Milan Expo 2015 to showcase Italian wine

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Milan, October 11 - As the eyes of the world turn towards Milan as the host of Expo 2015, organizers have announced that a major pavilion will be dedicated to one of Italy's most famous exports - wine.

"Inside Expo, there will be a pavilion dedicated to wine," Giuseppe Sala, Commissioner of Milan Expo 2015, promised this week.

Italian wines and related products, famous the world over, will likely be a highlight for many of the estimated 20 million people travelling from around the globe to visit Expo in Milan.

Sala said he has discussed the issue with Italy's Minister of Agriculture Nunzia De Girolamo, who has spoken recently about the importance of wine to the Italian economy as well as its significant role in the country's cultural heritage.

Last month, De Girolamo noted that wine exports are expected to exceed 34 billion euros in value this year, making it a commodity that is extremely important for the national balance of trade.

The world's fair that begins on May 1, 2015 in Milan and continues through October 31, 2015 will provide a wonderful opportunity to showcase popular and valuable varieties of Italian wines.

In preparation for the important role that wine will play in Expo 2015, organizers signed a deal earlier this year with VinItaly, the country's most important wine fair.

The two groups have planned to work together, promoting each other's events, while collaborating on OperaWineExpo, a tasting event during the Expo itself.

Organizers say that promoting responsible appreciation of wine dovetails very well with the overarching theme of the Milan Expo, 'Feeding the Planet - Energy for Life', which centres on fighting hunger and malnutrition worldwide through sustainable development, global cooperation and new technology. Expo's theme is a "universal theme that finds a natural homeland in Italy, where the product variety and cultural and geographical richness are closely linked to food and wine traditions," Sala said earlier this year in discussing the collaboration between Expo and the wine organization.

"Food and wine are fundamental elements of our history and the highest expression of certain messages Expo Milan 2015 seeks to convey - universality, inclusiveness and conviviality". Preparations for the Milan Expo are under way on a 1.1-million-square-meter site and the event is expected to generate millions of euros for Italy's business capital.

Italy last hosted a World's Fair in 1992 with a Christopher Columbus theme in Genoa, the explorer's hometown.

Italy's wine pavilion will not be alone in promoting the fruits of rich grape vines and varieties.

When France officially agreed last month to participate in the world's fair, it announced that it will also be presenting many of its rich food, wine, and other culture products to the millions of Expo visitors. It noted that this would fit with the Expo's goal of showing the important interconnection between sustainable development in agriculture with addressing global problems of hunger and malnutrition.

"In the French pavilion, visitors will have the chance to see how (France's) knowledge and skills in this area can help improve the quality of life of millions of people," said organizers.

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