Ovada Wine and Truffles 2013: a Sunday in the historic centre

The story

Ovada Wine and Truffles 2013

Sunday 10 November in the historic centre of Ovada Wine and truffle market

The Pro Loco of Ovada and of the Monferrato Ovadese, with the patronage of the Municipality of Ovada, is organising the fourth edition of the great all-taste festival, dedicated to the two most renowned food and wine products of the area: white truffle and wine. If the wines produced on the gentle hills of the Monferrato Ovadese are among the most famous in Italy, the white truffle of this area is certainly no less so: Gioacchino Rossini called it “the Mozart of mushrooms”, a judgement confirmed also by research carried out by Raoul Molinari and Giordano Berti on chronicles dating back to the Middle Ages, and on letters of 18th-century travellers: everyone agrees on the extraordinary aroma and quality of the white truffles of these lands, a true delicacy already highly prized in the past.

The festival dedicated to wines and truffles will be a bit like the meeting of Bacchus and Jupiter: if Bacchus is the god of wine, according to the Roman poet Juvenal the origin of the truffle is due instead to a thunderbolt hurled by Jupiter near an oak. Again thanks to Jupiter's mythology, the truffle has always been credited with aphrodisiac qualities too.

The festival

On Sunday 10 November, from 10.00 to 18.00, along the streets of the characteristic historic centre, in the little squares and under the gates of the town, the wine exhibitors will await the public, who, after buying the festival glass, will have the chance to taste the best wine production of the area at the stalls.

The Trifolau, as last year, will welcome visitors inside Ovada's Antica Parrocchiale: the Loggia di San Sebastiano, where it will be possible to buy truffles.

The traders of Ovada will join the initiative, creating themed shop windows.

The Pro Loco is organising, in the ancient premises of the former Albergo Italia, a restaurant serving typical dishes with white truffle from the Alto Monferrato. You can enjoy agnolotti, tagliatelle, braised meat and fried eggs, dressed with the precious tuber and washed down with Dolcetto di Ovada.

How was Ovada Vino e Tartufi born?

For some years now the Pro Loco of Ovada and of the Monferrato Ovadese had firmly intended to organise a food festival centred on the white truffle, since the hills of Ovada are rich in it and the area has for time immemorial seen generations of truffle hunters take turns. The recognition of D.O.C.G. status for the wine “Ovada” gave momentum to the initiative, which was welcomed with enthusiasm by the Municipality of Ovada and by the various trade associations too. The marriage between the two flagship products of the area seemed natural: succulent dishes based on white truffle pair well with the area's prized wines, including Dolcetto DOC and above all Ovada D.O.C.G. Past editions were a success with the public and critics alike and convinced the Pro Loco of Ovada of the wisdom of an initiative aimed at promoting and spreading the most deserving food specialities of the area.

The beauty of the historic centre enriches the festival, which is set to grow over time.

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