Ovada: Wine and Truffles – Sunday 18 November 2018 Ovada (AL)

Sipping Dolcetto in the company of the most beautiful and best white truffles: in the characteristic historic centre of the Monferrato town, the hugely popular event dedicated to local specialities returns.

"Ovada: Wine and Truffles" reaches its ninth edition this year. The event, organised by the Pro Loco of Ovada and of Monferrato Ovadese with the collaboration of the Regional Wine Shop of Ovada and the Ovada docg Consortium, under the patronage of the Municipality of Ovada, will be an occasion to celebrate once again the two flagship products of the Ovada area: the Dolcetto di Ovada (Ovada Docg and Dolcetto d'Ovada Doc) and the white truffle.

Numerous winemakers have once again taken part in the event, which represents a rare but important moment of contact and discussion with the public: during Sunday, the producers will await visitors, who will have the chance, by buying the event's glass, to taste the best wine production of the area. Wines of great quality that today, more than ever before, have won numerous accolades from the leading experts in the sector; flagship products of the Ovada area's winemaking vocation, explained by those who day after day carry forward the local tradition with passion and great expertise.

This year it will be possible to meet the winemakers and taste the best of their production within the splendid setting of the Loggia di San Sebastiano (Ovada's ancient parish church), at the Salone dei Padri Scolopi in piazza San Domenico and at the exhibition room in piazza Cereseto.

Also at the exhibition room in piazza Cereseto, on the ground floor, the two institutional stands of the Regional Wine Shop of Ovada and the Ovada docg Consortium will be set up.

The other star of the event is also linked to the Ovada area: the white truffle - Tuber Magnatum Pico. This year the trifolau will display their very fragrant white truffles of exclusively local origin, partly within the courtyards and under the most characteristic porticoes of Ovada's historic centre, but we will also be able to meet them under the porticoes of the Corte del Tartufo of the new Borgo delle Aie. This year too the usual "Ovadese Truffle Competition" will be held, reserved exclusively for truffle hunters admitted to the Truffle Show. The truffles must weigh a minimum of 100 grams and will be judged by a special jury that will assess their fragrance, shape, colour, size and all the elements capable of qualitatively distinguishing the truffle. The jury will examine the truffles in the competition between 9:30 and 10:30.

This year the sensory experience of tasting wines and truffles will also involve us on the level of sound, thanks to the performances of two groups of pupils from the Ovada School of Music. The young people of the Antonio Rebora Musical Association will perform during the day, entertaining visitors, who will be accompanied along the streets of the historic centre by the Les Carellages Cultural Association in discovering the town's most hidden corners.

Speaking of music: if the wines produced on the gentle hills of the Ovada Monferrato 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 also confirmed by research carried out by Raoul Molinari and Giordano Berti on chronicles dating back to the Middle Ages, but also on letters from 18th-century travellers: all agree on the extraordinary aroma and quality of the white truffles of these lands, a true delicacy highly appreciated already in the past. The event dedicated to wines and truffles is always a bit like the meeting between Bacchus and Jupiter: if Bacchus is the god of wine, according to the Roman poet Juvenal, the origin of the truffle is instead due to a lightning bolt hurled by Jupiter near an oak tree.

Thanks again to the mythology of Jupiter, aphrodisiac qualities have always been attributed to the truffle as well.

Piazza San Domenico will also host a Market of Local Typical Products: cheeses, jams, fruit syrups, cured meats, honey and chocolate.

In the squares of the centre there will be many refreshment points with tasty typical dishes: farinata, roast agnolotti, fritters and much more.

As always, there will also be entertainment for the little ones. In Piazza Garibaldi a zone will be set up to entertain the youngest with an inflatable slide. For the enjoyment of the adults, on the other hand, many shops will be open with themed windows throughout the historic centre.

Ovada Wine and Truffles will officially begin at 10:30 and continue into the late evening. The event will be held in any weather conditions, given that the exhibition areas will be indoors.

FOR INFORMATION:

Iat Ovada 0143/821043 Facebook: Proloco Ovada