Bollicine del Mondo: a new sparkling app is born, with 500 wineries selected by 14 experts

«Theatre and bubbles, what a perfect pair»: a small, smiling sentence pronounced from the stage of Teatro Manzoni in Milano by its President, Ernesto Mauri (for many years GM at Gruppo Mondadori) welcomed the presentation of Guida Bollicine del Mondo, Identità Golose's new project. It was a first at Teatro Manzoni for Identità, a pleasant coincidence to celebrate for the first time this ambitious project that had 14 experts among authoritative journalists and established professionals at work, coordinated by Cinzia Benzi, Identità's wine woman.

Five hundred wineries and as many labels, from 25 countries on top of Italy and France, presented in a totally free app, rich in content, capable of communicating both to passionate wine-lovers, always in search of new wines to discover and of precise technical analyses, and to all those who love to travel with taste, to discover the treasures of wine and food culture, with curiosity and an international perspective.

Bollicine del Mondo is a project born from the thoughts and ideas of Paolo Marchi, founder and curator at Identità Golose, and the above-mentioned Cinzia Benzi, who developed and followed the project step by step. From the stage of Teatro Manzoni Marchi recalled the debut of the Identità Golose Congress, the birth of the Restaurant Guide, remembering how one of the main motivations, from the start, was to present something new, and original: something that could involve the audience thanks to its innovative energy. 

«Right from the start of our work with Identità, which began with food and cooking, we wanted to accomplish something big with wine, because food is sad without wine. We knew we wanted to have an international focus, like we do with the Guide and the Congress, and we realised that with bubbles what was missing was an in-depth analysis, a structured and open presentation. Thanks to this app we invite people to travel, to discover the production of sparkling wines in many different countries, without the parochialism that is often featured when looking at sparkling wines in our country».

And its from this journey that the coordinator of Bollicine del Mondo Cinzia Benzi began, when presenting this app: «The navigation itself will take place thanks to a journey, a map of the world through which we can move to discover new labels to taste. It's an across-the-board guide, that can speak to a varied audience, and goes beyond the concept of "guide". Each review can be appreciated not only because of its technical content, but also thanks to the dynamic, immediate language that we decided to use. And even when there are technical terms, we included a glossary that will allow anyone to understand what we're talking about. It's an inclusive project, that refers to everyone and presents only labels that can be easily found and bought».

The journey that this app presents to the public also includes other content on top of the reviews, dedicated to 21 Territories: 21 itineraries to discover some of the most vocated regions: Asti and Moscato, Irpinia, Trento Doc and Etna, Champagne, Alsace, Burgundy and then Cava and Corpinnat, Chile and Argentina plus short trips to Asia and Australia. 

500 wineries, as many labels: «The starting point - Cinzia Benzi explained – is the first goal we gave ourselves, knowing that we want this app to grow in the coming years. Choosing one label only from each winery forced us to make an often difficult decision, but a necessary one. Fifty-five percent of these wineries are Italian, thanks to a careful and detailed scouting, an exploration that led us not only to illustrate what the most vocated regions have to offer, but also to present some lesser-known but equally-interesting realities. Then there's a 30% of France, including of course Champagne and Jura, Burgundy, Alsace, and 25 more countries from around the world: Spain, Great Britain, Germany, Austria, Albania, Romania, Greece, Portugal, Slovenia, Switzerland, Israel, Turkey, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Bulgaria, Hungary, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Canada, United States, South Africa, India, Australia, New Zealand».

«Every review - Benzi reminded – was signed by one of the 14 authors of this project. We wanted to abandon anonymity, and embrace the total transparency of our judgement, putting our name, on top of our passion. In the same way, we didn't want to give marks and lists. Every winery is deserving of its place, from the most ancient and famous maison to the smaller and younger producers».

Claudio Ceroni, founder with Marchi of Identità Golose and President of MAGENTAbureau, thanked Cinzia Benzi and Paolo Marchi for this project: «Thanks to their ideas, we can now present an important product, even in these difficult times. We're proud to offer our public a free, original, innovative app, and so rich in content».

Finally, the stage of Teatro Manzoni filled up with the authors of Bollicine del Mondo, a dream-team of experts who thanks to a truly choral work will guide us in the discovery of the selected wineries: Giovanna Abrami, Cinzia Benzi, Monica Coluccia, Meritxell Falgueras, Raffaele Foglia, Elio Ghisalberti, Manlio Giustiniani, Adele Granieri, Andrea Grignaffini, Stefania Oggioni, Bruno Petronilli, Alessio Pietrobattista, Luca Torretta, Luca Turner.

Translated into English by Slawka G. Scarso