Polpenazze Wine Fair Success Highlights and Salami Competition Results
Great success for the 51st edition of the Polpenazze Wine Fair, which closed yesterday.
The success was primarily driven by the large turnout of visitors, as well as exhibitors, mostly winemakers, which forced the organizers to find additional spaces beyond the traditional castle grounds.
The approach of selling wine in large half-liter plastic cups proved very effective, helping to prevent the reckless abandonment of glass bottles.
The Salami DOC Challenge and the Winner
The «challenge» of the DOC salamis, where «a DOC wine deserves a DOC salami», has also enjoyed significant success. This event, held for many years in the courtyard of the Bar Centrale, saw 21 entries in the main contest, of which 6 were selected to compete for the «7th Gran Premio del Salame DOC». Ultimately, the winner was Remo Bertazzi, who thus earns his name for the fourth time in the hall of fame.
This competition, which compares the best salamis produced in Valtenesi, was first initiated in 1956 and has only been elevated to the status of «Gran Premio» for the last 7 years, judged by a panel of 8 expert tasters skilled in the ancient art and tradition of salami making.
Final Thoughts and Fair Activities
«Certainly, in the next edition, we will need to adjust the closing time to 12 midnight,» states Francesco Bottarelli, Coordinator of the Organizing Committee.
«It’s quite counterproductive to suspend music and entertainment just as people start to have fun. We have observed that banning wine sales in bottles after a certain hour helped reinforce the correct understanding of the fair’s wine-related philosophy.»
During the four days of the fair, mostly between 4 PM and 11 PM, over 20,000 plastic cups and slightly more than 35,000 plastic glasses were used, Corte degli Assaggi aside.
The Conference organized by the Istituto Professionale di Stato di Lonato concerning agritourism, held yesterday afternoon, was also well received. Additionally, the convivial meeting with various Confraternities and Category Associations, hosted yesterday afternoon by the Fiera Committee president Giuseppe Turrina and Mayor Giancarlo Ribelli, was met with positive feedback.