The countdown begins to “Calici di Stelle”, the wine and food event of the summer, created and organised all over Italy by the Movimento Turismo del Vino in partnership with national association Città del Vino. Every year thousands of locals and tourists come together under the stars of San Lorenzo, to taste excellent wines and extra virgin olive oils, and to enjoy cultural events and shows. Once again, Calici di Stelle is being organised in partnership with Regione Puglia’s Agro-Food Resources Office, in the sixteenth year of fruitful collaboration with the Movimento Turismo del Vino Puglia to make this event another success.
“Wine, music and the stars. I defy anyone to come up with a more fascinating combination than this for a toast to the best season of the year – says Fabrizio Nardoni, Agro-Food Resources Officer for Regione Puglia – but Calici di Stelle is more than just charm. It is a tried and tested successful event, which brings the treasures of Puglia together and shows them off in a unique and unrepeatable setting: It is above all about wine, but also involves seeing, visiting and listening. Talking of wine, Puglia’s labels continue their success, with exports already on the increase in the first six months of 2014: this is the result of a forward-looking policy involving constant contact with the producers, the wine production system, and events in order to make the most of a sector which is growing in popularity and market value”.
There are two dates on the calendar in Puglia for this sixteenth edition of Calici di Stelle. First comes Trani on Tuesday 5th August, with the splendid setting of the old town, now the important focal point for the central-northern area of Puglia following the successful editions of the last few years. This is followed on Sunday 10th August by Copertino (Le), the splendid Salento town renowned for its majestic Angevin castle.
In both cities visitors will be able to taste labels from the region’s best wineries, from Daunia to the Salento, sub-divided into three itineraries (Terre di Federico, Itria Valley and Magna Grecia, Salento). Over 50 wineries are taking part, and each one will have its own tasting table with sommeliers and professional wine-tasters from AIS Puglia. In addition, the evening’s events will include visits to the most important monuments, mini wine-tasting courses and observation of the night skies and shooting stars.
“Calici di Stelle – says Sebastiano de Corato, President of the Movimento Turismo del Vino Puglia – is one of the key events for Puglia’s wine-growers, celebrating the ties between wine and territory along with tourists and local enthusiasts in ever-increasing numbers. The two splendid old cities are transformed for this event into lively containers for lights, music, flavours and emotions, so that the wine-lovers taking part in Calici di Stelle have the chance to take a virtual tour around all of Puglia’s very varied wine panorama with its territories and native grape varieties. In this way – he concludes – a wine-glass becomes the starting point for discovery of Puglia’s wider heritage of art and history, nature and gastronomy, generating benefits for all sectors connected with wine tourism”.
The 16th edition all over Italy will be dedicated to Italian pop music and to its greatest exponent, Domenico Modugno.
Twenty years after his death, Calici di Stelle will honour the singer-songwriter from Polignano a Mare and his world-famous hit “Nel blu dipinto di blu”, the anthem of Italians all over the world. The song will be the opening music in every region of Italy, repeating the leitmotiv of the Movimento Turismo del Vino events in 2014 with a combination of music and wine.
Mr. Volare’s hit will also open the wine-tasting and events in Puglia, providing the theme for the music and dance shows accompanying the evenings in Trani and Copertino.
The group “Puglia Wine Love” will give a lively performance of some of Italian pop music’s biggest hits, inspired by wine’s conviviality.
Wine and its rituals are also recalled in the show “Sorsi di danza”, a contemporary ballet by dance company “Skenè” on the main stage at Calici di Stelle, in Piazza Duomo at Trani, and inside Copertino’s Castello Angioino.
Largo Castello at Copertino will be the backdrop to Pino Ingrosso’s show “A Mimmo”, a moving musical tribute to Domenico Modugno. This Salento artist has created and written a show in which he revisits Modugno’s biggest hits with his own voice and guitar.
Visitors to the two cities will find special infopoints at the main entrances, where they will be able to buy the “Kit Calici di Stelle” (10 euro): this contains a wine-glass with a carrying case, a book of 8 wine-tasting tickets, a pack of taralli and the event guide.
The most interested visitors will also be able to take part in the wine-tasting dedicated to the Dop labels symbolising the two areas: Moscato di Trani Dop at Trani and Copertino Dop at Copertino (participation is free, via reservation and purchase of the kit).
There will also be a repeat of “A prova di naso” – a combination of fun and culture in this special treasure hunt among Puglia’s native grape varieties, giving the best competitors a chance to win a special selection of the region’s wines.
