Ovada: Wine and Truffles – Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 November 2015, Ovada (AL)

"Ovada: Wine and Truffles" reaches its sixth edition this year.

The event, organised by the Pro Loco of Ovada and the Ovada Monferrato with the collaboration of the Regional Wine Shop of Ovada and under the patronage of the Municipality of Ovada, is enriched this year by numerous events linked to the two flagship products of the Ovada area: the Dolcetto di Ovada (Ovada DOCG and Dolcetto d'Ovada DOC) and the white truffle.

Many wine producers have again joined the event this year, which represents a rare but important moment of contact and exchange with the public: during the day on Sunday, inside the courtyards and under the most characteristic arcades of Ovada's historic centre, the producers will wait for visitors, who will be able, by buying the event glass, to taste the finest wine production of the area. Wines of great quality that today, more than ever before, have won widespread recognition from the leading experts in the field, symbolic products of the Ovada area's winegrowing vocation explained by those who carry on the tradition of the territory every day with passion and great expertise.

The event's other protagonist is also linked to the Ovada area: the white truffle - Tuber Magnatum Pico. Within the splendid setting of the Loggia di San Sebastiano (Ovada's former parish church) the trifolau (truffle hunters) will display their wonderfully fragrant white truffles of exclusively local provenance. New for this year is the establishment of the "Concorso Tartufo Ovadese" (Ovada Truffle Competition), which will award the 3 best truffles presented during the trade fair: a technical jury will examine all the characteristics (aroma, shape, colour, size, weight, etc.) of the prized white truffles to select the best.

Another novelty is the location of the restaurant run by the Pro Loco of Ovada, this year hosted for the dinner of Saturday 14 November (from 20:00) and for the lunch of Sunday 15 November (from 12:00) in the Salone De Primi on the ground floor of the Palazzo degli Scolopi in Piazza San Domenico: the menu, rich in specialities of the local gastronomic tradition, will be sure to highlight the white truffle and the Dolcetto di Ovada of the producers taking part in the event. Piazza San Domenico will also host a market of typical local products: cheeses, jams, fruit syrups, honey and chocolate. A colourful little train will take visitors to discover the town's most characteristic and hidden corners, and there will be entertainment for the youngest too.

Waiting for Wine and Truffles 2015 "Study day on the excellence of the Ovada Monferrato"

On Saturday 14 November the Regional Wine Shop of Ovada and the Monferrato, in collaboration with the Pro Loco of Ovada, organises a whole day devoted to the scientific study and detailed examination of the two products, wine and truffles, that will be the stars of the festival and fair enlivening the streets of Ovada's historic centre during the day of Sunday 15 November. The programme, packed with events and aimed at an attentive and interested audience, will feature three main appointments, in which one of the great names of Italian wine criticism and editor of the Gambero Rosso guide, Gianni Fabrizio, will take part.

It will begin at 10:00 in the premises of the Enoteca di Ovada; the star of the first event, reserved for trade professionals, will be the Dolcetto di Ovada, which will be the subject of a tasting of the wines ready to be marketed and that the local estates will unveil during 2016 - a very important appointment for understanding the potential of the new wines, with the participation of critics, journalists and industry technicians. At 14:30 there will be a course on the "Sensory recognition of wine faults", given by Giuliano Boni, director of Vinidea, one of the national reference points on the themes of research and communication with the technical and oenological world.

During the three-hour course all the most delicate phases of the winemaking process will be analysed and more than thirty artificially contaminated wines presenting faults will be tasted, and practical solutions will be provided for each problem. A truly important opportunity for all the producers of the area to have one of the leading experts on the subject available, in order to continue the path of growth undertaken by all the local estates, and one that represents only the first appointment in a series of days devoted to training for the area's producers. The course fee will be just 50 euro, against a usual fee of about double that, thanks to the contribution of the Regional Wine Shop of Ovada. At 18:00 the study day will have a moment of broader reflection open to all: again in the premises of the Enoteca, the talk will be about landscape, truffles and wine.

Three speakers will take turns: the president of the Alessandria Landscape Observatory, Carlo Bidone, the director of the Consortium of the Excellence of Langhe, Roero and Monferrato, Alessandro Germani, and Gianni Fabrizio of Gambero Rosso. At the end of the conference there will be a horizontal tasting of the 2007 vintage of Dolcetto di Ovada, to testify to the ageing potential of the wines of our area. The president of the Pro Loco of Ovada and the Ovada Monferrato, Antonio Rasore, states: "With the productive collaboration of the Regional Wine Shop of Ovada, the event this year has been enriched by an important moment of reflection and study, dedicated to Producers and Experts in the field, though there will also be a moment open to the public.

We hope it is the first of a long series of events and moments of collaboration." Carlo Massimiliano Olivieri, president of the Regional Wine Shop of Ovada, states: "An important and well-organised event like Ovada Wine and Truffles is one of the most important showcases for our territory, which is why our contribution could not be missing, and this day rich in guests of national standing testifies to ever-growing attention and the desire to discover the potential and the production of the Ovada Monferrato."

THE EVENT PROGRAMME

Saturday 14 November: "Waiting for Ovada: Wine and Truffles 2015"

Study Day on the Excellence of the Ovada Monferrato – Regional Wine Shop of Ovada and the Monferrato (Cantine di Palazzo Delfino) 10:00 - Tasting of the wines to be marketed in 2016, event reserved for trade professionals; 14:30 - Sensory recognition of wine faults with Giuliano Boni (Vinidea), open event, participation fee € 50.00 18:00 - Conference on "Landscape, Truffles and Wine", with Carlo Bidone (President of the Alessandria Landscape Observatory), Alessandro Germani (Director of the Consortium of the Excellence of Langhe, Roero and Monferrato) and Gianni Fabrizio (editor of the Gambero Rosso Guide) 20:00 - Opening of the restaurant of the Pro Loco of Ovada at the Salone De Primi (ground floor of the Palazzo degli Scolopi in Piazza San Domenico)

Sunday 15 November - "Ovada: Wine and Truffles"

10:00 - Opening of the event with themed tasting stalls along the streets and squares of the historic centre, and a sightseeing tour of the historic centre streets on a themed little train. 10:30 - Opening of the trade fair of the Ovada White Truffle at the Loggia di San Sebastiano 11:00 - Awards ceremony of the Ovada Truffle Competition (Loggia di San Sebastiano) 12:00 - Opening of the restaurant of the Pro Loco of Ovada at the Salone De Primi (ground floor of the Palazzo degli Scolopi in Piazza San Domenico) 18:00 - Closing