Sonoma 2008. Napa 2009. Walla Walla 2010. Portland 2012. Santa Barbara 2014. Penticton British Columbia 2013.  Lodi 2016. Sonoma 2017. Virtual 2020. Eugene 2021. These are the years and the locations of the Wine Media Conferences I’ve attended. But at the close of the 2021 event in Eugene, organizers did not announce where we’d be going in 2022. Instead we took a poll and speculation  abounded. Personally, I was rooting for Paso Robles, Idaho, or Colorado. Today, they had an answerwhen Zephyr announced by email and social media that Bergamo, near Milan in Lombardy, northern Italy will be the home for the 2022 Wine Media Conference. And if Bergamo sounds familiar, yes the region will also host the next Winter Olympics!

In its 14th year, the Wine Media Conference will take place September 29 – October 1, 2022 at Lake Garda in Lombardia in northern Italy!

According to organizers, “Lombardy is easy to access for foreign visitors. Lombardy also has the most UN World Heritage Sites in Italy, which itself has the most of any country in the world. Our host hotel is the Acquaviva Hotel, situated at the southern end of Lake Garda, one of the major tourist attractions of northern Italy.”

This will be the third time since 2008 that the Wine Media Conference has left the United States: in 2013, we went just over the border to the Okanagon in British Columbia Canada, and in 2019, the conference went to Hunter Valley, Australia. Ten years ago, for a few years, a similar conference was held in Europe, and I attended that event in Lisbon, Portugal in 2009 on a press trip. Now it looks like I’ll be headed back to the EU to finally visit Italy! (In 2018 and 2019 I visited France: Champagne in 2018, and in 2019, both Champagne and the Loire, visiting there to compete on the US Wine Tasting Team. The World Championship in the Loire was held the same weekend as the Wine Media Conference in Australia!)

photo by George rose, tiara by Lisa Stoll

In addition to traveling out of the US, Zephyr announced a few other changes as well including limiting the event to 64 attendees who are accredited media content creators and requiring a $200 payment toward meals. If COVID restrictions are eased or eliminated, attendance can increase to 140 people.

Staying the same: live wine speed tasting (dating!) of red and white wines likely from Italy, pre-conference and post-conference excursions, still to be announced but likely also in large Lombardy, home to many of my favorite wines like Trebbiano di  Lugana and Lambrusco. I’m excited about the hiking and other outdoor opportunities the region offers as well.

Plus the location is not far from Bologna, the home base for Verovino! Hopefully I’ll be able to travel to Italy early, visit some of my favorite Slow Wine Guide wineries, and maybe even work a harvest or two. Then go from Italy to France to compete for Team USA in the World Wine Tasting Championships… or at least cover them as a journalist. It’s held usually right around early or middle of October.

Synchronistically, I was writing about Lombardy last year during the Wine Media Conference which you can read here! 

I’m thrilled about the Wine Media Conference going to Italy; my son and I have been trying to get there for years. October is a crazy time for wineries, nearly impossible for students and teachers, and right toward the tail end of harvest, but exciting for journalists! How about you? Will you be going to Italy this fall to attend the Wine Media Conference in Lombardy?