Tea Made in Italy triumphs in China

Tea is the oriental beverage par excellence, but who says tea can not also be Made in Italy?

We are in Piedmont region in the province of Verbania, situated in the north-west of Italy, on the border with Switzerland, at the foot of the Alps, an area renowned for its superb camellias, because  the tea plant is also Camellia, namely the “sinensis” species. It is here where, for three years, experiments have been carried out on the cultivation of tea that is fully Italian, organic and 100% local.

That is the length of time that has lapsed since Marco Bertona (a top Italian tea expert), italian-director-of-world-tea-organization, and Paolo Zacchera (a flower-growing expert), launched their innovative project, namely to start a large-scale experimental tea plantation in an area of land that forms part of the Val Grande national park, 15 km from the Piedmont shore of Lake Maggiore.

As of today over 20,000 seedlings have been planted in an open-field system making the Verbania tea garden the biggest te plantation in Europe after the plantation of the Azores. And additionally after a long three year wait, the first harvest was reaped in May 2019.

«However», says Marco Bertona, «the mere fact of having tea plants does not mean you already have Tea. Once harvested, the tender buds are the part used to produce the tea. The finished product, in other words the dried leaves that we call “tea” is, in fact, the result of a long and complex work processing».

Marco Bertona is a professional tea taster who graduated in China at the Tea Research Institute of the Guangdong Academy of Agriculture Sciences of Guangzhou (Canton), and is director of Italy Tea and Infusions Association (ITA.Tea), and the Italian Delegate at the FAO Intergovernmental Group on Tea (IGG/Tea).

He is in fact the alchemist of Italian tea. «Unlike all other medicinal plants and herbs, of which the parts used are merely dried after harvesting, the leaves of the tea plant have to undergo several processes before they are ready for use. Depending on the kind of tea, these can take from at least two days up to several months for certain types of fermented teas. The secret of a good Tea lies, in fact, in the processing».

«Naturally», adds professor Bertona, «the botanical variety used, the growing techniques adopted, and the environment as well as the micro-climate, are all crucial for determining the quality of the green leaves. It is not until after the processing, however, that the primary aromas start to unfold and, together with the secondary aromas that then develop as a result of the different processes involved, these make that certain type of Tea so special and unique».

During the processing of the green tea leaves, a real alchemy occurs, and master Bertona seems to be a true expert in this field.

ITA.Tea & Infusions

Office +39 02 400 30 247 – Mobile +39 335 6611 662 – [email protected] – www.MaestriDelThe.it

Indeed, he used the leaves harvested in Val D’Ossola, following very specific and highly technical procedures, to produce three different kinds of tea: a white tea, a green tea and a black tea. All three kinds of tea were prepared by hand using traditional Chinese methods, also with the aid of special equipment for the hand processing of tea that was brought in specially from China.

In October, however, something totally unexpected happened. After a strict selection procedure, the Verbano Black Tea (also referred to as “red tea” in accordance with the Chinese naming system), was eligible to take part in an international contest of black teas in China, the homeland of tea. The “2019 International Black Tea Tasting Competition”.

«The fact of passing the selection for admission to the contest was not only a great honour for us, but was more than we could have ever hoped for. It was already a victory for us», says Bertona who decided to participate without being intimidated in the slightest by the competition of the other Countries participating.

The contest, which is organised by the Tea Industry Committee of China (an organisation linked with the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture) and in which only producers may take part, was open to companies from the world’s major tea-producing Countries, totalling 104 competing teas, of which 72 from China and 32 from other Countries.

A trained panel of 15 international tea experts from both producing and consumers Countries, such as China, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, Vietnam, Kenya, the USA, Denmark, Australia, and Russia, was employed for sensory evaluation of tea samples. Before start of the evaluation a training session of 15 minutes was conducted with the judges.

Following a long, exhausting day’s work, which included tasting sessions, organoleptic evaluation and analysing thousands of figures collected from records made by the judges, it was at last time for the much-awaited final result. The total of points awarded by the international jury of experts left no doubts. The Verbano Black Tea won the Gold Award, the most coveted in its category, surpassing about a hundred candidates from the world’s greatest tea-producing Countries, including China, Nepal, Kenya, Vietnam, Malaysia, Korea, Thailand, and Turkey.

