Expect an impressive Programme of Events at the 56th Vinitaly 2024 scheduled at Veronafiere next 14-17 April, when wines from all the Italian regions as well as more than 30 other countries will be on show, as the annual tradeshow confirm itself a pivotal hub for business and an influential stakeholder for the wine and spirits industry worldwide.
Vinitaly 2024 promise to be action-packed with even more regions, countries, conversations, inspiration and business relations to get rolling and consolidate.
The Verona Exhibition Centre is ready with a net show area of more than 180,000 square meters to become the international wine business forum with attendance already confirmed by 4,000 wineries. This consolidated turnout by exhibitors confirms the central status of the International Wine and Spirits Exhibition as it increasingly targets the needs of companies and promotion of the sector in Italy itself as well as on established and emerging international markets.
Increasing numbers of international producers are joining Vinitaly with both new attendees and a more extensive exhibition footprint. In addition, the qualitative selection process of trade operators launched for the 55th Show in 2023 continues, with an extraordinary recruiting programme that brought 29,600 international operators from 143 countries to Verona (out total attendance of 93,000 visitors), including more than one thousand top buyers chosen and hosted by Veronafiere and ICE-Trade Agency.
The top five countries of origin for buyers at the last edition in April this year saw the United States confirm its market leadership with two-figure growth in attendance compared to 2022 (+45%), followed by Germany, the United Kingdom, China and Canada.
Vinitaly 2024 also welcomed the 28thSOL, the International olive oil trade show (Area C); Xcellent Beers (Area C) and the 25th Enolitech, the International exhibition of wine, oil and beer production technologies (Show Hall F). These three events combined bring the number of companies hosted in the 17 show halls overall to almost 4,300 (current figure).
Vinitaly 2024 foretaste: Opera Wine and Vinitaly and the City
The off-show Vinitaly and the City event specifically for wine lovers returns 12-15 April 2024 to the city centre of Verona, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There were more than 45,000 tastings by wine enthusiasts in 2023.
The 13th Vinitaly Opera Wine event will take the stage in Gallerie Mercatali, on Saturday 13 April. Wine Spectator and Veronafiere has selected 131 producers for the 13th edition of VinitalyOpera Wine, the preview event for the international exhibition that every year highlights the ambassadors and iconic labels of Italian wine in the United States. There will be 3 débuts on 13 April compared to the 2023 selection, joined by 6 companies returning to the list after absence last year. Tuscany, with 33 producers, is once again the leading region, while second and third places of the podium are also confirmed, respectively taken by Piedmont (19 companies) and Veneto (18), followed in turn by Sicily up to 16 cellars from 10 in 2023. And if two out of three selected producers come from “flagship regions” of Italian wine, looking at the country’s overall wine-making geography, coverage sees the North in front (43%), followed by Central Italy (33%) and the South and Islands (24%). The layout theme for Vinitaly Operawine 2024: opera was inscribed this year in the UNESCO Intangible Heritage and is a symbol of Verona throughout the world thanks to the Arena Opera Festival.
All the Events sessions featured on Vinitaly’s official programme
Vinitaly 2024 offers a strategic and intense official programme aimed at reinforcing its role as a pivotal hub for business, but also as an influential platform. The main theme areas at Vinitaly 2024 are focused on intercepting consumer trends and ensure evolutionary representation of the sector in line with market needs: these are two of the objectives underlying Vinitaly’s theme areas which, once again this year, highlight many supply-demand matching approaches increasingly driven by an international scope.
–Organic Hall (new position in Area C – 9th edition): exhibition dedicated to certified organic wine made in Italy and abroad which this year hosts one hundred companies, with international exhibitors attending from Hungary, Slovenia and Austria. The Enoteca Bio (Organic Wine Showcase) and tastings in collaboration with FederBio and Vi.Te. are also confirmed for 2024
–International Wine Hall(tensile structure D) welcomes international wine-producing countries that choose Vinitaly as their exhibition showcase, starting from companies taking part in the Open Balkan project (Serbia, Albania and North Macedonia), France with the Champagne maisons, Georgia, Hungary, Brazil, Armenia, South Africa and Greece. a- Mixology (1st floor, Palaexpo): the exhibition section showcasing the art of cocktails and mixing with wines, liqueurs and spirits inspired by new international trends. The programme over the four days of the event also includes master classes guided by the most talented and trend-setting bartenders.
– Micro Mega Wines – Micro Size, Mega Quality (Area C, new position – 3rd edition). The exhibition section under the banner of “small is beautiful” created for Vinitaly by wine writer Ian D’Agata. Limited edition niche wines are at the heart of this project.
