New ambassador for Trentino-Alto Adige, Eros Teboni, joins team
Award-winning sommelier Eros Teboni is Star Wine List‘s ambassador for the Trentino-Alto Adige region, the beautiful mountainous part of northern Italy bordering Switzerland and Austria.
Today our first selection to the Trentino-Alto Adige region is going live, courtesy of sommelier and wine specialist Eros Teboni. Check out the guide here.
A native of the region, and born near the Brenner Pass where his parents run a wine shop, Teboni has recently expanded his role to encompass working as a wine educator and consultant to various wineries and wine importers, and also with other sommeliers and buyers from across Europe. He told Helen Arnold what’s so special about the Trentino-Alto Adige region, and what’s currently trending in its food and drink scene.
How would you describe the dining and drinking scene in Trentino Alto Adige at the moment?
"We are experiencing a very dynamic and experimental time with great attention on quality raw ingredients and produce. There is definitely a desire to experiment with new combinations but also to rediscover flavours that refer back to tradition, but offered in a fresher and more gastronomic way."
How much has changed in recent years and what have been the biggest changes?
"I believe that the main changes in the world of gastronomy can be traced back on the one hand to the emergence of new food trends (think for example of the increase in vegetarian restaurants,) but also linked to the issue of sustainability of the food supply chain. The consumer is more attentive and aware and wants to know what he is eating and where it comes from - in a word: greater awareness."
What do you think are the region's key strengths?
"There are countless highlights, as we are among the regions in Italy with the highest density of tourism, with many restaurants of all kinds from classic to oriental cuisine, through modern, not forgetting fusion cuisine, that is a mix of those mentioned. The good fortune is that we place great importance on raw materials and the quest for quality."
What are the emerging drinking trends you are seeing?
"I believe that we are living in a moment in which the interest in wine is very high - especially amongst young people. Collaborating with around thirty importers, I know the European market well and I have realized that young people love to inform themselves, read a lot and are often free from prejudices, wanting to be the first to experiment but also to be encouraged by tastes and trends. Curiosity and open-mindedness are the two key words that in my opinion are characterizing the world of wine in recent years."
What wines, styles and regions are most in demand?
"On a stylistic level I think that today consumers prefer slightly aromatic wines in which acidity and tannins are not too strong; wines in which the variety emerges clearly and with a certain immediacy. The new consumer seeks less and less strength and opulence and instead prefers more elegance and structure of the wine. The wines that are best meeting young people’s tastes are based on increasingly delicate, precise aromas of ripe and uncooked fruit, with long finishes and a marked flavour."
"New trends are also emerging in the world of wine which are finding favour with a segment of young consumers. I am referring in particular to the use of reduction in wines, something that has come back into fashion in recent years. Producers are today working to make increasingly competitive and high-performance wines, because the consumer is looking for wines that are both easy to drink and immediately understandable - but also wines that are 'fun' and capable of playing on freshness and increasingly intense aromas."
I am just honoured to be part of this incredible group of professionals
How do you feel about becoming an ambassador for Star Wine List, and what do you hope to accomplish?
"Firstly, I am just honoured to be part of this incredible group of professionals, and my goal is to give more credit to the sommellier when it comes to a restaurant's success, as they are easily forgotten. We have to remember that it is really the service at the restaurant that is responsible for the quality of the guests' experience, without detracting from the importance of the cuisine. But it is the service that decisively influences my choice of whether or not to return to a restaurant - though of course I am biased! It will be my honour to be able to choose the best wine venues in the region and show them to the world!"
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