchi, featuring Marcos Pena (Wine Manager at Spec’s) and Angelo Ferrari (owner of Beviamo International), 12 pm at Park Tavern (204 E Mills Ave).

    Click here to register for the Grand Tasting, 1-4 pm at Park Tavern (204 E Mills Ave).

    Not only is El Paso one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S. today. It’s also home to a vibrant food and wine community that is getting the attention of food and wine professionals from across the country.

    On the heels of the success of Taste of Italy Houston and Taste of Italy Dallas, we are thrilled to be launching this new stop on the Taste of Italy Tour!

    The list of wineries that will be at Taste of Italy El Paso keeps growing. Currently, the following wineries have confirmed their participation:

    Citra (Abruzzo)
    Tenute Villanova (Friuli)
    Parvus Ager (Lazio)
    Principe Pallavicini (Lazio)
    La Montina (Lombardy)
    Cantina di Casteggio (Lombardy)
    Cascina Baràc (Piedmont)
    Scrimaglio (Piedmont)
    Vini Bosco (Puglia)
    Jerzu Antichi Poderi (Sardinia)
    Vini Tola (Sicily)
    Tenuta Cantagallo (Tuscany)
    Le Farnete (Tuscany)
    Valvirginio (Tuscany)
    Fattoria Svetoni (Tuscany)
    Duca della Crogna – Trasimeno (Umbria)
    Villa Bucher (Umbria)
    Domini Veneti (Veneto)

    Check back soon for more participating wineries.

    And please click the links above to sign up for the wine seminar and tasting.

    We look forward to seeing this fall in El Paso!

    Image via the Visit El Paso Facebook.

  • Marche ATIM and IACC sign historic agreement to launch new three-year partnership.

    Marche ATIM and IACC sign historic agreement to launch new three-year partnership.

    On Thursday of last week, during the 32nd gathering of the Worldwide Convention of Italian Chambers of Commerce Abroad in the city of Colli del Tronto (Ascoli Piceno Province), the president of the Marche Chamber of Commerce, Gino Sabatini, announced the signing of a historic agreement between the Marche Chamber office and the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce in Houston, which covers Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.

    The memorandum of understanding outlining the two chambers’ partnership was signed by Marco Bruschini (above, left), director of ATIM, Marche’s Tourism and International Relations Association, and Brando Ballerini (above, right), president of the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce (IACC Houston).

    The agreement lays the groundwork for what will be a three-year partnership between the IACC Houston and the ATIM to promote products and businesses from Marche in the food and wine, tourism, and technology sectors.

    The conference, which also included the Meeting of Directors of Italy’s Chambers of Commerce Abroad, was attended by 170 delegates from chamber offices across the world. Of the 84 chamber offices around the globe, 80 were present for the event, representing offices in 60 countries. Matteo Zoppas, president of the Italian Trade Commission; Valentino Valentini, deputy director of the Italian Ministry of Business and Made in Italy (MIMIT); and Raffaele Fitto, Minister for Foreign Affairs, the South, and the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, were also in attendance for the momentous occasion.

    “While the volume and value of Italian exports increased in 2022, the number of companies exporting their goods abroad, and especially small businesses, dropped by 4.3 percent between 2016 and 2019,” noted Andrea Prete, president of Italy’s National Union of Chambers during his address.

    “If we want to help Italian companies grow,” added Mario Pozza, president of the Association of Chambers Abroad, “we need to make an honest assessment” of the current business climate “and rethink solutions for the problems were are facing.”

    This historic new agreement between the Region of Marche and the IACC in Houston will undoubtedly be a boost to Marche-based businesses who wish to tap into the Texas marketplace, one of the fastest growing states in the U.S. thanks to the state’s business-friendly and globally inclined policies.

  • Taste of Italy Vancouver in the news!

    Taste of Italy Vancouver in the news!

    The IACC couldn’t be more thrilled to see Taste of Italy grow as it expands its reach to other North American cities.

    That Vancouver television personality Jim Gordon (above, right) co-host of the popular lifestyle show “Our City Tonight,” and Tony Bocale, owner of the ANRA winery group, importer of fine Italian wines.

    See the YouTube below to watch Our City Tonight’s coverage of the first-ever Taste of Italy Vancouver, which took place in March of this year.

    Congratulations to the IACC Canada West on a great event!

  • A Taste of Italy Success Story: After a standing-room-only-seminar, Calabria prepares to send its best food products to Texas.

    A Taste of Italy Success Story: After a standing-room-only-seminar, Calabria prepares to send its best food products to Texas.

    Earlier this week, IACC business development manager Francesca Bacci accompanied Texas-based chef Luciano Salvadore to the Mercato delle Eccellenze di Calabria (MEC) in Calabria.

    Chef Luciano, the executive chef at Il Calabrese restaurant in South Lake (Dallas), had been asked by MEC’s founder and director Giovanni Guido to be part of panel was tasked withs selecting the best Calabrian products to be included in MEC’s first offering in the state of Texas.

    After all, who better than chef Luciano, an expert in Calabrian cuisine and a highly respected restaurant professional who has his finger on the culinary pulse of the state?