This prestigious and unexpected acknowledgement is yet further confirmation of Italy’s ability to produce excellent, innovative product also in new market sectors, and master Bertona, who now rightfully deserves to be considered the Alchemist of Italian Tea, has opened the path towards a new beginning and a potential supply chain for Tea Made in Italy.

This beverage has numerous beneficial properties and is now acknowledged and accredited also at international level, and ready to become an icon of Italian beverages. It is constantly gaining approval among tea lovers and professionals in the sector such as the Tea Sommeliers certified by the Italy Tea & Infusions Association (formerly ADeMaThè), the first and oldest tea association in Italy and now the only Italian tea trade and tea professional association，an affiliation of world tea organization in Italy with Marco Bertona being the Italian director. http://wteao.org/marco-bertona-italian-director-of-world-tea-organization/ See more: http://wteao.org/about/

ITA.Tea & Infusions

Office +39 02 400 30 247 – Mobile +39 335 6611 662 – [email protected] – www.MaestriDelThe.it
Information provided by Marco Bertona

Email: [email protected] Wechat微信：drtea1 Twitter / 微信公众号/ Pinterest/ Instagram/ Google+：MyloveteaDrtea

意大利茶在中国夺冠

茶是东方最优秀的饮料，但谁说意大利不能生产茶呢?

位于意大利西北部的维尔巴尼亚省的皮埃蒙特地区，与瑞士接壤的阿尔卑斯山脚下，是一个以山茶花闻名的地区，因为茶树也是一种山茶花，也就是“中国山茶”的种类。三年来，人们一直在这里进行完全有机化的茶树种植实验。这些茶树全部源自意大利，茶叶100%产自当地。

这是马可·贝托纳 （Marco Bertona， 意大利茶业与花草茶协会主席,世界茶叶组织意大利负责人） 和保罗·扎切拉 (Paolo Zacchera， 花卉种植专家) 用了很长时间启动的一项创新项目:在距离马焦雷湖皮埃蒙特海岸15公里处的瓦尔·格兰德国家公园 (Val Grande national park) 的一片土地上建立一个大型试验性茶园。

今天，超过20,000株幼苗已经在开放地区种植，这是继亚速尔群之后欧洲最大的种植园.今年5月，经过3年的漫长等待，终于有了第一次收获。

然而，马可·贝托纳 说，“仅仅有茶树并不意味着你已经有了茶。一旦收获，嫩芽是用来生产茶叶的部分。最终的成品，也就是我们所说的“茶叶”实际上是要经过一个漫长而复杂的工序。”

“与所有其他药用植物和草药不同，茶树的叶子只在收获后才进行干燥。茶树的叶子在使用前必须经过几个过程，这取决于不同的品种，对于一些类型的发酵茶，过程至少需要两天到几个月。实际上，优质茶的秘诀就在这个过程中。”

马可·贝托纳 补充说：“自然地，使用的植物品种、采用的种植技术、环境以及微气候，对于绿叶的质量都是至关重要的。直到加工之后，最初的香气才开始散发出来，随后，再加上由于涉及的不同加工所产生的次要香气，使某些茶的香气变得特别和独特。”


加工刚采摘的生茶叶的过程中，真正的炼金术发生了，马可.贝托纳 似乎是这方面的真正专家。


Italy Tea & Infusions Association (ITA.Tea)

总部联系电话：(+39) 02 400 30 247   –   手机：(+39) 335 6611 662

电子邮件:  [email protected]

意大利茶业与花草茶协会官网:  http://www.MaestriDelThe.it

的确，他用 Val D’Ossola茶树收获的茶叶，按照非常具体和精巧的程序，制作了三种不同类型的茶:白茶、绿茶和红茶。这三种茶都是用中国传统的方法手工制作的，还使用了专门从中国引进的手工制茶的特殊设备。

在2019年10月发生了一件完全意想不到的事情。经过严格的选拔程序， “Verbano Red Tea （韦尔巴诺红茶）” 入选了”2019国际品茶大赛。”

