Gardone Enogastronomy Festival Celebrates D’Annunzio’s Culinary Heritage
From Groppello to Chiaretto, culminating in the rediscovery of delicious treats inspired by d’Annunzio’s culinary artistry. Even in Gardone Riviera, eno-gastronomy finally becomes an integral part of the already rich offering of cultural entertainment arranged for holidaymakers.
The first initiative, «Il Groppello in tavola», will take place on June 9, 10, and 11, and will continue through all the weekends in June. On the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of the Confraternita del Groppello (the grand gala will be held at the Grand Hotel), eleven Gardone restaurants will present menus paired with wines produced from the region’s native grape variety of Valtenesi.
Tastings and Awards
From Friday to Sunday, tasting stations featuring local wines and cheeses will also be set up in Gardone Sopra. In July, the focus will shift to Chiaretto, and Gardone restaurants will offer dishes paired with the «wine of one night».
This initiative will be complemented by the traditional gala during which the «Ambasador of Garda» award will be given to personalities distinguished in promoting Garda wines abroad.
For this occasion, tastings will be organized from June 30 to July 2 along the lakeside promenade of Gardone and in piazza del Vittoriale. The Gardone food-and-wine festival will then reach its highlight in September, when Gardone restaurateurs will serve the beloved recipes of the Vate, who, sensitive to all the stimuli of the senses, did not disdain—among many others—the pleasures of the palate.
Gastronomic descriptions of d’Annunzio
Many writings of D’Annunzio the gastronome remain, showcasing the poet’s tastes. In his notes, communications with cooks, and even in his works, he left splendid descriptions of delicacies and treats.
Among these is an account from the «Libro segreto», referring to the meal served after a «furious fox hunt» in the Roman countryside: «I took some hare, all fragrant with thyme and rosmarin harvested during the summer. It was a fat, well-fed hare, perfect. Then I took some pâté, beautifully golden with a greasy crust covered with small slices of lard and filled with a tinted sauce, «glacè», transparent as a mirror, which kept the fragrant truffles, the red liver, and even a few tender partridge bits cool. Oh, what a masterful deboning… what a delight! May God forgive me for this sin of gluttony».
An advocate of all arts, d’Annunzio also considered culinary arts to be one of them. In the same «Libro segreto», he writes: «Foolish people think that cooking an egg in the shell or hard-boiling an egg is easy. It is a very difficult art, of rare skill. It is more challenging than composing an unimpeachable sonnet».
The three events are born from a collaboration between the Consorzio Tutela Vini Garda Classico, the assessor Giovanna Ciccarelli, and the local Gardone operators in catering and hospitality.