    Giovanni and chef Luciano were also part of a panel and standing-room-only seminar on the foods and wines of Calabria at this year’s Taste of Italy in Houston in March.

    Giovanni, Francesca, and chef Luciano were joined a number of leading Calabrian food producers and experts who shared their insights into the best of Calabrian gastronomy.

    “It’s important to work on building up our presence in foreign markets,” said Giovanni. “Calabria’s foods and wines are trending,” he added, “and we need to act on that momentum. Our next step will be for MEC to present these products at the next Taste of Italy in Dallas.”

    Image via Agrinvita.

  • IACC hosts a group of Italian winemakers for trade tastings and meetings May 25-26.

    IACC hosts a group of Italian winemakers for trade tastings and meetings May 25-26.

    Click here to register for Jaime Deleon’s seminar May 25.

    On Thursday and Friday, May 25-26, 2023, the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce South Central will be hosting a group of visiting Italian winemakers and grape growers for a series of tastings and meetings with Houston-based trade members.

    On Thursday, at 2.30 pm at Vinology, Kroger regional wine program manager and Advanced Sommelier of the Court of Master Sommeliers Jaime De Leon will be leading a seminar on native grape varieties produced by the wineries below.

    These are the featured wines:

    Cantine Borga – Emma Borga Bianco IGT Tre Venezie 2021
    Orsolani – Erbaluce di Caluso DOCG – La Rustia 2022
    Tappero Merlo domenici – Erbaluce di Caluso DOCG – Kin 2016
    Colle Adimari – Chianti DOCG – Governo all’uso Toscano 2021
    Malenchini – Chianti Superiore DOCG 2020

    Click here to register for Jaime’s seminar (open to trade and media).

    And on Friday, the IACC is organizing a series of one-on-one tastings and meetings for the winery representatives and locally based distributors.

    It’s a great opportunity to learn more about three different winemaking regions in Italy — Veneto, Piedmont, and Tuscany. And the events will give local wine distributors the chance to meet with potential suppliers.

    Their group will be led by Sebastiano Bazzano, an Italian export consultant whose company B.Connected helps Italian wineries to find the right importer in countries around the world. A longtime partner of the IACC, Sebastiano also works with importers and their suppliers to facilitates logistics once an importer has placed an order for his clients’ wines.

    The IACC couldn’t be more pleased to host this compelling group of winemakers, including the following estates:

    Cantine Borga (Veneto)
    Orsolani (Piedmont)
    Tappero Merlo (Piedmont)
    Colle Adimari (Tuscany)
    Malenchini (Tuscany)

  • Taste of Italy Houston 2023 THE VIDEO is here!

    Taste of Italy Houston 2023 THE VIDEO is here!

    Taste of Italy 2023: Nearly 400 attendees, more than 70 brands, more than 250 wines and food products presented, 2 sold-out seminars… THANK YOU to everyone who made Taste of Italy 2023 our best event to date! And special thanks to the honorable Mariangela Zappia, Italy’s ambassador to the U.S., and Italy’s Houston Consul General Mauro Lorenzini for joining us on such a memorable occasion!

  • Standing room only for Texas BBQ and Italian wine, a new Houston tradition.

    Standing room only for Texas BBQ and Italian wine, a new Houston tradition.

    Above, from left: Celebrity pit master Ara Malekian, owner of Harlem Rd. Texas BBQ; Dale Robertson, wine writer for the Houston Chronicle; Tom Dobson, Italian buyer for Spec’s; and presenter Jeremy Parzen.

    One of the greatest things about Taste of Italy, the largest trade fair and festival in the U.S. devoted exclusively to Italian food and wine, is the gathering’s “Texas BBQ and Italian Wine” seminar.

    Each year we ask a top Houston pit master to join some of the city’s leading experts on Italian wine to talk about the art of pairing Italian wines with classic and creatively smoked meats.

    Celebrity pit master and owner of the popular Harlem Rd. Texas BBQ smoke house, Ara Malekian returned this year. He was joined by Dale Robertson, the long-time wine writer for the Houston Chronicle and an italophile wine lover, and Tom Dobson, who selects Italian wine for one of the largest wine retailers in the country, Spec’s. Food and wine historian Jeremy Parzen moderated the panel. Tom selected the wines.

    The most surprising wine in the lineup was the St. Michael-Eppan Pinot Grigio from South Tyrol (Alto Adige) in German-speaking Italy. Tasting the Barbaresco-marinade brisket (yes, marinated in Barbaresco!) and pork ribs paired with the white wine drew a number of ooos and aaas from the crowd.

    The Vite Colte Barbaresco was another show-stopper while the Cerrino Barbera d’Asti seemed to be one of everyone’s favorite wines in the flight for pairing with Texas smoked meats. See Dale’s write-up here.

    Now in its fourth year, the Texas BBQ and Italian Wine seminar has really become an institution to itself. There’s no doubt that it’s a great way to discover the incredible range of Italian wines, their food-friendliness, and their approachability.

    Special thanks to Chef Ara whose food always takes this tasting over the top!