Meet and mingle with five of Italy’s greatest winemakers for an exclusive and intimate experience !
A wine tasting and panel discussion with iconic producers—Comm. G. B. Burlotto, Fontodi, Gaja, Marchesi Antinori and Tenuta San Guido—will be followed by a specially crafted pairing dinner imagined by Executive Chef Heinz Beck of the Waldorf Astoria Rome Cavalieri La Pergola restaurant, 3 stars in the MICHELIN Guide.
Secure your place at this exceptional celebration of wine and fine dining. Limited tickets are available, ensuring personal connections and meaningful exchanges around unforgettable wines.
Your Host
Monica Larner, reviewer Robert Parker Wine Advocate
Monica Larner
Monica Larner reviews the wines of Italy, Greece and South Africa. Born in Los Angeles, she has lived in Rome on and off since age 11 and has written several books about her adopted home. Her family makes wine in California. She has written about wine for more than 20 years, starting off as the Italy reviewer for Wine Enthusiast in 2003 and moving over to The Wine Advocate in 2013 in the same capacity. She sometimes appears on Italian television and has contributed articles on Italian wine to Italy's largest daily newspaper, Il Corriere della Sera. She has received the top prize for wine writing given by the Comitato Grandi Cru d'Italia at Vinitaly a record four times. Many of the wines that have touched her most come from Italy's vast patrimony of indigenous grapes: Nebbiolo, Sangiovese and Carricante, among others. Her work in Greece takes that love of native grapes to the next level. Her interest in South Africa is sparked by the spirit and passion of that country's independent winemakers.
Our Guest Producers
Five Prestigious Winemakers
Fabio Alessandria
Comm. G.B. Burlotto
Representing the fifth generation at the helm of a family-run winery founded in 1850, Fabio Alessandria captures the spirit of contemporary Barolo that prizes elegance and transparency in a manner that only he can. Family legacies and fiercely guarded winemaking traditions have remained unchanged at Comm. G.B. Burlotto for nearly 175 years. Located in the village of Verduno, the winery was founded by Giovan Battista (Cavalier “GiBi”) at a time when viticulture in Piedmont had nowhere near the commercial success it enjoys today. The Burlotto family remained true to a vision of territory-driven wines made with indigenous grapes. They supplied the House of Savoy and were recognized by dozens of international wine competitions that attest to the family’s pioneering production. Those medals were painted on the winery façade and are still visible today. Fabio Alessandria makes Barolo from prestigious crus sites Monvigliero in Verduno, Cannubi in Barolo and more recently Castelletto in Monforte d’Alba. His family is also credited with the rebirth of Verduno Pelaverga, a deeply loved local red.
Giovanni Manetti
Fontodi
From his home base in Panzano, Giovanni Manetti is a transformative figure in one of Italy’s most dynamic wine appellations, Chianti Classico. His family winery, Fontodi, is located in the Conca d’Oro, or the “golden basin” of vines, recognized for its excellent Sangiovese. The Fontodi philosophy borrows from organics and biodynamics to create a holistic loop of self-sufficiency. For example, Giovanni Manetti breeds Chianina cattle for manure to fertilize his soils, and he sells the beef to the local butcher. Fontodi’s flagship wine is Flaccianello della Pieve, but the estate’s entire portfolio continues to push boundaries by exploring single-vineyard sites such as Vigna del Sorbo, Terrazze San Leonlino and Pastrolo, with fruit from higher elevations. Giovanni Manetti also enjoys an institutional role as head of the Consorzio Vino Chianti Classico. Under his successful mandate, the appellation created 11 official subzones and earlier this year released its “Chianti Classico Sustainability Manifesto,” making it the first Italian wine region to draft a plan of action for a changing climate.
Gaia Gaja
Gaja
The sleepy village of Barbaresco in Piedmont is home to the Gaja family that started making wine with just a couple of hectares of land in 1859. In the century and a half to follow, this ambitious family would grow their holdings to more than 100 hectares of Nebbiolo and other local grapes in Barbaresco and Barolo, an estate in Bolgheri on the Tuscan Coast, another winery dedicated to Brunello di Montalcino and a joint-winemaking project on Mount Etna in Sicily. More recently, the Gaja family embarked on an ambitious white wine program in cool-climate Alta Langa that includes new plantings of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc at high elevations. With her siblings Rossana and Giovanni, Gaia Gaja represents the current generation to head production. Following their charismatic and visionary father, Angelo Gaja, must be an impossible task, but Gaia Gaja embodies the sheer energy and out-of-the-box thinking that was instilled in her by her father.
