Gragnano Drinks: Showcasing Local Gastronomy and Wine Excellence

Food and wine excellence of the area on display during the "Gragnano to Drink" event. Two days dedicated to the Sorrento Peninsula Dop wines (the sparkling reds Lettere and Gragnano, the still white and red Sorrento) scheduled in Gragnano on Sunday 19th and Monday 20th May. The event is funded through regional funds of the POC within the project "The pantry of the Monti Lattari" and co-financed by the Municipality of Gragnano, and represents an important first step also for the newborn Consortium of Sorrento Peninsula Dop wine producers. "Gragnano to Drink" will take place in Piazza Guglielmo Marconi (known in Gragnano as Piazza San Leone) and in the nearby Cloister of Sant'Agostino on Sunday 19th and Monday 20th May, with the artistic direction curated by Gabriele Saurio and the technical direction of the food event manager Alfonsina Longobardi. The wine festival was presented at the Gragnano Town Hall and will be divided into two parts: one for industry experts and participating schools, the other open to the public from 8 pm on both evenings. Visits to the Consortium's vineyards, educational workshops with the boys of the associations present in the territory, masterclasses on Sorrento Peninsula Dop wines curated by Luciano Pignataro in collaboration with expert sommeliers, and show cooking with starred chefs will see the Sorrento Peninsula Dop wines as absolute protagonists, while the "living room" in the square with local typical products will be open to the public and will allow everyone to better understand the products of the 15 companies that have already joined the Consortium. "It seemed impossible until a few years ago - says the mayor of Gragnano, Nello D'Auria - but these results are the fruit of years of concerted effort, started with the wine-producing companies, one of the excellence products that characterizes our territory and that contributes to making the city a true Capital of food and wine. With the birth of the Consortium, a synergistic activity aimed at creating a series of activities and events for the valorization of the product has started. In this regard, we are working so that soon Palazzo De Marini can be dedicated to this excellence. A round of applause goes to those who have worked diligently over the years to bring together grape producers, processors, and all stakeholders, for an important result which is the valorization of Sorrento Peninsula Dop wines". "After participating in VinItaly - explains Raffaele La Mura, president of the Consortium - this is the first event we will actively participate in. Our goal is to promote our wines, presenting them and making them known on the national scene. For this reason, we have invited national representatives of the Ais, experts, and operators in the field. Finally, being together, we can give prestige to our products of excellence, while also making our extraordinary territory known. We are very pleased and grateful to the Municipality of Gragnano with all its actors, starting from the mayor D'Auria, the councilors and council members, who have supported us from the beginning, encouraging us to participate in the realization of a high-level event for the promotion of our wines". "It will be a beautiful event - says the regional councilor Nicola Caputo - here great wines are made, also particular ones, that deserve to be known internationally and, thanks to the Consortium, this communication will be more incisive. The administrations of the Monti Lattari are working well to promote the territory through high-quality agri-food productions, in a land where you eat and drink well. Now it is necessary to make Gragnano and the neighboring municipalities a tourist hub of food and wine excellences". For the regional councilor for Tourism, Felice Casucci, for some time "we have been thinking about promoting enogastronomic tourist itineraries. This is now happening also through the POC and other supra-municipal projects. Gragnano has a great tradition and this event is an opportunity to reconnect some territories where a decisive role is played in the promotion of our traditions and identity". At the presentation were also Luciano D'Aponte, responsible for the Promotion of viticulture of the Campania Region; Nicoletta Gargiulo, national councilor of the Ais (Italian Sommelier Association); Beatrice Rosa Russo, head of the Ipssar "De Gennaro" of Vico Equense. The proceedings were moderated by the journalist and sommelier Yuri Buono. At the end of the presentation, the students of the Hotel School "De Gennaro" of Vico Equense curated a tasting of Sorrento Peninsula Dop wines with some local products.