Every time there is confirmation of this: wine is one of the languages of peoples, a communication system that brings together people from different backgrounds and cultures, in a positive, inclusive and engaging way.
Not to mention that, for those who want to delve deeper, behind every bottle of wine, beyond every label, there is the story of who produces it and how, the territory and many other things.
Even in Kenya, whenever a festival is organised that has wine as a protagonist, one happily notices this aggregation that unites and does not create divisions, and confirms that Nairobi, in particular, is one of the most cosmopolitan and integrative metropolises not only in Africa, but in the entire planet.
Also because when talking about Kenya in this sense, we are talking about imported products and markets recognised around the world as excellences: it is no coincidence that it is France and Italy that lead the way, contending for the primacy of the largest number of imported bottles, with the closest South Africa making up the number and hardly the same quality, South America and especially Chile with its value for money, and a few other emerging markets.
Last Saturday at the Nairobi Street Kitchen, in Westlands, Italy was represented by Roberto Miano and Renata Ballarin of Gourmet Master, historic importers of Italian products, capable of presenting the excellence of Italian drinking and eating in three hundred and sixty degrees. No one more than them, amidst so many problems related to import-export and bureaucracy, believes in the promotion of Made in Italy in Kenya and knows how to exalt our products, through new and sought-after proposals. In wines, the focus this year was on southern Italy, with Salento and Sicily very well represented (the latest arrival, the Sicilian red Don Mannarone, is worth tasting), joining the exhaustive choice of bubbles and a panorama of reds, whites and rosés that best represent our territory. Plus a novelty that is not wine but fits wonderfully into the pleasure of sipping: Neapolitan craft beers! Gourmet Master has an exclusive with the company Kbirr, which offers nice and frothy alternative beers, as well as importing for some time now two strongholds of Italian malt such as Peroni and Moretti. ‘We never tire of exploring the infinite heritage and great creativity of our country,’ confirms Miano, ‘and each time we discover excellence that we are proud to introduce to a receptive market like Kenya.
Speaking of Italy, for a Kenya in which drinkers' curiosity and expertise are increasing, it is worth mentioning Cesario Bortone's “Deluxe Italian Wine”, a missionary of quality wine and absolute rarities, who was involved in a masterclass during the Nairobi day, in which he explained 1,500 years of Italian wine-making history, starting from the exclusive bottle of a wine aged in Etruscan amphorae.
‘My mission is to provide the rest of the world with these wines that would otherwise be impossible to find and obtain because some productions are so limited and year after year already exhausted by the enormous demand from wine lovers and national wine shops,' explained Bortone. ’The history, varieties and quality of certain wines are of a high level and it is almost impossible, even for marketing or political strategy reasons on the part of producers not involved in the foreign market, to find them outside Italy or to buy them directly from the producer.
Bortone operates with a particular philosophy: ‘Wine is not like a music CD or a pair of shoes, it has to be tasted personally. I don't just sell wines online, I prefer to travel the world to reach people and let them taste the wines with their description, history and quality'. In Nairobi, for example, behind the Marche winery ‘Cerbero’, there is the whole story of the divine comedy, and if Beatrice is rightly a Passerina, Virgil is as honest and sincere as a good Sangiovese, right down to the highly prized red Riserva, Dante.
Our country was well represented in the Westlands expo, from the province of Treviso came the Andreola winery, which produces Valdobbiadene DOCG and can afford to go beyond prosecco and cartizze. We tasted the Valdobbiadene Col Del Forno, distributed by the Kenyan importer Galina, and liked it very much. Among its proposals, Galina also has a prosecco with an interesting quality-price ratio: ‘Le bollicine’ from The Vinum.
Not only Italy to taste, the pleasant novelty is the wines from Montenegro. The young and dynamic Nemanja Sisler of Wine Cellar, moved to Kenya two years ago to promote the excellent wines of the small but emerging Balkan country. Thanks to his engaging ability to tell us about traditions and grapes unknown to us, he introduced us to and tasted the Vranac Pro Corde from the Plantaze winery, the fruit of an indigenous vine, with a good perception of tannins, red fruits and pepper and aged in a good barrel: a truly excellent red.
A corner of France could not be missed, and it was a significant taste. The Kenyan importer Siddham suggested the Jaumè winery from Haute Provence. Sales manager Yvonne Nduta passionately explained to us the history of the wines produced by a family of five young people, including brothers and cousins, who churn out a not bad Cote du Ronne.
Finally, we do not usually dwell on South Africa, a land that is easy to explore in Kenya and from which we often do not get the best things when it comes to wine. In this context, we were pleasantly impressed by the wines of the distributor ‘Under the influence’: the dry brut Chardonnay Paul Renè, and the white Glenelly, also Chardonnay, which seems prpprio...Italian!