New: Vinitaly Design Award
The Vinitaly Design International Packaging Competition that awards the best packaging – on the occasion of its 28th edition – changes its name to the Vinitaly Design Award. In addition to the new name, innovations also impact the competition regulations which now have a new format with changes to the voting system. The winners will be rewarded on Saturday 13 April during the Gala Evening at the Ristori Theatre in Verona.
The main tastings at Vinitaly 2024
From exclusive Grand Tastings to master classes guided by the most important international wine magazines, by way of events focusing on Micro Mega Wines, small-scale, extremely high quality Italian wines through to consolidated walk around tasting events. The Vinitaly tasting calendar, which will bring the show halls at Veronafiere to life 14-17 April, is a journey through the Italy of wine with a window also on to the world. The schedule for the 56th International Wine and Spirits Exhibition confirms the global tastings in the International Wine Hall and the VinitalyTasting–The Doctor Wine Selection (Show Hall 10 every day) curated by Daniele Cernilli, editor of the Essential Guide to Italian Wines particularly intended for buyers and the horeca sector. There is also space for Young to Young (14, 15 & 16 April – Meeting Room A, 1st floor, Show Hall 10) – tastings where young winemakers tell their stories to young wine communicators under the direction of food&wine journalists Paolo Massobrio and Paolo Gatti – as well as tastings focusing on certified organic wines in the Organic Hallin collaboration with FederBio and Vi.Te. The line-up also includes Beyond DOC Wines (14 April at 15:00, Tulipano Meeting Room, Palaexpo), the tasting celebrating the 50 years of magazine Civiltà del Bere, not to mention the numerous tasting occasions organised by exhibitors, consortia and associations.
Grand Tasting
The spotlights will focus on the series of super tastings organized by Vinitaly that this year features Italian sparkling wines in “Cool under pressure – Italy’s sparkling world” curated by Master of Wine Gabriele Gorelli (15 April 11:00 – Tulipano Meeting Room, Palexpo), and some of the most representative denominations on the Italian wine scene with “The Four Big ‘B’s of Italian Wine: Barbaresco, Barolo, Bolgheri and Brunello” guided by Ian D’Agata (16 April 11:00, Argento Meeting Room, Palaexpo), one of the most expert wine writers in the world, who also ideally travels to the land of the Dragon with “Italy-China: There and back: A journey discovering new worlds of wine” (17 April 11:00, Argento Meeting Room, Palaexpo). “The great native Italian wines” are then at the centre of the tasting conducted by oenologist Riccardo Cotarella (16 April, 15:00, Argento Meeting Room, Palaexpo).
Walk around tastings and Tasting Ex…Press.
The tasting programme, as customary, will open with the Tre Bicchieri walk around tasting by Gambero Rosso (Sunday 14 April 11:00-16:30 in the Argento Meeting Room, Palaexpo), followed by the Orange Wine Festival event (Monday 15 April 11:00-18:00, Argento Meeting Room, Palaexpo) and the AIS tasting (Wednesday 17 April 11:00-1\5:00, Tulipano Meeting Room, Palaexpo). Welcome back also to Tasting Ex…Press and all the events conducted by international press figures in collaboration with Vinitaly, including the International Wine & Spirit Competition (15 April, 15:00, Iris Meeting Room, Palaexpo), Decanter (14 April, 15:00, Meeting Room A, Show Hall), Weinwirtschaft (15 April, 15:00, Meeting Room A, 1st floor, Show Hall 10), Gilbert & Gaillard (16 April, 15:00, Meeting Room A, 1st floor, Show Hall 10), Vinum (14 April, 15:00, Meeting Room B, 1st floor, Show Hall 10), Revija Vino(16 April, 11:00, Meeting Room B, 1st floor, Show Hall 10) and Veronelli Permanent Seminar(16 April, 15:00, Meeting Room B, 1st floor Show Hall 10).
American magazines also turn the spotlights on to Italian wine, starting with the four workshops by Wine Spectator at Vinitaly (1 4 and 15 April, 2 daily appointments 10:00-12:00 and 14:00–16:00, Via Meeting room, Wine2digital) and Wine Enthusiast with Jeff Porter leading “Renaissance reference: Reviving Italian Sparkling Wine” (15 April. 14:45-15:45, Wine2digital Main Stage).
The robust programme of events and masterclasses is aimed at deciphering markets, exploring the most revolutionary products and responding jointly to the business issues of the future.
To discover more and book your session please visit the Vinitaly events page.
