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Record year for Italian wine expo Bellavita

Published:  22 July, 2016

Bellavita, now one of the leading UK-based events for Italian food and wine producers has reported a record year, with visitor numbers swelling by over 30% from last year to 8,100 visitors through the doors.

Bellavita, now one of the leading UK-based events for Italian food and wine producers has reported a record year, with visitor numbers swelling by over 30% from last year to 8,100 visitors through the doors.

Bellavita 2016, held at the Business Design Centre in Islington from July 17 to 19, has enjoyed the most successful expo in its three-year history.

Seventy-four percent of visitors were from the trade, with 67 wine producers participating.

According to show CEO Aldo Mazzocco, Bellavita is now the biggest event in the UK for Italian food and wine producers with over 250 exhibitors overall, more than twice the number at any other trade fair in the UK.

"More important to us is the quality of the exhibitors, we are aiming at creating a top gastronomic and fine wine experience for the HORECA industry, and our small and exclusive producers help us to present an unmissable event," he said.

Blogger Neil Phillips from The Wine Tipster, suggested that despite being the world's biggest producer of wine by volume in 2015, Italy's wines are still under-appreciated in the UK compared to Italian food.

He said: "Italian wines are so undiscovered; although the UK has always been interested in Italian food, we are only just starting to discover the diversity of Italian wines. It's been wonderful to enjoy wines from small family businesses at Bellavita, and have such an authentic Italian experience in London."

Bellavita hosted industry panels, masterclasses, and live demonstrations on the Food Academy and Wine Academy stages featuring wine experts such as Federica Zanghirella, the vice president of the UK Sommelier Association who focussed on spectacular DOCG Piedmontese wines, and Giovanni Ferlito, the head sommelier at The Ritz London, who debated the difference that altitude can play in delineating the character of a wine, from the Venice plains to the Alpine regions.

The UK Sommelier of the Year Award 2016 also took place during Bellavita, which was won by Matteo Montone of Locanda Locatelli.

A Hakkasan sommelier commented: "There are wine producers here from small regions of Italy where fantastic wines are being produced but don't have the platform to be found usually. Many great wines are from Central and Southern Italy but here we get to try and discover wines from all over the country."

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