Saturday,
September 9th
2006 at 3pm marks the beginning
of the 2nd annual “Wine Championship,”
a wine-tasting tournament open to the
public and organized by Slow Food Florence
and sponsored by the City
of Fiesole. The event is also sponsored
by the German
Embassy, thanks to the collaboration
of professor Nino Campagna of the I
talian-German
Cultural Association (ACIT) and the participation
of Slow
Food Berlin in Fiesole.
The
primary objective of the event is the
spreading of the Slow Food philosophy
and the celebration of the twenty years
that the organization has been active
in the Florence region. The Championship
is thought up as a truly authentic “enological
olympics” open to a total of 16 teams
maximum coming from all over Italy. The
actual competition begins Sunday the 10th
at 11:00 am, answering questions of increasing
difficulty. In the afternoon, after the
eliminations have been made, the official
winner will be named and presented with
precious bottles of wine. There will also
be consolation prizes for the 2nd, 3rd
and 4th place teams. The awards ceremony
will take place at 7 pm in the Teatro
Romano in Fiesole.
In
and around the event there will be tasting
stands presenting various gastronomic
delights varying from products of the
Slow Food Presidi to those from the farms
of Fiesole as well as those of other prestigious
artisans of gusto from Tuscany and beyond.
Additional attractions include tastings
offered by Slow Food Florence’s wine
bar and stands from the most important
wine-making regions, workshops, and cultural
events. The weekend will be a great opportunity
to get to know the wealth of natural,
artistic and human resources present in
the territory of Fiesole. The official
logo of the Wine Championship was drawn
by the extraordinary hand of Sergio
Staino.
Cultural
Events
As in last year’s competition there
will be a multitude of meetings, debates,
and opportunities to be exposed to Italian
culture. Such events are possible thanks
to the collaboration of the City of Fiesole
and ACIT Pescia, as directed by professor
Nino Campagna.
The
emphasis of the weekend will be on the
Slow
Food organization: On Saturday at 4 pm
the newest Slow Food publication, which
outlines the main tenants of the Slow
Food philosophy, will have its official
public release: Buono,
Pulito e Giusto. Principi di Nuova Gastronomia
(authored by Carlo Petrini with contributions
by Carlo Bogliotti). Present at the ceremony
will be Carlo Bogliotti and Roberto Burdese,
president of Slow Food Italy.
At
5:15 pm Slow Food will also present the
awards for Benemeriti della Viticoltura
from the Florentine area. On Sunday at
4:30 there will be a presentation of the
project for the appreciation of traditional
schiacciate da forno from Florentine bakeries,
while at 6:30 the new “Member of
the Year” for Slow Food Florence
will be announced.
Workshops
The Wine Championship will also host two
exceptional workshops this year. The first,
in collaboration with the Cantina Mannucci
Droandi and the CRA
Istituto Sperimentale di Arezzo, will
take place on Saturday at 5:45 inside
the Archaeological Museum of Fiesole.
Marco De Marco will take guests through
a discussion of wine cults through history,
for which there will be evidence and significant
archaeological finds on display. The lecture
will be followed by a tasting of small
batches of rare grape varietals such as
Foglio Tonda, Orpicchio, Vicetro, Colorino
and Caniolo del Valdarno.
The
second workshop (Sunday at 5:30) will
be led by enologist Stefano
Chioccioli. Wines made by Stefano
will be tasted demonstrating differences
in territory and their respective varieties.
It will be a true voyage of 12 wines with
stops all over Italy in search of enological
treasures. Both workshops will be open
to the public with a limited number of
seats, therefore it is necessary to make
reservations.
Collaboration
with the Regional Council of Tuscany
This year’s competition is happy
to announce the participation of the Consiglio
Regionale di Toscana. The president,
the honorable Riccardo Nencini, has welcomed
from the very beginning the chance to
contribute to the event. Thanks to this
participation, the Palazzo Panciatichi
(the home of the Council situated at Via
Cavour 2, Florence) will host two important
events: the gala held in honor of the
Slow Food Germany delegation as well as
a seminar to be held in the auditorium
of the Palazzo at 10 am Saturday called
Buono da bere, buono da pensare. Quale
futuro per un vino di qualità?
At the seminar, which is open to the public,
there will be guests Tiziano Gaia (Slow
Food Editore), Giampaolo Motta (Producer),
Roberto Stucchi Prinetti (Producer), Vittorio
Fiore (Enologist), Saverio Petrilli (Enologo),
Antonio Attorre (Journalist and writer),
Ernesto Gentili (Editor of Guida Espresso),
Giuseppe Liberatore (Director of the Consorzio
Chianti Classico) as well as the president
of Slow Food Italia, Roberto Burdese.
The
planning for the events has also been
made in close collaboration with Slow
Food Italy.
The
hotel Villa
Bonelli has rooms at a special price
of 80 euro a night per double room for
all those participating in the Wine Championship.
Camping
Panoramico Fiesole is offering a discount
of 10% off for those participating as
well.
During the Wine Championship in Fiesole,
the Residenza
Casanuova (Via della Mattonaia, 21
– Florence) is offering a discount
of 15% to all Slow Food members who make
reservations for two nights.
Special discount at the Jolly
Hotel of Firenze (quote 'campionato di vino when making the reservation)
- single room Euro
105.00
- double room Euro
139.00
full breakfast included
Teatro
Romano di Fiesole
Organized by Slow
Food Firenze
with support from the Città
di Fiesole
