The World Wine Symposium is considered the Davos of the wine world. It is held at the Villa d’Este, on the shores of Lake Como in northern Italy. This concept was the idea of Francois Mauss, founder of the Grand Jury Européen. He wanted to create for wine a forum similar to the World Economic Forum at Davos. The first year was in 2009.

The 2011 event was an opportunity for wineries and critics to mingle in a friendly atmosphere. This year there were vertical tastings of Sassicaia from Tuscany and Romanée Conti from Burgundy. Lecturers included those by Aubert de Villaine from Romanée Conti, David Schildknecht from the Wine Advocate, and Michel Bettane, France’s leading wine critic.

This year, for the first time ever, three wineries from Israel were represented at this invitation only event. They were the Golan Heights Winery, Flam Winery, and Tzora Winery. The Golan Heights Winery is represented by Gaja in Italy and the Flam brothers are also importers of Italian wines to Israel. The involvement & participation of three Israeli wineries at such a prestigious event reflects well on the Israeli wine industry as a whole.