Luca Maroni in Hamburg

 On Monday the 28th November, Luca Maroni, the famous Italian creator of, probably, the most known wine  classification point system in Italy, has been in Hamburg not only to present his concept but also to present some of the wines he considers most exciting in the current Italian market. 

Set in the iconic Hotel Atlantic, it was a warming surprise to be welcome by Luca's sister as soon as I have got into the room. Besides three tables with wines which figure on Maroni's list , there were two seminars where Luca has explained some of the main features that have made him choose those wines. Besides the whole theoretical part, I have to confess that what has impressed me the most was his constant appeal to the most sensorial aspects of wine drinking.  Pleasure on drinking was set as his main point of both seminars, which may have annoyed some of the people who have joined them.  

His invitation to always drink a little sip from each wine was received with some scepticism by some of the people around me. 

In fact, there is a sort of putting down culture in some milieus in  Germany which often annoys me as the lack of constructive alternatives creates a kind of intellectual nihilism as it can be seen in this satirical video by Jan Böhmermann about wine. Unfortunately, I have felt this during the event, which has somehow cut my personal enjoyment of it.

Clearly opposite to it, Maroni's project of Roma Hortus Vini is, probably, one of the most interesting and iconic things about wine that I came across lately. The idea of planting a vine of 153 different autochthonous Italian grapes in the hills of Saint Peter in order to recall one of the oldest and most marking Roman agricultural landmarks belongs to one of the most inspiring ideas ever.

The translation of the event was led by Ed Richter who has managed to get away from a one to one translation offering and adapting the original information to the mostly German public in the room. Knowing both Italian and German I felt rather privileged from getting information from both sides and Ed's performance was a perfect example of the creative importance of being a good translator, knowing your public and having a fascinating background knowledge.

Known and criticized for having a preference for full-bodied and round, vanilla tasting wines, he has made several references to it throughout the seminars trying to defend himself, even though the wines chosen do have tended to have strong oak notes and were rather round.

A small episode that I can not resist sharing is how I have seen an older man stealing packages of nuts which were given to accompany the wines during the open tasting. 

It was also interesting to see people reading the name of the company to which I work on my tag and start talking to me about events and specific wines that we sell. 

The evening has finished rather abruptly  with one of the workers of the Atlantic announcing that the people serving wine at the tables were external workers and that their contracts would finish in five minutes and so everything had to finish right there and we should leave the premises. Compared to the warm welcome and the nice and interesting talks with some of the people present, this was a rather particular way of finishing the event.