Suzanne Branciforte's Italian Grapevine

Buongiorno da Firenze! The 450 delegates of the 8th Symposium have convened and Florence is a-buzz.

Things started up mid-afternoon Thursday at the Palazzo dei Congressi, and I haven’t had a minute since. The tastings are amazing, the Masters are truly that.So, what are you tasting, you ask! My pick of the first quite impressive array of vintages must be Fiona Morrison’s L’If 2012 a Saint Emilion Bordeaux, but I am hard pressed indeed…

The conferences are top notch. In the first session we got to hear Jancis Robinson, advisor to Queen Elizabeth II as to the wine cellar, and editor of the Oxford Companion. To hear her live, witty and smart as ever, was quite a thrill. Managed also to get a snapshot.

Another extremely interesting speech came from Daniel Alegre, President of Worldwide Partnerships & Business Solutions at Google. Impressive, with a Princeton/Harvard background and international experience that stuns, his down-to-earth easy approach and great communicative skills made everyone feel at home in this brotherhood of wine.Real kudos to the Marchese Antinori, who is also President of the Istituto Grandi Marchi. His hard work and inimitable class are making this event a huge success. I think when they made Marchese Piero Antinori, they may have thrown the mold away — one of a kind and an Italian national treasure.