Italian Wine Festival 2023: Special Opportunity to Discover Italian Culinary Culture

On the occasion of the 77th anniversary of the National Day of the Italian Republic (June 2, 1946 - June 2, 2023), the Italian Wine Festival 2023 was held on May 19, in Ho Chi Minh City. An interview with H.E Mr. Enrico Padula, Consul General of Italy in Ho Chi Minh City. Reported by Thu Huyen.

Consul General of the Republic of Italy in Ho Chi Minh City Enrico Padula

This is the second year the Italian Wine Festival organized in Ho Chi Minh City, could you please tell about the importance of the Festival of this year?

The Italian Wine Festival comes at a crucial time, we are all reconnecting after the pandemic with our life and the wine is definitively an important part of it. At least in Italy wine is part of our culture of conviviality, of sharing a meal and staying together. It is therefore important that we on only retake our lives as they were before the pandemic, but that we improve the quality of our living together.

What is the highlight of this year's festival?

The festival attracts the participation of more than 50 producers with more than 150 of the most famous Italian wines, along with a series of events dedicated to Italian wines in Ho Chi Minh City. Ho Chi Minh.

This year event is centered around a very special Italian wine, the Prosecco.  In Italy, Prosecco is a ubiquitously used wine and outside Italy, it is most often drunk as an apéritif. It should be drunk young preferably within three to five years of its vintage. In Vietnam, since the new century Prosecco has lead the growing appreciation of Italian wines.

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How do you assess the attraction of the Vietnamese market to Italian wines and what relationship or similarity in wine culture between the two countries?

The wine culture in Italy is linked to conviviality, to staying together, and it is as well connected to the meals, lunch and dinner. Wine is not separated from the dishes, it is consumed  together, the flavors of wine and food have to be in harmony. Here I see some difference with Vietnamese culture, where wine has traditionally a more ceremonial role. I think our two wine cultures can be brought together, each keeping its identity, but each enriching the other.

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How is the Italian Wine Festival 2023 expected and how do you see future development of Italian wine in Vietnam market?

The Italian Wine Festival supported by the Consulate General, the Embassy, the Trade Commission, Gambero Rosso aimed to further strengthen the knowledge about Italian wines among the discernible consumers and beyond. Only a better knowledge of wines enables the superior quality of Italian wines to be fully appreciated.

This festival is also an opportunity for Italian wine businesses to introduce their products, seek cooperation opportunities, connect trade and expand the market in Vietnam.

Source: Vietnam Business Forum