Calici di Stelle is not only about wine, but also about the region’s artistic and architectural heritage. Trani’s visitors will enjoy a special opening of the Diocesan Museum and Castello Svevo, hosting the exhibition on “Arnaldo Pomodoro in the castles of Frederick II”; Copertino’s visitors will be able to see the ex Convento delle Clarisse and the spectacular Castello Angioino with its permanent exhibition on “La Macennula”.
Finally, for those who are fascinated by the starry skies of San Lorenzo, the A.S.L.A – Astronomy Association “San Lorenzo” of Casarano (Le) will set up mini-observatories in both cities, so that visitors can view the sky and other heavenly bodies like the Moon, the planet Saturn and its rings, star clusters, nebulae and binary stars.
At the end of the evening it will be possible to take an alcohol test for just one euroin order to avoid dangerous driving.
Calici di Stelle will also be in the winery, so that wine-tourists who are unable to reach Trani or Copertino will still be able to enjoy the event by tasting wines where they are made.
“Calici di Stelle in cantina” will take place at Teanum of San Severo (Fg). On Friday 8th August the winery will welcome visitors from 9pm for a toast beneath the stars. On the programme is the concert “Seven Box, la musica alla velocità del Rock” as part of #restateincantina season. Visitors will also be able to taste the wineries own wines alongside typical traditional dishes.
The first stage of Calici di Stelle takes place on Tuesday 5th August in the splendid setting of the city of Trani, opening at 9pm with a toast by the local dignitaries on the stage in Piazza Duomo.
The programme of cultural and artistic events is particularly interesting, dedicated this year to Domenico Modugno on the twentieth anniversary of his death, and to the Italian pop music of which he was such a great star all over the world.
In addition to tasting wines and extra virgin olive oils between shows, visitors to Calici di Stelle will have the opportunity to visit some of the city’s monuments, open late just for this evening. There will also be guided wine-tasting and sensorial games involving the native wine grape varieties.
The evening begins with the wine-tasting kit (10 euro, for a wine-glass with a carrying case, a book of 8 wine-tasting tickets, a pack of taralli and the event guide) at the infopoints in Piazza Trieste and Piazza Duomo. To make things even easier, car parking is available for the duration of the evening (Capannoni Ruggia, Via dei Finanzieri, Piazza Re Manfredi).
The journey around Puglia’s wines and territories takes place in the old city, where the wine-tasting tables will be in three areas dedicated to the “Terre di Federico” (from Piazza Duomo to Piazza Addazi), “Itria Valley and Messapia” (in Piazza Sacra Regia Udienza), “Salento” (from Piazza Trieste to Molo Santa Lucia). In Piazza Trieste visitors will find the infopoint staffed by Ais Puglia where they can obtain all information about events organised by the association of sommeliers.
To complete the evening’s events, the city of Trani has arranged the extraordinary opening of the Diocesan Museum (entrance €2) and the Castello Svevo (entrance €5), hosting the exhibition on “Arnaldo Pomodoro in the castles of Frederick II” dedicated to one of the greatest contemporary sculptors. The exhibition is in three sections – in Bari’s Castello Svevo, the Castle of Trani and Castel del Monte – exceptional venues for the artist’s first exhibition in Puglia.
The most interested wine-lovers will find that this splendid city gives them the opportunity to take part in guided wine-tasting dedicated to Moscato di Trani, the territory’s leading grape variety and a symbol of the growing prestige achieved by Puglia’s wines in Italy and abroad. Organised in partnership with the Consortium for the Protection of Moscato di Trani Dop, the event is free to all those who have already bought their wine-glass with the wine-tasting kit and reserved a place at the desk in Porta Vassalla.
Extra virgin olive oil will also occupy an important place, with tasting tables in Piazza Trieste, where visitors will have the opportunity to try and to buy Puglia’s precious green gold.
Then there is the chance to win a selection of Puglian wines in “A prova di naso”, a special treasure hunt in which wine-lovers test their knowledge among the characteristic bouquets of the region’s native grape varieties in a combination of fun and wine culture. To take part free of charge in this game, all that is needed is a reservation at the desk at the entrance to Palazzo Palmieri.
Two music shows will accompany the evening. At the “Osteria del Trani” (Piazza Sacra Regia Udienza) visitors will be able to hear Domenico Modugno’s greatest hits and some of the best-loved Italian pop songs performed by local band “Puglia Wine Love”, with a lot of pieces inspired by wine’s conviviality. On Piazza Duomo’s main stage, dance company Skenè will perform the contemporary ballet “Sorsi di danza”, a fascinating show bringing the strength of wine culture and the magic of its rituals to the stage. All shows will be repeated several times during the evening so that visitors will be able to enjoy while tasting the wines which are the stars of the event.