“通过选拔参加比赛，不仅是我们的巨大荣誉，而且是我们没有想到的。这对我们来说已经是一场胜利了。”马可·贝托纳说。他决定参加比赛，丝毫没有被其他参赛国吓到。


该大赛由中国农业国际合作促进会茶产业委员会举办，只有生产商可以参加，面向世界主要茶叶生产国的公司，共有104种参赛茶叶，其中72种来自中国，32种来自其他国家。


评审团由来自中国、中国台湾、斯里兰卡、韩国、马来西亚、尼泊尔、越南、肯尼亚、美国、丹麦、澳大利亚和俄罗斯等茶叶生产国和消费国的15名国际茶叶专家组成。

经过漫长而又疲惫的一天，终于迎来了期待已久的最终结果。由国际专家组成的评委会评分是不容置疑的。 “Verbano Red Tea （韦尔巴诺红茶）” 赢得了金奖，超过了来自中国、尼泊尔、肯尼亚、越南、马来西亚、韩国、泰国和土耳其等世界上最大的茶叶生产国的约100名候选人。

这一享有盛誉且出乎意料的认可进一步证明了意大利在新的市场领域也有能力产生优秀的、创新的结果，而马可·贝托纳 为意大利种植和生产的茶开辟了一条通往新起点和潜在供应链的道路。

Italy Tea & Infusions Association (ITA.Tea)

总部联系电话：(+39) 02 400 30 247   –   手机：(+39) 335 6611 662

电子邮件:  [email protected]

意大利茶业与花草茶协会官网:  http://www.MaestriDelThe.it

The following information is provided by Prof. Youying Tu of Zhejiang University for the visit of Zhejing University tea students to Italy http://www.cab.zju.edu.cn/cabcx/2020/0103/c7067a1932913/page.htm?from=groupmessage&isappinstalled=0

我系研究生温欣黎及校友陈红波赴意大利进行中国茶文化宣传活动

编辑：日期：2020-01-03访问次数：272

2019年12月6日-12月17日，意大利“东方文化艺术节”（FESTIVAL DELL’ORIENTE）于意大利北部威尼托大区帕多瓦城隆重开幕。中国茶文化展区主要负责人—— 意大利茶业与花草茶协会 (Italy Tea & Infusions Association – ITA.Tea）主席、欧洲著名茶专家马可-贝托纳(Marco Bertona)先生邀请中国国际茶文化研究会学校茶文化与健康联盟副主席、我校茶学系屠幼英教授等师生参加“东方文化艺术节”文化交流活动，经过研究决定，派遣我系博士后校友陈红波及研究生温欣黎前往意大利参与中华茶文化的宣传和展示。

在意大利期间，校友陈红波及温欣黎同学身着中国唐宋朝代的特色服装，分别向国外观众演示了中国茶事活动中极具代表性的唐代煎茶茶艺、宋代点茶茶艺和现代盖碗茶艺。备器、取火、候汤、煎茶,温欣黎同学采用古籍中记载的煎茶技法，熟练操纵一套复刻唐代宫廷茶具烹煮茶汤。酌茶分于“琉璃盏”，一杯有着1400多年历史的茶汤重现于外国友人眼前。右手持茶筅，手腕快速运动，使茶筅在茶盏中不断击拂茶汤形成一层细腻的沫饽，校友陈红波以娴熟的技艺为观众再现中国古代茶文化的瑰宝——宋代点茶。最后还有当代最为常用的盖碗茶艺，马可主席端坐于主泡台后，用盖碗冲泡中国六大茶类供来往的观众品尝。一方空间三席茶，共同演绎了中国茶文化的历史传承。

在茶艺展示之余，校友陈红波及温欣黎同学还为客人们介绍了中国茶叶品类，茶的健康功效，茶的品鉴方法和茶叶深加工技术等知识，受到热烈欢迎。在意大利，咖啡是人们主要的日常饮品，对茶了解大多数仅限加奶加糖的袋泡茶，而对于中国的原叶茶知之甚少。听完讲解后，有不少外国友人表示自己对这健康又神奇的“东方树叶”有了全新的认识。独特的品饮方式，热情的知识讲解吸引了不少现场观众的目光，大家纷纷驻足参与到茶事活动之中，体验并聆听着中国茶叶的声音。

       意大利东方艺术节是一场主要展示东半球各国歌舞、武术、民俗、乐器、服饰等艺术的展览会，堪称“小型的东方博览会”。此次展会活动一共持续6天，活动现场每天有近万名观众，意大利主流媒体作了相关报道，影响甚远。此次海外茶文化交流，不仅提高了参与者的个人能力，更是加深了两国之间的文化沟通，让海外友人了解到中国茶文化的博大精深。希望在未来，中国茶在国人的努力下不断走出国门，逐步加大中国茶文化的国际影响力。