A Veronese wine received the distinction of being selected to accompany the appetiser at a highly select activity – the official Nobel Peace Prize Dinner, held in the Grand Hotel in the Norwegian capital, Oslo, last Saturday week.

The wine – the Sagramoso Soave Superiore 2004, from Pasqua, was among several tasted by the Nobel Prize Committee. Because this year’s Peace Prize winner was the International Atomic Energy Agency, represented by its director, Mohamed El Baradei, the committee felt that traditional wines from the Old World would suit the occasion. Sagramoso Soave was judged perfect for the event.

The wine has also just beaten competition at the Sydney International Wine Competition, where last month it won a Blue-Gold medal. It is a deep straw yellow-coloured wine with delicate but intense aromas, medium-bodied, crisp and dry, which may be served with antipasti, salads, light pasta dishes, seafood and white meats. Its origins are the foot of the hills of the Val d’Illasi, in northeastern Verona, where the vines grow in eruptive and basaltic soil with alluvional deposits.

Its maker, Pasqua, is one of the very few family concerns in the wine-producing business in Italy. The company turns out some 20.5 million bottles of wine, each year, from vineyards in the best privately-owned estates in Italy. Puglia has the ideal climate for wine growing and the family wants to demonstrate that its product has strong potential for the worldwide market.

Some 600 guests attended the Nobel Peace Prize dinner, and the prominent personalities among them included Nobel Peace Prize winners, senior government figures from all over the world and celebrities, who took part in the Peace Concert the following day.

Soave Sagramoso’s distinct honour will be lingering throughout the month of December, for the Grand Hotel will be offering the same menu for banquets and parties over the Christmas and New Year period.

Pasqua Soave Sagramoso is another quality wine imported exclusively in Malta by P. Cutajar & Co. Ltd.