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I have had the honour of being chosen by Bancarella Cucina as president of the selection committee which will choose the five finalists. Volumes are submitted by 15 May and then we get to work to organise the award giving on Sunday 27 September in Pontremoli in Lunigiana when the votes of the grand jury and booksellers are counted. On my part I have invited the journalists, Gigi Padovani (La Stampa), Andrea Grignaffini (Gazetta di Parma), Roberto Perrone (Corriere della Sera) and Salvatore Marchese, as well as five experts from the world of wine and haute cuisine: Tiziana Frescobaldi (Marchesi de Frescobaldi), Francesco Winspeare (Castel di Salve), Roberto Ceretto (Ceretto), Moreno Cedroni (Madonnina del Pescatore a Senigallia) e Massimo Bottura (Osteria Francescana in Modena). The Città del Libro foundation, the sponsors of the award, will be represented by Gianni Tarantola, secretary of the selection comittee- giannitarantola@libero.it , Giuseppe Benelli, Claudio Giumelli, Enrico Polverini and Giorgio Cristallini. Editors or authors who are interested in presenting their books can get information by reading here. Many thanks (Paolo Marchi, Identità Golose)

There is a large crowd this evening at Beau Rivage in Lausanne for our wine-tasting. We are here in one of the most famous and beautiful hotels in the world discussing Negroamaro and Primitivo, Aleatico and Malvasie.... and talking about Salento, this mysterious and fascinating land where our wine business started in 1992. Our wines are presented and the wine glasses take on the colours and perfumes of our wines. All around the applause of numerous clients and French-Swiss friends....for us the satisfaction of seeing our wines on the wine lists of the restaurant and wine bar of Beau Rivage...an important achievement....we are proud and contented this evening in Lausanne. On our return from Switzerland here we are at the winery, pleasantly occupied with a group of wine-tourists from Sweden. The visit lasts for almost four hours: most of this time is spent in the tasting room with glass after glass, bottle after bottle....”we really like it here” they say, adding that they no longer want to leave- the lure and magic of wine! In the end almost all of them are moved to tears while they continue sipping the fruits of many years of experience and work. Their afternoon ends with heartfelt laughter. Hurray for Castel di Salve = Chateau Hello – thus they bid us farewell. For us this marks the beginning of the Salento tourist season. There are a couple of Salento lovers who live between Ortelle and Diso- near Depressa where we produce our wine. In July they are getting married and have asked us to prepare personalised packs of our wine, Priante, as a present for their close friends. They have specifically asked for Priante and said they would tell us why in July before the wedding. We are waiting to discover the mystery of why it had to be our excellent Priante. The couple’s surname is also a secret. There are many ways and numerous reasons for choosing a particular wine. For example, with our ‘Volo di Alessandro’ – this time the couple separated; he, Alessandro left and to celebrate, she, gives our wine. The story has a happy ending, today the couple are together again.