Called by more than one attendee “the best Italian wine show held in China in years if not ever”, there can be no denying that this year’s VINO100/Ian D’Agata 100 Selected Italian Wines 2025 was a huge success, the likes of which many locals made clear they have no memory of. And perhaps more importantly, the Italian producers were extremely pleased with the experience and look forward to repeating the experience next year. Ian D’Agata has been organizing wine shows and masterclasses all over the world for the better part of twenty years now and his enormous experience in this matter, as well as his huge credibility with wineries, and wine lovers and professionals alike, go a very long way in ensuring that just about any wine event he is involved with will meet with some form of success.
The VINO100 and the Italian Wine Week in Shanghai was a complex, multi-faceted event. The main event itself took place on Saturday May 24, with over fifty high-quality wine estates (Gaja, Antinori, Primosic, Tua Rita, Canalicchio di Sopra, Caprili, Tiberio, La Colombera, Cogno, Santadi, Castello di Volpaia, Di Meo, Tedeschi, Zenato, Valle Reale were just some of the wineries attending, almost all with the owner, winemaker or export manager in person), pouring their wines to over 700 ticket holders. In addition, there were also six masterclasses of Italy’s top wines (sold-out verticals of Tua Rita Redigaffi, Tenuta di Trinoro, Argiano Solengo, Cogno Barolo Riserva Ravera Vigna Elena, and Tenuta San Guido’s Sassicaia, Guidalberto and Le Difese).
But the show also included a an Italian Wine Week leading up to the event itself, as well as a few more activities after the main event itself. In the first three days (Monday through Wednesday) of the week leading up to VINO100, it was the turn of six wineries and their wines presented in three of Shanghai’s leading wine shops, with about 20-30 wine lovers in attendance: Col d’Orcia, Santadi, Cantina Bozen, Passopisciaro, Tenuta di Trinoro, Paolo Saracco and Gemin were the wineries featured in these “Meet the Producer” wine shop sessions. In the same week, but on the Thursday, the Connoisseur (Level 1) course on Italian wines of the Ian D’Agata Wine Academy (IDWA) was held, with close to forty sommeliers and importers (only wine professionals were admitted to the course) attending a seven hours day-long series of masterclasses and guided tastings (with only three five minute breaks and a 45 minutes lunch break allowed); at the day’s end, a multiple choice exam determined who passed and who didn’t, the those who passed receiving a Connoisseur pin and a certificate. The Planeta winery held a presentation and tasting of their Etna wines with Santi Planeta, Yumi Liu and Ian D’Agata guiding the proceedings, and last but not least, a special B2B session for six Italian wineries looking for importers in China over lunch with importing agency CEOs, General managers, importer company owners and somms was held on the Friday. On that same Friday, but in the evening, the Welcome reception for the wine show was held, in a nineteenth century ex-church that featured an awards presentation to over fifty Italian wineries for one wine chosen by Ian D’Agata’s the best of the ones they brought to the show, but also the 2025 Restaurant Best Italian Wine List (winner: Bombana – 8 e Mezzo) and the Wine Shop / Bistro with the Best ItalianWine list (winner: Pudao Wines).
The Italian Wine Week continues post-event too, with a Wine Pairing dinner (a Thai dinner matched with the wines made from mostly aromatic grapes (Gewurztraminer, Riesling, more…) of Cantina Bozen and two more masterclasses, this time with the wines of Gaja (with Ian D’Agata) and Guado al Tasso (Antinori) wines (also with Ian D’Agata).
All in all, a simply fantastic series of events and days celebrating Italian wines that will not be quickly forgotten by all those lucky enough to participate.
