Vinitaly International will host Women of the Vine & Spirits, the U.S.-based alliance dedicated to the support and advancement of women in the alcohol beverage industry which is opening its European Chapter during the Italian trade show. Now in its 51st year, Vinitaly runs from April 9-12 in Verona, Italy.
Stevie Kim, Managing Director of Vinitaly International, Marilisa Allegrini, CEO of Allegrini Estates and Beatrice Cointreau, CEO of ADMIRABLE Wines and Women of the Vine & Spirits President, Deborah Brenner, will host a breakfast networking session April 11.
Brenner, author of Women of the Vine: Inside the World of Women Who Make, Taste, and Enjoy Wine, founded the organization three years ago. As a former executive and 20-year veteran of the television and film industries, she became familiar with the disenchantment of working in a male-dominated industry.
Domaine Ponsot Picks Tech to Protect Its Burgundies
Laurent Ponsot, who traveled to New York from Burgundy in France to testify against notorious wine counterfeiter Rudy Kurniawan, is doing his best to ensure that bottles of his family’s famed Domaine Ponsot won’t be easily copied again, according to the technology company, Selinko.
The privately held Belgian company produces Near Field Communication (NFC) tags that can be affixed to bottles of wine, spirits, perfumes and to apparel. The tags digitally identify a product much like the larger Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags used by manufacturers of everything from cars to clothing to track inventory. The major difference is that NFC tags can be read by a smartphone app.
The app, however, is not available on iPhones, but only on Android phones, which made up just 55 percent of the U.S. market at the end of last year, according to Kantar WorldPanel, a company that is expert in shoppers’ behavior and is part of the WPP Group.
Ponsot’s decision comes after Chateau Le Pin decided two years ago to insert Selinko’s NFC tags behind the labels of its precious Bordeaux, allowing buyers to verify if the bottles are authentic.
Ponsot said earlier this month he planned to leave Domaine Ponsot after 40 years as its winemaker, though he will retain a 25 percent ownership stake, and his three sisters will keep the remaining 75 percent.
Ponsot, along with Domaine de la Romanée-Conti’s Aubert de Villaine, testified before a federal jury in New York in 2013 against Kurniawan, who was convicted of counterfeiting millions of dollars worth of fine wines and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Last Updated: May 4, 2023
