I Migliori Vini Italiani di Luca Maroni 2018 in Rome, Italy

Posted by Rowena Dumlao Rowena Dumlao - Giardina 2/22/2018

I Migliori Vini Italiani di Luca Maroni 2018 in Rome, Italy

The year 2018 saw more than 150 wine producers as the protagonists of a 4-day wine event in Rome between 15 to 18 February. Entitled I Migliori Vini Italiani di Luca Maroni 2018 (The Best Italian Wines of Luca Maroni 2018), the event took place in Salone delle Fontane in EUR, Rome with more than 1,600 square meters of space dedicated to more than 900 Italian wine labels.

Luca Maroni, a well-known sensory wine analyst who has tasted more than 200,000 wines, utilizes a unique approach to his evaluation of wines called the Sensorial and Synesthetic Wheel.

It is the first cognitive - representative model that identifies and codifies the relationship between a sensation perceived by a specific sense, and the detail of other sensations perceived and/or perceptible at the same time correspondingly with other senses.

The wines were tested according to his evaluating method of a series of sensory analysis that are based on three principles - Consistency, Balance and Integrity of the wines. The quality of the wine is expressed with a vote of 100 which is equivalent to the Indice di Piacevolezza or Index of Pleasantness (IP). Ninety-nine (99) is the highest score that can be attained because one hundred (100) cannot be assigned to any wine because the perfect wine score goes towards infinity. IP 99 (Maximum) = Consistency 33 + Balance 33 + Integrity 33.

Through Luca Maroni's most innovative discovery, the Sensory Wheel of Synesthesia, you can explore the sensations and describe them in all their wealth. The synesthesia is a perceptual phenomenon in auditory, visual or olfactory sensations in which stimulation of one sensory pathway leads to involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway like gustatory or tactile.

At the opening night of the event, 15 February 2018, the wines given the highest scores were presented to the press and with these wine labels showcased in the 4-day event, the public was given the opportunity to try for themselves the best wines chosen by Luca Maroni.

Included in the event were daily guided wine tastings and polysensorial wine tastings conducted by Luca Maroni himself, as well as tasting of regional food and wine products in collaboration with GAL (Gruppo di Azione Locale). There was a focus on the enogastronomic products of the region of Lazio (in which Rome is a part of) emphasizing on the wine making areas of Castelli Romani. Through this window opened by GAL at the event, tourists from Rome can have the possibility to see and experience Castelli Romani organized by Terre Ospitali by visiting the wineries along with artisan food producers, tasting the Castelli Romani DOC wines and products for a day or even staying for a night in an agriturismo or farm stay.

At the center of the event were the birth of two very important projects that are of great importance to the world of Italian wines. Along with the opening of the event on 15 February, there was also the much awaited launching of two books authored by Luca Maroni: the Annuario 2018 dei Migliori Vini Italiani (2018 Yearbook of the Best Italian Wines) which recounts the processes of wine production in Italy and rewarding the excellent productions of the wine makers while the other one is the first Annuario delle Migliori Poesie Mondiali (Yearbook of the Best Poetry in the World) in which Luca Maroni applied the same principles of sensory and emotional analysis to poetry.

The second significant episode of the event happened on February 17, 2018 which is the inception of the Vigneto Italia (Vineyard Italy), the first Italian Ampelographic Museum at the Botanical Garden of Rome. It is a project conceived by Luca Maroni along with one of the oldest universities in history, the 14th-century Sapienza University of Rome for the conservation, development and dissemination of knowledge of the Italian viticulture. At the Botanical Garden of Rome, a project conceived and developed by Luca Maroni with the La Sapienza University of Rome, for the conservation, development and dissemination of knowledge of Italian viticulture. At the Ampelographic Museum, there is a selection of the most important grape varieties from the twenty Italian wine regions totaling to 154 autochthonous grape vines.

The wines that garnered 99 Points (Consistency 33 + Balance 33 + Integrity 33) based on the sensory analysis of Luca Maroni were:
1. Caravaggio Bianco 2016 of Cantine Romagnoli (Malvasia di Candia Aromatica, Ortrugo, Sauvignon)
2. Il Poggiarello Bianco 2106 of Il Poggiarello (Malvasia Aromatica, Ortrugo, Sauvignon)
3. Neroametò 2015 of Mastroberardino (Aglianico)
4. Puro Chardonnay 2015 of Roberto Sarotto (Chardonnay)
5. Suadens Bianco 2016 of Nativ (Greco, Falanghina, Fiano)
6. Tabano Bianco 2016 of Montecappone (Verdicchio, Moscato, Sauvignon)
7. Merlot Rosato 2016 of Tenuta Ulisse (Merlot)
8. 62 Anniversario Primitivo Riserva 2014 of Cantine San Marzano (Primitivo)
9. Amaranta Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2014 of Tenuta Ulisse (Montepulciano d'Abruzzo)
10. Atos Corte Medicea 2015 of Bollina (Merlot)
11. Baccarossa 2015 of Poggio Le Volpi (Nero Buono)
12. Barbera d'Alba Elena La Luna 2015 of Roberto Sarotto (Barbera)
13. Edizione Cinque Autoctoni of Fantini, Vini Farnese (Montepulciano, Primitivo, Sangiovese, Negroamaro, Malvasia)
14. Enrico 1° 2016 of Roberto Sarotto (Nebbiolo, Cabernet Sauvignon)
15. Eremo San Quirico Aglianico Campi Taurasini Cru 2014 of Nativ (Aglianico)
16. Galadino Primitivo Appassito 2015 of Schenk Italia (Primitivo)
17. Kapnios 2015 of Masseria Frattasi (Aglianico)
18. Laccento Ruchè di Castagnole Monferrato DOCG 2016 of Montalbera (Ruchè)
19. Lacrima di Moro Superiore Querci Antica 2016 of Velenosi (Lacrima di Moro d'Alba)
20. Masso Antico Primitivo del Salento IGT 2015 of Schenk Italia (Primitivo)
21. Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Janù 2014 of Jasci & Marchesani (Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, Cabernet)
22. Rinforzato Primitivo Appassimento 2016 of Giordano Vini (Primitivo)
23. Roma DOC Edizione Limitata 2016 of Poggio Le Volpi (Cesanese, Sangiovese, Montepulciano, Cabernet, Syrah)
24. Ronco di Sassi Primitivo Appassimento 2016 of Provinco (Primitivo)
25. Soliditas 2014 of Tenuta Romana (Merlot)
26. Tosone Barrique 2016 of Tosone (Nero d'Avola)
27. Vecciano 2015 of Barbanera (Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon)
28. Ben Rye 2015 of Donnafugata (Zibibbo)

Aside from the wines that were awarded with 99 points, there were also the ones that got 98 and below that merited to be tasted and appreciated. A myriad of wine labels with multitudes of aromas and tastes given by the grape varieties and the richness of the terroir in Italy represent such diversity in the personalities of every wine label produced.