Polpenazze’s Wine Festival: Tradition, Community, and Garda Wines

On schedule like a clock, Polpenazze and the Valtenesi are preparing to experience, and coexist with, one of the most important moments of their community: the “Wine Festival.”

In 2000, celebrated by all as a historic date filled with evocative power, the spring festival marks its 51st year of presence in the Garda enoic scene, although it should be noted that recently the event has also undergone a name change to the “Fiera del Vino Doc Garda Classico.”

This Garda appointment is an event capable of transforming this small town into a village of significantly larger dimensions, even if, to be honest, only for a few days.

There are four days in which the exhibition machinery will operate at full capacity, leaving nothing to chance, no improvisation, and above all, no chaos. Everything under control, therefore; although, in truth, during the peak days today and tomorrow, it will be quite difficult to avoid those inconveniences, now habitual and hard to eliminate, that a fair, regardless of its type or location, inevitably entails.

As everyone knows, wine — nectar of Bacchus — is usually meant to be tasted (only water or sweetened drinks are usually consumed). A good drink, in reality, has never harmed anyone, but moderation must always prevail for safety oneself and others.

Polpenazze teaches, as it did some years ago, that excesses can seriously jeopardize the peaceful strolls of people, couples, and families, as well as the continuation of the event in the years to come.

Stricter controls and increased limitations on sales have helped improve the overall event. Today, the Fiera del Vino di Polpenazze is an exhibition where it is possible not only to taste almost all the wines of Brescia’s Garda but also to enjoy a relaxing social moment.

Visitors can relax at one of the long tables set up in the refreshment area, sampling excellent spit-roasted meat or other typical delicacies, in absolute tranquility and immersed in that indefinable atmosphere that a village festival or local celebration can give.

Much credit goes to everyone involved in these days, and those preceding the Fiera, who have worked with a spirit of volunteerism rarely found elsewhere.

The members of the folkloric group “La Carata“, for example, dedicate themselves thoroughly with their costumes.

There is also the directive committee, chaired by Giuseppe Turrina and coordinated by Francesco Bottarelli, which has been working for several months on the challenging task of preparing every detail of each event.

It is also important to mention the various groups and committees involved in tasks that are hardly delegable to others.

In short, a teamwork effort that in recent years, after a difficult period coinciding with a loss of interest from the producers themselves, has elevated the event to one of the most anticipated appointments.