How we choose: behind the selection is a profession
Giovanni Imperato has worked in fine food and wine for over 25 years, serving shops and restaurants. Eccellenze Enogastronomiche makes that selection available to everyone.
In brief
Giovanni Imperato has worked in the field of fine food and wine for over 25 years, serving shops and restaurants. Eccellenze Enogastronomiche, with its shop in Vietri sul Mare, makes that same selection available to everyone. Only excellent products enter the site.
A profession of over 25 years
Giovanni Imperato has worked in the field of fine food and wine for over 25 years. During that time he has served shops and restaurants.
Anyone who works for shops and restaurants cannot afford to get it wrong: the product has to be up to standard, every time.
Why it is now open to everyone
As a rule, the work of choosing stays among professionals: customers find the product on the shelf or on the plate, but do not see how it got there.
Eccellenze Enogastronomiche was created to make that work available to everyone: to those who love to eat and drink well, to those looking for a gift they can trust, to those who cannot find their way among a thousand brands online. Whoever chooses for the professionals now chooses for you.
What enters the site
What enters the site is what Giovanni Imperato considers excellent. Every product goes through his scrutiny; those that do not pass it stay out. The selection can grow, but with what passes the same scrutiny.
Those who work for shops and restaurants learn early that a product is not judged once: it is judged every time it arrives. From this habit come the criteria by which Giovanni Imperato decides what enters Eccellenze Enogastronomiche.
Taste comes first. A product enters if it is good. It is not enough for it to be rare, to have attractive packaging or an important name.
Origin is declared. For every product we look for a producer and an origin that can be read and checked. On the product page you find the producer's name and the origin when they are declared, as labelling law requires; but the trust we ask for is in the choice, not in the brand.
We look at how it is made. Few, recognizable ingredients, a production method the producer can describe, no promise that the label does not support.
Consistency matters as much as the peak. A product that is excellent once and mediocre the next time does not get in. For those who cook, and for those who sell, regularity and availability over time are what count.
It has to be of use. An excellent product is one you actually use: for cooking, for a gift, for a table. If we would not recommend it to a restaurateur, we do not recommend it to you.
What does not get in. Products that do not convince or that do not hold up over time stay out, even if they sell well elsewhere. That is why the site is a selection and not a list.
The five questions
A product enters the selection if the answer to all five is yes.
- Is it really good? Taste comes before everything else: before the name, the packaging, the fashion.
- Do we know where it comes from? Producer and origin must be declared and verifiable.
- Is it well made? Few, recognizable ingredients, a declared production method, no shortcut that the label hides.
- Is it always so? A product that changes from one batch to the next is of no use to those who cook and those who sell. We look for consistency.
- Would you put it on your table, or on a menu? It has to be of use: for cooking, for giving, for sharing. If we could not recommend it to a restaurateur, we do not recommend it to you.
What you find on every product page
A chosen product deserves a clear explanation. On the product page you find the name and size and, when the producer declares them, ingredients, producer and origin. The information required by law is on the package label.
- The product: name, size, ingredients and denomination, when confirmed by the label or the specification.
- The use: how to bring it to the table, with practical advice.
- The origin: where and by whom it is made, when the producer declares it.
What you will read in the Journal
The Journal is where we explain what the product page has no room to say: what you need to know to choose, store and use the products well. You will find:
- guides for using in the kitchen the products of the selection, with practical advice;
- simple explanations of denominations and of pairings with wine;
- advice on how to read a label and how to store what you buy.
Would you like to start with the products? The site has three sections: Wine shop, From the Coast and the Sea and Pantry.
Do you have a question?
If you are looking for a product you do not see on the site, or would like advice before choosing, write to us: we will answer you ourselves.