Uva Fiera 2022: Pride in Italian Monovarietal Wines

Posted by Rowena Dumlao Rowena Dumlao - Giardina 3/16/2022

Uva Fiera 2022: Pride in Italian Monovarietal Wines

Uva Fiera, one of the most interesting wine events in Rome, has successfully concluded on the 14th of March 2022. The three-day event which started on the 12th of March took place in Città dell'Altra Economia where selected thirty wine producers coming from all over Italy participated with a tasting of a number of their wine labels. The event was conceptualized by La Pecora Nera Editore, a publishing house that has been active for over 20 years specializing in the creation of food and wine guides made by inspectors, and Pasquale Livieri, the founder of the Roman wine shops Il Sorì and Matière Bar-à-Vìn.

"Uva Fiera, Let's Drink it in Purity" is an exhibition of wines obtained from single varieties that were historically used as blending grapes. With this theme, all participating producers present their monovarietal wines, many of which are indigenous to their regions like the Roviello Bianco or Greco Musc and Pallagrello of Campania; Trebbiano Verde, Bellone and Malvasia Puntinata of Lazio; Tintilia of Molise; Frappato and Cataratto of Sicily; Timorasso and Dolcetto of Piedmont; Vite del Fantini, the centuries-old vines of Emilia Romagna; Trebbiano Spoletino and Grechetto of Umbria; Cococciola and Pecorino of Abruzzo; and Canaiolo of Tuscany.

Uva Fiera are two words with important meanings. Grape and pride. It's a celebration of grapes that deserve their own attention in the bottles. They can unveil their special characteristics in being bottled alone, that they too have great backbones and distinctive traits that merit to be appreciated in their pure forms.

Italy holds an important record of preserving an incredible viticultural biodiversity in each region and according to the data recorded in the Catalogo Nazionale delle Varietà di Vite (National Catalogue of Varieties of Vines), it possesses the largest number of indigenous grape varieties in the world with a current number of 545 varieties of wine grapes (to which the so-called 'international' varieties must be added) and 182 varieties of table vines. Globally, there are about 1,368 vines. Italy today, in addition to being the world leader for the largest quantity of wine produced in the world, with 80 vines grown in 75% of the vineyard area, is also, by far, the country with the greatest winemaking diversity. Furthermore, the numbers are still growing, given the progressive rediscovery of ancient Italian vines which is today the object of research and propagation.

Consequently, the wine scene in Italy is characterized by a multiplicity of producers, denominations and geographical areas. This has produced a segmentation of the sector which generally the big producers are able to penetrate the national and international markets with ease. A multitude of small producers find it difficult to gain access to the general public and showcase the excellence of their products for the lack of opportunity to reach out. Uva Fiera was therefore created to bring wine enthusiasts and people in the sector closer to the lesser known Italian grape artisans who have decided to produce wines in purity obtained from native and autochthonous vines.

The sponsors of the event were: VD Glass, a glass company based in Parma that provided their professional wine glasses; Ecostovigle, a company that produces environment friendly disposable tableware that provided the portable spittoons; Magnolia Eventi, a Lazio-based company which took care of the all the set-up of the fair; Acqua Egeria, a water company located in the heart of Rome owned by the Società Acqua Santa di Roma from 1948 which provided the mineral water to all participants for the entire duration of the event; and Radio Rock, a historic Roman radio that boasts over 30 years of history.