The as yet unnamed Verona Fringe Festival

Aristide and other Italian bloggers have publicized the growing number of not-Vinitaly events going on in and around Verona this week.  (See continuation for a list, which is not complete.  Be prepared to use your Italian.)

While there is some disagreement over the need for umpteen gatherings devoted to natural/organic/biodynamic wines, I can't help but point out something that those who are closer to it all don't see.  These "contra" meetings are a sign of vitality.  And they are a sign that Vinitaly, far from having passed its peak (Italian journalists say this each year), is actually increasing its magnetic power in the wine world, "world" being a key word.

It really does call to mind the development of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.  The original event, the Edinburgh International Festival, had been world-renowned for years.  Its offerings in drama, the dance, opera and so forth were esteemed and a big-ticket item.  Obviously, in the wake of the counterculture of the 1960s and '70s, people who felt the EIF was too staid, too establishment and too expensive started putting on their own shows.  A different audience, a different agenda, same effect: the Fringe is now huge and has long been far livelier and more heavily reported in America than the EIF. It consolidated Edinburgh's position as an international cultural centre.

My question is: When is some Italian go-getter going to round up the herd of squirrels that are the bio-groovy wine folks and organize them into a coherent presentation of their agenda and their wines?  I think the wine world would benefit from a Verona Fringe.  And so, by the way, would the city of Verona and Vinitaly itself.

Whether or not the fractious lot of alternative winemakers can agree on anything so coherent is another matter, of course.

No doubt there are more events, fringily under the radar, all over town.  Bloggers and others, this is where scoops may be found.

Lifted shamelessly from Aristide, lazily untranslated:

Professor Wine
Luogo: Wine Bar del Bere Giovane, Vinitaly for You, programma dedicato ad appassionati, curiosi e golosi, che si svolge in Piazza Bra, al Palazzo della Gran Guardia in Verona.
Evento: Professor Wine. E' l'evento di presentazione di un nuovo sistema di servizi orientato alla formazione online per gli operatori ed i consumatori del vino.

VinNatur, organizzata da Angiolino Maule, La Biancara, e amici alla Villa da Porto detta "La Favorita" a Monticello di Fara, Sarego (VI), il 1.o e 2 aprile (qui i dettagli, qui la mappa). A Villa Favorita si annunciano 81 espositori, dei quali 29 viticoltori arrivano dalla Francia, 40 dall'italia, 2 dalla Slovenia e uno dalla Spagna oltre a 9 aziende del settore alimentare di fascia alta. Lunedì 2 aprile ci terrà la Conferenza sul Vino Autentico a cura del Prof. Pierre Paillard, in programma dalle ore 9,30 alle 12.00, cui parteciperanno tutti i produttori presenti.

Teobaldo Cappellanno convocherà gli adepti del Gruppo Vini Veri i giorni 29 e 30 marzo presso Villa Boschi, località Boschi, Isola della Scala, Verona (qui i dettagli, qui la mappa). Qui sono annunciati una ventina di produttori (vedere qui l'elenco annunciato).

Infine, si terrà la quinta edizione di Terre Ribelli / Critical Wine, la manifestazione "alternativa" che vide la benedizione ed il concreto supporto ideologico e operativo di Luigi Veronelli. A Verona (qui i dettagli, qui la mappa).

Comments

[Fede]

Terry, the answer to your question could be very clear, IMHO:

It depends to our italian typical behaviour to criticize everything and everyone.

This sometimes spurs individuals to do better, but most of the times is just a brake for goals which require the participation and cooperation of a large number of people...

I think this is also why we have great peaks in individual, "artistic" fields but we are also loosing day by day an increasing number of networking opportunities

Fede

(Sorry, but I don' think this comment comes just at the end of a wrong day at work...)