I Vini del Piemonte has always looked with particular interest to the Scandinavian area and, for years, it has been steadily present in Norway, on of the most important market in the world for the consumption of top quality wine. In fact, here Italy is in first place for the export of red wines, not only for the volumes (15.5 million litres) but also for the value. The situation is particularly positive for Piedmont, which, in 2014, achieved the second position overall in the exports of red bottled wine, continuing to grow more than all the other Italian regions also in the years which followed.

Considering this strategic importance, I Vini del Piemonte has organized a new promotional tour on 25 and 26 March 2019. This event involved Piedmontese producers who offered a “Piedmontese experience” in Oslo, and Bergen.

Barolo & Friends Event in Oslo

25 March 2019, Gamle Logen, Grev Wedels Plass 2, 0151 Oslo

Monday 25 March Oslo hosted the sixth consecutive edition of the Barolo & Friends Event: from 11.15 to 12.15 a session of BtoB meetings allowed the representatives of the wine producing companies to meet some importers in search of Piedmontese wines. Everything was scheduled on a pre-arranged agenda. The initiative has been organized in collaboration with Ken C. Engebretsen, director of the Norsk Sommelier Education (the most important Norwegian school of the hospitality and catering sector which has a lot of contacts with the trading sector), who has already been partner of I Vini del Piemonte in several occasions. Later the event took place in the form of walk around tastings and master classes divided in two distinctive sessions: the first exclusively reserved for the trading representatives and the second for the wine lovers selected in collaborations with the sommelier associations and some of the most important Norwegian wine clubs. In the afternoon there has also been a room reserved for the representatives of Vinmonopolet.

• 11.15 -12.15 >> BtoB meetings between representatives of wineries and some Norwegian importers
• 12.00 – 13.00 >> Master class for the sector professionals: “Native red and whites from Piedmont“, led by Liora Levi and Sandro Minella
• 12.30 – 16.00 >> Walk around tasting reserved for sector professionals: traders, ho.re.ca, importers, wine journalists etc.
• 16.00 – 19.00 >> Room reserved for Vinmonopolet
• 16.00 – 19.00 >> Walk around tasting open to final consumers
• 16.30-17.30 >> Master class reserved for final consumers: “Barbera & Friends”, led by Sandro Minella

Barolo & Friends Event in Bergen

26 March 2019, KODE 1, Nordahl Bruns gate 9, 5014 Bergen

The following day, Tuesday 26 March, the Barolo & Friends Event moved to Bergen, the second most populated city of Norway, also known as the Gate to the Land of the Fjords, a lively centre thanks to the presence of many students and a high quality catering sector. The event was exclusively aimed at final consumers and it was structured as walk around tasting with 6 wine producers personnally present and 4 wineries in a tasting table:

• 16.00 – 20.00 >> Walk around tasting addressed to final consumers