This is my wish for a 2022 full of excellent taste full of tables, friends and relatives to dedicate our time to
The shades of nature are endless. In recent years, nature has imposed itself on the creative minds of the
chefs who have been able to bring a green touch to the table. And when it happens that this touch
coincides with a new powerful value and not with a trend of the moment, then we are facing a new
revolution: sustainability.
Once sustainability in the green version of a restaurant was so marginal, today it
is fundamental for many.
And all this is enhanced by the genius and expressive power that the chefs know
how to give. I think of Leemann, a pioneer in the field, I think of Crippa and his almost mysterious garden, I
think of Guida who has recently enriched his menu with an all-vegetable interpretation, I think of
Alessandro Miocchi who explores woods and countryside to bring challenge that nature with its fruits
imposes to the limit of the imaginable.
Sustainability in the world of wine is affecting various companies: there are those who have chosen to
make wine in alternative containers and there are those who have chosen since its birth to turn to organic
or biodynamic. Integrated viticulture is part of a promise we make to the earth to preserve its future.
It was 2007 when New Zealand announced the start of a policy based on sustainability by wine producers. In Italy
in 2011 the Ministry of the Environment inaugurates the “Viva Sustainable Wine” project (why in English,
then?), A guarantee for the consumer who declares transparency on the label in compliance with
sustainable practices.
One wonders how the consumer is reacting in the face of this change: demand has
certainly grown and organic wine is conquering the palate of consumers. More and more often in wine
bars, supermarkets or restaurants we hear the whispering: “it’s organic, it’s good”.
This, grant me, is not entirely correct. Although I am a supporter of the green, the quality of a wine is independent of whether it is organic or not. It is not controversy, it is history, it is a fact: Italy is the country that continues to produce, despite everything, fascinating and captivating wines, organic, biodynamic and otherwise.
The pandemic, and how many times we have said it, has taken us away, but it has also given us. He gave us
back that time we no longer knew we had. He led us to fill this time with tomatoes grown on the terrace, to
study to pick them at the right ripeness.
He made us put our hands in the earth and made us breathe proudly our basil. It also happened that we rediscovered ourselves enchanted and amazed.
Even more so in this period which is Christmas. In front of me the Christmas menus, the sought-after bubbles and the sweets of the holidays paraded with great fanfare. In all, the thing I have seen and will still want to see is
where the sustainable turn that our revered chefs and beloved wineries are making will take us.
Christmas, tradition, the family (be it friends or relatives) that gathers around a table.
This is Italy that wants to continue in this restart: the wish is for a 2022 full of tables, friends and relatives to whom we can dedicate our time and with which to get lost in the tasting of products that excite soul and palate.
