Five simple rules for surviving Vinitaly

Love it or hate it, if you're somehow involved with Italian wine, you have to be at Vinitaly. 

If you've never been there, try to imagine a trade show at McCormick Place in Chicago, only blown up to about 10 McCormick Places.  Compared to Vinitaly, those colossal halls by Lake Michigan seem cozy and intimate.

So, Vinitaly is big.  It's spread out, way spread out.  It's packed, especially on the weekend, when the day-trippers and "civilians" looking to score free drinks pile into the place. (Avoid on Sunday if you can.)

I could give you a ton of tips.  But I'll give you just enough to be useful if you are going for the first time.

1. Get there as early as possible.

Granted, even to journalists and exhibitors, the gates don't open till (I seem to recall) 8:30.  If you have one of those badges, get there before 8:30 if possible and stand in an impatient knot of people.  Why?  Parking.  Parking.  And, oh yes, parking.  The closer you are to the entrance, the happier you'll be when it's time to leave when you're footsore, cranky and hungry.  Traffic is something of a Gowanus Expressway nightmare.

 

The sweet spot for parking.  Maybe I should sleep in the car all night?

2. Plan your visits.

I mean really plan them. Make specific appointments with as many of the people you need to see and stick to your schedule.  Do not tolerate a casual approach to your time. 

Needless to say, given the sheer size of the venue, you have to be smart about clustering appointments on a regional basis, e.g., given the number of current/future producers from Campania, I've scheduled all the first part of Friday ("Good Friday," I've called it) with those folks.  Tasting, talking, negotiating -- on a schedule.  If you run over, cut it short and pick it up again at dinner or, better, via phone and email when you've returned home.  A plus: a no-nonsense attitude can strengthen your bargaining position.  It's a buyer's market.

If you're traveling with colleagues, you must at least occasionally split up and proceed on whatever basis makes sense, for example, a regional basis if you're scouting new producers.  

 

"If this were Germany they'd have put in a monorail by now."

3. Wear light, comfortable clothes.

The pavilions get hot as hell.  Even though it may be chilly outdoors when you arrive, the halls are always overheated.  Wear a light-weight blazer and forget the sweater.  Do not, ever, wear heavy wool pants or cords.  And make sure your shoes can get you through the day without crippling you. But if you must wear some sort of sneaker or trainer, don't let it be one of those giant, clunky white things that Americans seem to prefer.  Not that they wouldn't be comfortable.  You'd just look like a schmuck.

4. Eat as big as breakfast as you can get.  

That's a challenge, I grant you.  Full American/English/Irish breakfasts are as rare in Verona as short sermons. The food at the fair is dreadful. 

Well, don't worry.  You won't have time to eat anyway.

5. Don't accept too many invitations to go to dinner.

Even if someone else is paying for it.  I've had far too many nights getting back to the B&B out in the sticks at 3 AM.  The alarm rings at 7.  I'd've just got into REM sleep and I wake up with a bludgeoning hangover.  I'm a teetering wreck by 3 PM.  It's not worth it. 

Have an early dinner in town or, better, at a trattoria near where you're staying.  Hit the hay early.  And stick to your schedule. 

 

Villa Favorita, site of VinNatur.  Good place to go on Sunday and Monday to get out of the tangle at the Vinitaly fairgrounds

Comments

[gianpaolo]

point 5 is strongly endorsed by me.
Point 6 is: go to Area D Stand E3 and order a lot of wine. Paypal, major credit cards, cash are accepted.

[TH]

Thanks, GPP, we get the hint. Ci vedremo presto.