EVENTS ABROAD

ITALIAN FEVER IN DUBAI

by Lorenzo Ruggeri

The Italian wine world had fine news from Palazzo Ver-sace in Dubai. Our Tre Bicchieri event drew 300 people, including entrepreneurs, operators and major collec-tors. It was a perfect Notte Italiana, with saltimbocca and Neapolitan pizza baked on the spot by maestro pizzaiolo Enzo Coccia, recipes from Academia Barilla’s chef Mar-cello Zaccaria, technical seminars and over 60 top bottles, many of which were available in the city for the first time. The event was further honored by the presence of the Italian ambassador to Abu Dhabi, Liborio Stellino, the Consul General to Dubai, Valentina Setta, and one of the area’s best known business men, a great promoter of Made in Italy, Yogesh Mehta.

by Lorenzo Ruggeri

Dubai is a world of its own, even where wine is con-cerned. In a city where less than 15% of the population is local, where the Indian community amounts to over 50%, tourism drives wine consumption. Eighty percent occurs in hotels with restaurants and exclusive clubs that have deep and varied wine lists. The numbers hosted by hotels are impressive: 15 million tourists visited in 2016. Dubai was ahead of Rome in this rating. Sector analysts predict growth that will reach 20 million in 2020, the year of the much-awaited Expo. Thanks to the Emirates airlines, with more than 3,000 flights weekly, Dubai is a growing hub for travel between the West, Asia and Africa, like no other city in the world.

Yogesh Metha, Valeria setta, liborio stellino and Paolo CuCCia

aCCadeMia barilla’ Chef MarCello ZaCCaria

MAY 2017

13

“Outside tourism structures, to buy or even transport al-cohol, you must have a specific license and be at least 21 years old. Wine is expensive because taxes here are among the highest in the world: 50% on its value, plus a munici-pal tax of 10% and another final tax of 30% on the total price. But that doesn’t slow consumption, which is boom-ing. We have added 3,000 labels to our portfolio,” said Jean-Philippe Le Rouzic, Wine Sales Manager of African Eastern, the colossus that together with MMI (Maritime and Mercantile International) controls importation and distribution. Many operators from the two companies came to our event. They were surprised, they said, by the quality of the white wines they tasted.In the United Arab Emirates, Italian wine enjoys 18% of the market share. Seven years ago, that figure was at 8%, while France has gone down from 25% to 20%. This is the effect of the many Italian eating places that have opened in the city. Today 14,000 Italians live and work in Dubai, mainly in the food and beverage sector. During our event, our top award for the best Italian restaurant in the city went to Il Borro Tuscan Bistro, a sign that after years of excess, restaurateurs are seeking new pathways. “Here too, there’s a return to focusing on the ingredient. Fine dining locales are having trouble. People who have trav-eled all over the world come here to find simple and au-thentic things. The most popular dish is pici all’aglione, a pasta dish heavy on garlic,” chef Maurizio Bosetti told us. The latest news: in the first few months of 2018, Massimo Bottura will also open a place in Dubai.

Chef MauriZio bosetti - ”il borro” tusCan bistrot

the seMinar