The Landmark Hotel in London has a long history of hosting Decanter’s Fine Wine Encounters. This tradition continued on Saturday when it welcomed guests to enjoy the offerings of 60 top Italian wine estates.
Guests at the tasting had the chance to experience fine wines from well-known names, presented in person by the individuals behind the labels. In two dedicated tasting rooms, a variety of regions from throughout Italy were included, ranging from the north to the south. This includes well-known regions like Piedmont and Tuscany, as well as Trentino Alto-Adige, Lombardy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Veneto in the north, and Marche and Abruzzo along with the southern wine regions of Campania, Calabria, Puglia, Sicily, and Sardinia.
The event was particularly appealing to those looking to explore Italy’s numerous indigenous grape varieties. The tasting offered attendees a chance to broaden their palate and experience fine wines made from a wide selection of Italy’s finest native varieties. These ranged from the traditional red and white grapes used to produce the classic wines of Piedmont, Tuscany, and Veneto to more obscure and lesser-known varieties such as Refosco (Friulian red), Susumaniello (Puglian red), Lacrima (Marche red), and Caprettone (Campanian white).
Additionally, the event featured a selection of 25 award-winning wines from the Decanter World Wine Awards poured at a dedicated DWWA table. This gave guests the chance to taste top-performing Italian entries. The range included styles from Prosecco and Col Fondo sparkling wine from Veneto, Gavi and Lugana whites, red wines from Lombardy, Piedmont, Puglia, and Tuscany, and concluded with a Platinum-winning Tuscan Vin Santo for guests with a sweet tooth.
Credit: Chloe Hashemi Photography
In addition to the main tasting, guests could purchase tickets to a series of exclusive tutored tastings. Three masterclasses focused respectively on the thrillingly diverse white wines of Alto Adige, from a range of producers; Tuscan rising star Il Caggio, with a mini vertical tasting of four vintages of its Ipsus Chianti Classico Gran Selezione; and Bertani’s range of Valpolicella styles, up to Ripasso and Amarone in vintages dating back to 2005.
Another star-studded event, featuring stellar names, stellar wines, old favourites and new discoveries. Look out for a set of pictorial highlights from the event shortly – if you attended, keep an eye out for our photo gallery as you may be featured. If you missed the event, we’ll be hosting another tasting in November, again at The Landmark London, but this time showcasing top names from around the world. Or for those based further afield, we host our third New York Fine Wine Encounter in June 2024, and a brand new tasting event in Singapore this coming October.
The Decanter Italy Experience was kindly sponsored by Riedel and Belu.