The 18th International Oenological Competition “Emozioni dal Mondo Merlot e Cabernet Insieme” focused on music and emotions.
Emotions and senses always represented one of the peculiarities and founding elements of the International Oenological Competition which was born in Bergamo 18 years ago from the idea of the oenologist Sergio Cantoni. The name of the event itself, “Emozioni dal Mondo” highlights this feature that was revolutionary at the beginning of the 2000s, when the event was born, and is still very up-to-date, as underlined in the symposium “From Sensory Analysis to Neurosciences” held on the last day of the Competition and focused on the importance and possibilities of scientifically evaluate the emotions linked to taste.
Emozioni dal Mondo 2022 emphasized the emotional aspect of tasting even more than usual.
70 international judges (both technicians and journalists) arrived in Bergamo from 24 nations all around the world, and tasted 219 samples produced in 21 countries in the evocative space of the cellars of Villa Martinelli in Mapello.
With the technical support of Centro Studi Assaggiatori Brescia, a team from the University of Pisa and its CNR, the judges tasted with equipment for the detection and measurement of factors such as the electrocardiogram, to collect accurate information on the state of stress or relaxation; the galvanic response of the skin (GSR) index of sympathetic activation and the electroencephalographic signal.
Furthermore the judges' judgments were collected electronically through tablets. This allowed rapid and detailed statistical processing of the rates.
Not only technology and science, though, emotions also had a relevant role. The tastings took place with a background music playlist selected by the Consorzio Tutela Valcalepio as a result of a series of activities related to wine-music pairing brought about in the last 3 years.
The final results of the tastings highlighted how music could really have a role in setting the mood of the tasters.
Following the regulations of OIV (Organization International de la Vigne et du Vin), the international body that oversees international wine competitions, only 30% of the enrolled samples can be awarded.
The results were exceptional: 10 Grand Gold Medals awarded (the minimum score to obtain a Grand Gold Medal is 92/100), 56 Gold Medals (by regulation awarded to wines that get at least 85 / 100 but, given the regulation, obtained from wines with scores higher than 87/100) and 20 the "Roberto Vitali" press prize assigned to the wine that, for each nation, obtained the highest score from the jury of journalists (at least 85/100).
The list of awarded wines is definitely an international one.
Italy, which was the first nation as far as the number of samples enrolled in the competition with 121 wines, got 5 Grand Gold Medals and 27 gold medals.
Serbia, which was the second nation as far as the number of samples enrolled in the competition with 37 wines, got 2 Grand Gold Medals and 16 Gold Medals.
Also, Croatia, Australia, France, Hungary, Germany, Slovakia, Malta, Romania, and North Macedonia got medals.
As for the Italian medals, awarded to wines from every part of Italy, from Veneto to Tuscany, from Lombardy to Sicily, from Trentino to Friuli Venezia Giulia to Calabria, two wine-growing areas stand out: the Valcalepio and the Colli Euganei.
Valcalepio obtained 1 Grand Gold Medal, 4 Gold Medals, and the Italian Press Prize.
Colli Euganei gained 2 Great Gold Medals, including the Italian wine with the highest score in the competition (the Colli Euganei Riserva DOC Notte di Gallileo 2019 produced by Colli Euganei S.C.A. Winery), and 3 Gold Medals.
Emozioni dal Mondo confirms once again its international relevance. Nonetheless, the event is deeply rooted in the hosting territory: the tasting and the Gala dinner of Emozioni dal Mondo 2022 took place in the spaces of Villa Martinelli. During the event, the international guests visited Sotto il Monte Giovanni XXIII, the abbey of St. Egidio in Fontanella, the Romanic church of St. Nicola in Almenno San Bartolomeo, and the Abbey of Pontida. The symposium "From Sensory Analysis to Neuroscience" took place Saturday morning at the Sala Mosaico of the Bergamo Chamber of Commerce.
The complete list of awarded wine is online at www.emozionidalmondo.it
Here are Emozioni dal Mondo 2023 dates: 12th, 13th, and 14th October 2023.