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 This award or scholarship will reflect the collective decision of all participants from over
20 countries, thus giving this unique prize a particular collective commitment to the project of the winning young person. Francois Mauss, who conceptualized the annual event,
says, ‘The VDEWS wants to help passionate young wine professionals to enter the great world of "Grand Vin". Well aware of the financial difficulties most young people usually face when wanting to fund their idea or project, we have decided to donate the proceeds of an auction held during the event to a person under the age of 30 years.’
During the three days of the symposium, participants who are generally producers, traders, suppliers, wine-lovers and media (number limited to 250) will attend 6 seminars.
Additionally, they may participate in one or all 3 of the optional Prestige Tastings which have become a hallmark of this symposium. Networking at a very high level in an informal and professional manner is another feature of the event that attracts many people.
The key area of talks and discussions this year is ‘How to successfully acquire a wine estate’. It could be of interest to wine loving entrepreneurs who want to buy a winery or vineyard overseas or in India. There will be a panel of 4 speakers followed by
another interactive session with the audience for the two pre-lunch sessions on the first full day of seminars. ‘Evolution of the wine consumption in top Restaurants’ by Antonio Santini, owner of the 3-star restaurant Dal Pescatore Santini in Canneto in Lombardy, should interest all gourmets and sommeliers alike.
The well-known English author, writer and wine expert Hugh Johnson will also attend the event and talk about ‘a personal experience of the world of wine’. How about listening to Stéphane Derenoncourt, the well-known flying winemaker and consultant to Alpine Winery in Karnataka? He is a part of the 3-member panel on ‘About the influence of gamma rays on the behavior of daisies.’
Armenia-the oldest wine producing country
How many of us know that Armenia is a wine producing country? The Symposium showcases Armenia with wines from one of the oldest wine producing countries. Every year, Francois Mauss has been bringing
relatively unknown wine countries to the forefront. India could
also
be showcased one day as a wine producing center but for now, it would be an opportunity to taste and learn about the wine making tradition which is at least 2500 years old. Recent excavations show that Armenia might be the oldest wine producing country in the world. One will hopefully get to taste and learn about their wines during this edition of Villa d’Este Wine Symposium.
Prestige Tastings
If the three days of almost infinite premium wine tasting at the event during lunches, evening tastings by the producers attending the VDEWS, and
classy
dinners is not enough, the optional, additional three tastings at Villa d’Este offer a unique opportunity of vertical Tastings of iconic wines. Château La Mission Haut-Brion and Château Haut-Brion, presented by Prince Robert de
Luxembourg,
who was in India last year,
and Jean-Philippe Delmas,
will be the first of three tastings.
The Botrytis Forum will see a Presentation by the well-known UK-based, Hungarian-born wine importer Akos Forczek. He will present 2 sweet wines each from Philippe de Lur-Saluces (Sauternes), Gerhard Kracher (Austria), Egon Müller (Germany) and Istvan Szepsy (Hungary)-
much revered producers all
.
Domaine de
la
Romanée-Conti has become a regular and most coveted event at VDEWS. Although one can meet Aubert de Villaine
any time
during these days, the Grand Cru Romanée-Conti and Montrachet presented by him will complete the tasting trinity. There will be wines featured from as far back as the 1961 vintage, one of the top vintages of the 20th century. Seats at these tastings have to be pre-booked since are
limited to only 50. They may also not be every one’s cup of tea-oops-glass of wine! The charges vary from €800 and go all the way up to €2000 (Rs. 160,000) for the DRC tasting. Most connoisseurs would consider it a great opportunity to taste these wines in such a professional environment, however.
 Each meal is a
gastronomical experience. Each meal, is not only delicious with severalwines to match, but also showcases the excellent service by the staff who manage the 250- seat sit-down lunches and dinners with great aplomb, making it look like just another day at work. There are classical music concerts, boat rides on Lake Como and several other attractions, says Mauss. Don’t be surprised if the Italian sports beauty Maserati car is sent to pick you up at Milan Malpensa and drop you back later-they are one of the sponsors since the beginning of the event..
VDEWS has Five Godfathers (not the Don Carleone kind!) who are solid supporters behind the concept-Egon Müller (Weingut Egon Müller, Germany), Alain Vauthier (Château Ausone, France),
Aubert de Villaine (DRC- France), Pablo Alvares (Vega Sicilia, Spain) and Angelo Gaja (Gaja, Italy), some of whom you can meet and greet at the event.
Meanwhile, the deadline for sending applications for the Grand Prix du Vin is August 30, 2014. If you know of some young man or woman under the age of 30 years who deserves the Award and could use €10,000 for his/her wine project, encourage them to apply; they have nothing to lose.
Subhash Arora
For an overview of the previous edition as reported by us in the UpperCrust magazine as reproduced in delWine-editor
Tags: Villa d’Este Wine Symposium (VDEWS), World Wine Symposium, Grand Prix du Vin, Lake Como, Francois Mauss, Egon Müller, Alain Vauthier, Aubert de Villaine, Pablo Alvares, Angelo Gaja |