For visitors wanting to enjoy the fascinating night skies, the A.S.L.A. Astronomy Association “San Lorenzo” of Casarano (Le) will have a small astronomical observatory on the seaward side of the Cathedral. Visitors will be able to use the telescopes free of charge to observe heavenly bodies like the Moon and its surface (craters and seas), the planet Saturn with its rings, star clusters, nebulae and binary stars.
Finally, the infopoint in Piazza Trieste will again be offering alcohol tests before visitors get back behind the wheel to go home (ticket 1 euro).
The event has been organized in partnership with Regione Puglia and Comune di Trani.
For the Night of San Lorenzo, Saturday 10th August, wine tourists will come together at Copertino in the Salento for the second and final stage of Calici di Stelle in Puglia. The evening begins at 9pm with a toast by local authorities in Piazza del Popolo.
The discovery tour of Puglia’s wines in the shadow of the city’s Castello Angioino begins with the wine-tasting kit (€10, including a wine-glass with a carrying case, a book of 8 wine-tasting a pack of taralli and the event guide) at one of the two infopoints in Largo Sant’Onofrio and Via Re Galantuomo (on the corner of Piazza Castello). Visitors then follow a pathway among the wineries taking part: wines from the “Terre di Federico” along Via Re Galantuomo to the archway in Largo Castello; a large area dedicated to the “Salento” in Largo Castello, and the wines from the “Itria Valley and Magna Grecia” in Via Margherita di Savoia.
To pay tribute to the wine bearing the name of the city there will also be wine-tasting dedicated to the Copertino Dop labels, open free to all visitors who buy the wine-tasting kit and then reserve a place at the desk in the courtyard of the Comune. In Largo Castello it will also be possible to taste and buy somes of Puglia’s excellent extra virgin olive oils, another of the many typical regional products.
The programme of cultural and artistic events is particularly interesting, dedicated this year to Domenico Modugno on the twentieth anniversary of his death, and to the Italian pop music of which he was such a great star all over the world.
The evening begins with a toast to the sound of “Volare – nel blu dipinto di blu” at 9pm on the stage in Piazza del Popolo, where greetings from the local authorities will precede the exciting show by local band “Puglia Wine Love”, who will perform some great Italian hits inspired by wine’s conviviality.
The musical show “A Mimmo” in Largo Castello will be entirely dedicated to Domenico Modugno, with artist Pino Ingrosso paying a moving tribute to the singer-songwriter from Polignano a Mare by performing his best-known songs, using just his own voice and a guitar.
The courtyard of the majestic Castello Angioino will be the setting for the atmospheric contemporary ballet by dance company Skenè, with fascinating choreography bringing the strength of wine culture and the magic of its rituals onto the stage.
All shows will be repeated several times during the evening, so that visitors will be able to enjoy them while tasting the wines which are the stars of the event.
And the Castle will also host many other events. In the courtyard, between performances, it will be possible to observe the shooting stars because the A.S.L.A. Astronomy Association “San Lorenzo” of Casarano (Le), will set up a small observatory so that visitors can use the telescopes free of charge to observe heavenly bodies like the Moon and its surface (craters and seas), the planet Saturn with its rings, star clusters, nebulae and binary stars.
In the Castle’s Galleria Maria d’Enghien visitors will be able to see the permanent exhibition “La Macennula”, dedicated to the seventieth anniversary of this city publication.
The Bastione Conte Tristano will host the fun and cultural activity “A prova di naso”, a special treasure hunt among Puglia’s native wine grape varieties to bring visitors closer to professional wine-tasting. The winner will take home a special selection of the region’s wines.
To allow visitors to enjoy the architectural and artistic treasures of the city, in addition to the Angevin Castle, they will also be able to visit the ex Convento delle Clarisse, a great example of Salento baroque.
It is important to drive safely and so it will be possible to take an alcohol test at the end of the evening (ticket 1 euro) at the infopoint near the Castle.
Special car pars will be available in the following areas: Via Bengasi in front of the hospital, Via F. Verdesca (post office), Piazza Immacolata (Via Terra d’Otranto) and Via Mogadiscio.
The event has been organised in partnership with: Regione Puglia, Comune di Copertino, Associazione giovani imprenditori per la promozione del territorio COPERTINO 2.0.
