Canada’s Top Selling Italian Wines Toast Celebrations At The National Gallery of Canada
Distinguished Patrons and Major Donors of the National Gallery, as well as Ottawa’s finest restaurateurs and hoteliers attend celebrations marking the opening of the “Caravaggio and His Followers in Rome” exhibition
First was the invitation to prominent supporters of the National Gallery of Canada, who convened in Ottawa June 13 at the invitation of the National Gallery of Canada Foundation and in the presence of His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada. Award winning Franciacorta Brut DOCG Cuvée Prestige, donated by Ca Del Bosco Winery one of the Santa Margherita Group’s Wineries was enjoyed by the guests.
More than 100 guests attended the Distinguished Patrons Soirée, held by the National Gallery of Canada Foundation to salute “individuals who have demonstrated a strong commitment to the country’s leading visual arts institution.” Also on this occasion, soirée guests toured the “Caravaggio and His Followers in Rome” exhibition, which opened here (June 17) at the National Gallery.
Among those in attendance were notables from all parts of Canada, including the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada and the Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin, who presided as the evening’s Patron.
Then came Santa Margherita’s next debut, when Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio and Chianti Classico were the toast of choice for Ottawa’s finest restaurateurs and hoteliers during a private unveiling of the “Caravaggio and His Followers in Rome” exhibition.
“We are honoured to have played a role in these very worthy events,” said Bruno Zaratin, Export Manager, Santa Margherita. “Support of the arts is one of Santa Margherita’s top endeavors. It’s all the more gratifying for us, as an Italian winery, when we have the opportunity to help a gallery as prestigious as the National Gallery of Canada honour Italian artists and promote their exposure to Canadian audiences.”
The exhibition is only the third in North America ever dedicated to Caravaggio and curated by two eminent scholars: David Franklin, the Director of the Cleveland Museum of Art and formerly the Deputy Director of the National Gallery of Canada; and Sebastian Schütze, Professor and Chair, Department of Art History, University of Vienna. The works of art on show have been loaned by forty-five institutions, including the Louvre in Paris, the Uffizi in Florence, the Musei Vaticani in Rome, the National Gallery in London, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
The coveted Vinitaly Award is Considered One of Oenology’s Most Prestigious
The International Vinitaly Award, established in 1996, is one of the oenology’s most prestigious honours and is awarded each year at Italy’s largest exhibition at Vinitaly, Verona’s annual wine trade fair, which is considered to be one the world’s premier wine exhibition.
In presenting the award, President Ettore Riello and Director General Giovanni Mantovani, both of whom are with VeronaFiere (the Verona Fair), cited Santa Margherita as instrumental in forging Italy’s reputation as one of the finest wine producing countries in the world.
“In the long history of Italian wine, there is one company that has always been able to predict epic commercial changes well in advance,” they said in a joint statement.
From the time when it was founded in 1935 by Count Gaetano Marzotto in what was, at the time, an unpopular region: Eastern Veneto, Santa Margherita has continuously been at the forefront in redefining the world of wine, they said, pointing to the company’s amazing successes, which include:
- Identifying a growing region, Alto Adige, which would go on to become a key player in the world of white wine.
- Making innovations in the traditional Prosecco grape processing techniques by being among the first to use the sparkling wine production process to build the basis for its current international success.
- Interpreting the expectations of a constantly evolving market by inventing a new approach to promoting a grape and a territory: Pinot Grigio.
The award cites Santa Margherita for its above-average profits from vineyards throughout Italy that produce 15 million bottles of wine annually, 60 percent of which are exported.
“This important award recognizes nearly 80 years of wine history, started by my grandfather, Gaetano, who wanted to create an innovative agricultural centre that broke with the traditional ideas of the time and represented modernity and development,” said Gaetano Marzotto, President and shareholder of the Santa Margherita Wine Group. “This vision can still be seen in the 50th anniversary of our Pinot Grigio, which has become the varietal that represents Italian whites worldwide, thanks to that continued pioneering spirit that started it all.”
Santa Margherita Wine Group C.E.O. Ettore Nicoletto said: “We are reaping the rewards of many years of hard work. The 2011 International Vinitaly Award encourages us to find other areas for improvement after the Group grew in all markets in 2010 and in the 85 countries where it operates with continuing success, with revenues of more than €86 million (up 7.3 percent compared to 2009).
