The evocative rooms of the Žofín Palác on Slovanský Island in the heart of Prague played host to the twelfth edition of Italian Wine Emotion, the traditional event devoted to Italian wines organised by the Italian-Czech CAMIC – Chamber of Commerce and Industry in association with the Italian Embassy in Prague and the Italian Trade Agency (ICE).
There were 27 wineries at the event, representing over 180 labels from 10 Italian regions (Abruzzo, Emilia Romagna, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Marche, Piemonte, Puglia, Sardinia, Sicily, Tuscany and Veneto), to introduce their products to local distributors and importers. A reception was held after the B2B meetings, attended by numerous Czech guests, including representatives of public institutions, business people, people who work in the food and wine industry, journalists and public figures.
Italian Ambassador Mauro Marsili said “the twelfth edition of Italian Wine Emotion gives us an opportunity to celebrate a year since the launch of the global nation branding campaign BeIT which targets the Czech Republic as a key country. Italian Wine Emotion 2022 gives us an opportunity to promote Rome’s candidacy to host EXPO 2030; Rome is the only European candidate city and it is a way to bring EXPO back to Europe, and Italy, after the success of Milan in 2015.”
CAMIC president Danilo Manghi confirmed the importance of the B2B promotional activities to strengthen the Made in Italy brand on the Czech market: “Italy is easily the leading supplier of wine in the Czech Republic with imports exceeding 60 million euros in 2021, displaying phenomenal growth over the past ten years. This is thanks to increased purchasing power and to the willingness of Czech consumers to try less well known wines, from small producers and emerging wine-growing regions which are often encountered when Czech visitors travel to Italy and that would be appreciated once they reach home. Czech importers know this, and are highly attentive and well-trained in this sense.”
Celebrated chef and television personality Emanuele Ridi, an Italian icon of good taste and fine living in the Czech Republic was a testimonial at the event, also attended by the Italian Trade Agency (ICE) manager in Vienna, Corrado Cipollini.
The wine market in Czechia, as with the rest of commercial trade with Italy, has been on a continuous growth curve for over ten years. Even in 2020, despite the repeated lockdowns, volumes increased to 218 million euros in total imports, with Italy holding the biggest slice at over 25% giving it the right to be classified as the main country supplying the Czech wine market.
