A few years ago, after the success of VINO100, the Italian wine show held annually in Shanghai that has now become the country’s premier fine Italian wine event, wineries from around the globe and their Chinese importers broached the team at the Ian D’Agata Wine Culture about doing the same for world wineries. And so, the Bottle Atlas International Wine Festival event was born, co-organized with the Xinhua Media Group. Bottle Atlas is taking place later this year in Shanghai, on November 13 -14 and will see a Wine Salon, a Masterclass program, Wine Dinners and Special Events.

Bottle Atlas will be launched with a Wine Dinner featuring Italy’s most famous and best white wines: Terlano Rarity Pinot Bianco, Valentini Trebbiano d’Abruzzo, Miani Sauvignon Blanc Casa Rossa, Tiberio Fonte Canale, Planeta Chardonnay, Gravner Ribolla Gialla, Isole e Olena Chardonnay Collezione Privata, Jermann Vintage Tunina, Gaja Chardonnay Rossj-Bas, plus, seeing as this is a dinner, a special guest red wine, a Brunello di Montalcino. (This event sold out within two hours and so we will be repeating a “Part 2” in the near future with different wines and producers.)

The Wine Salon will feature 101 wineries from thirteen countries and their importers pouring their wines, divided amongst fifty-five wine stands. Among the wines served will be Chateau LaFleur-Pétrus, Philipponnat, Rául Pérez, Silver Heights, Chapoutier, Faiveley, Silver Oak, Leitz, Billecart-Salmon, Dirler-Cadé, Tenuta San Guido (Sassicaia), Yves Cuilleron, Ao Yun, Catena Zapata, Craggy Range, Aveleda, Eva Fricke, Rodrigo Mendez, Aldo Conterno, Ghislaine Barthod, John Duval, XIGE Estate, Biondi-Santi, Marchand-Tawse, Jaboulet, Chateau Belair-Monange, Theopetra Estate, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, Domaine Thompson, César Marquez, Vilmart, Zuccardi, Zusslin and many more. The wineries are specifically selected for the show and unfortunately it is not possible to accept more than the 101 that have already been signed up.

The Masterclasses will include a variety of different world wines and wine regions. These start off with the outstanding wines of Marchand-Tawse, a masterclass held just a few days before the show’s opening, that will feature co-owner and chief winemaker Pascal Marchand explaining ten different wines, from villages bottlings to grand crus Corton-Charlemagne and Clos de Vougeot. The Masterclass program continues with Aldo Conterno and his exceptional Barolos will be featured in a comparative tasting of the 2017, 2020 and 2021 vintages, as expressed by the Barolo Bussia Romirasco, Cicala and Colonnello bottlings. The amazing Spanish wines of Rául Pérez, Rodrigo Mendez, César Marquez, Gerardo Méndez and Andreu Ortiz will be featured in two different prestige masterclasses. A vertical comparison tasting of the 2020 and 2018 wines of Ao Yun, featuring the Grand Vin and the individual villages bottlings that compose the final blend, with the estate director, M. Song present to co-guide along with Ian D’Agata. It’s their wine that attained the highest score in the 2025/2026 Best Chinese Wines Guide that is part of Ian’s new nook “The Grapes and Wines of China”. A copy of the book will be included with the entry to the masterclass. Similarly, a copy of this new book will be also included with participation to the “Great Wine Terroirs of China” masterclass, a panorama of the country’s wine production through ten different wines and regions. Finally, the Special Events include an important trade-only masterclasses that will feature the outstanding wines of Dirler-Cadé and Zusslin from Alsace, and those of Alberto Orte, Castello di Volpaia, Domaine Fontaine-Goby, Juan Carlos Sancha, Molino di Sant’Antimo, San Silvestro, Tenuta Nicosia, and Vera de Estenas.

We are very happy about and grateful that wineries, importers, and wine professionals have shown so much love for Bottle Atlas, which we hope will be one more of a long list of successful wine shows that aim to promote and broadcast the quality of fine wine made all over the world. Wine has been part of the culture of human society for millennia and it represents humanity in a different way than do fruit juices and soft drinks: each has its place, and wine is an important element defining human beings and our societies throughout the ages.

With our event, we are honoured to uphold this tradition and to broadcast its merits as an integral part of a balanced lifestyle. Bottle Atlas was born from an idea of Ian D’Agata, but its success is the result of the hard work of the whole team involved in thinking and organizing it. We hold regular meetings between the team members in charge of the individual sections of the event, because clearly, one individual alone could never hope to organize such a massive event on his or her own. The Xinhua Media Group, with whom our company has been working with for years now and that is also the co-organizer of VINO100, is in charge of the logistical setup of Bottle Atlas, in coordination with Yumi Liu, CEO/CFO of the Ian D’Agata Wine Culture company and she is the chief coordinator of the event.

Liu holds the contacts with the wineries and with the importers, as well as KOLs, and has created the right work environment guaranteeing a successful show for all the parties involved, such that it is a “win-win” situation for everybody. If hundreds of wine professionals and wine lovers will be attending Bottle Atlas, it is thanks to her hard work and dedication. In fact, as Ian D’Agata was busy completing his two new books out this year, The Grapes and Wines of China and Barbaresco Terroir: Grapes Crus People Places, Liu was charged with a much bigger role, also organizing a large part of the Masterclass program, which will see five of Spain’s leading wineries participating (we also wish to recognize the contribution and help of Spanish wine lover and importer Yongfei). Without Liu’s dedication and work keeping contact with all the importers, agents and KOLs, Bottle Atlas would have never happened. We are also very grateful to Zihong Zhang, technical director of the Ian D’Agata Wine Review, for his expert assistance with the graphics layout of and communications material for the show. We really couldn’t have done it without him either. Clearly, our thanks are also extended to all the wineries and importers who have placed their faith in us, and we pledge that we will do our very best to try and make Bottle Atlas the success you all deserve.

So thank-you everyone!