Albiera Antinori
Marchesi Antinori
With 600 years of winemaking tradition under its belt, the Antinori family runs one of Italy’s oldest successful businesses. Marchesi Antinori President Albiera Antinori enjoys a complete perspective not just on her family winery but on Italian wine in general. Her family makes wine in dozens of locations throughout the national territory in both historic and emerging regions. Indeed, the Antinori portfolio reads like an encyclopedia of Italian wines. The blended Tuscan red Tignanello, which was introduced with the 1971 vintage, is an enduring symbol of Italy’s embrace of quality production. It sparked a revolution with ripple effects that are tangible to this day. Marchesi Antinori has continued to innovate with wines like Solaia, made at the Tenuta Tignanello; Guado al Tasso, made on the Tuscan Coast; and the white wine Cervaro della Sala, made at the family property in Umbria. Marchesi Antinori remains a pivotal force in Italian wine, past, present and future.
Priscilla Incisa della Rocchetta
Tenuta San Guido
The crowning symbol of Italian wine excellence is Sassicaia, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc made at Tenuta San Guido in Bolgheri, on the Tuscan Coast. Like her grandfather Mario Incisa della Rocchetta and her father, Nicolò Incisa della Rocchetta, Priscilla Incisa della Rocchetta is guardian to a winemaking legacy that has no equal anywhere in the world. No single bottle better communicates the enduring values, quality and personality of Italian wine than Sassicaia. It represents a classic winemaking blueprint that has inspired many up-and-coming vintners since its inaugural vintage in 1968. However, Tenuta San Guido’s story includes many supplemental chapters that extend beyond winemaking. The estate is a 2,500-hectare nature reserve on the shores of the Tyrrhenian Sea with vineyards, ancient olive groves, fruit trees, forests and a world-class equestrian center with thoroughbred racing horses. From the beginning, the Incisa della Rocchetta family believed in creating an ecosystem that could be passed down generational lines.
Masterclass
16h00 – 18h00
Italian Solutions for Soulful Wines and a Sustainable Future
Rapid changes to our environment have forced winegrowers to quickly adopt and to chart a new course for the future. Deep frost and hail at the beginning of the growing season followed by drought and blazing temperatures at the end have tested the resilience of vineyards and vintners alike. For Italian wine to remain competitive on a world stage, it must preserve the unique spirit associated with its vast patrimony of indigenous grapes and the identity of its many distinct grape growing territories. What are the unique Italian solutions for achieving this goal?
During our masterclass, this question will be posed to five of Italy’s best producers. Each one will speak to a particular challenge and solution for achieving soulful wines and a sustainable future. Some have changed their winemaking and farming protocols; some have invested in cooler growing areas; some have acquired vineyards at higher elevations; and some have embraced new wines, such as whites, into their existing portfolios. Wine lovers are invited to taste some of Italy’s most compelling wines with an eye to what the future will hold.
The Lineup
Rare and Prestigious Wines
Masterclass
2020 Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Pastrolo
2018 Marchesi Antinori Tignanello
2019 Tenuta San Guido Bolgheri Sassicaia
2021 Gaja Barbaresco Sorì Tildìn
2019 Comm. G.B. Burlotto Barolo Monvigliero
Dinner
2018 Marchesi Antinori Castello della Sala Cervaro della Sala
1992 Gaja Langhe Alteni di Brassica (magnum)
2016 Fontodi Flaccianello della Pieve
2016 Comm. G.B. Burlotto Barolo Cannubi
1985 Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia (magnum)
Dinner Pairing
18h45 – 23h00
Dinner pairing with soulful Italian wines
Join us for dinner following the masterclass to enjoy more rare bottles and older vintages. Executive Chef Heinz Beck of the Waldorf Astoria Rome Cavalieri La Pergola, 3 stars in the MICHELIN Guide, will design a special pairing dinner to exult the wines selected. The dinner will offer our guests the opportunity to continue discussions with the winemakers in a more intimate and convivial setting.
La Pergola, 3 stars in the MICHELIN Guide
From the rooftop terrace at La Pergola, Rome appears eternal and imperturbable, as it is so often described. The ambience here is hushed and elegant, with carpets and armchairs, silverware and fresh flowers, paintings and refined furniture all providing a magnificent setting for the superb views. Heinz Beck’s cuisine is classic and timeless, featuring much-loved favourites such as “fagottelle” filled with carbonara alongside more seasonal dishes such as broad bean and pea buttons with asparagus and nduja-flavoured baby squid, and turbot served with asparagus, seasonal mushrooms and wild garlic sauce. The cheese trolley and the desserts, including the delicious chocolate soufflé, are not to be missed.
Join us and book your table for a
once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Program Masterclass:
15h30 – 16h00
Welcome
16h00 – 18h00
Masterclass
Program Dinner:
18h45 - 19h45
Aperitif
19h45 - 23h00
Dinner Pairing