Friends of ours from Verona invited us to the festival this year same as last, so we drove up to Avio after church on Sunday and arrived about 3pm. We anticipated witnessing the barrel races, but missed them due to our difficulty in finding parking. Not to worry – local police and volunteers direct traffic to the first available parking spot, with community owned fields turning into car parks just for this occasion. We were immediately directed to an area only about a 500-meter walk from the town centre, where we met our friends.
Available as an optional excursion from the information booth, usually (but not always) booked in advance, our dear friends booked us on two hour group tour and vineyard walk complete with wine tastings and snacks. We met the rest of the group in the central Piazza Vittoro Emanuale and set off with our guide.
Walking up the cobblestoned streets from the centre of town we quickly gained elevation and found ourselves surrounded by vines laden with grapes ready for the harvest and truly epic scenery of the Alto Adige Valley. During brief but informative stops along the way our guide gave us a history of the area dating back to Roman times. Our dear friends from Verona gladly provided translation. At the first tasting stop we were all treated to an amazing sparkling or “frizzante” chardonnay served by enthusiastic pourers dressed in medieval costumes prepping our pallets for the four additional wines to come.
All along the way we helped ourselves to grapes ready for harvest hanging from the vines. The final rays of the sun lighting up the sheer walls of the valley, and the Avio Castle further up the side of the mountain. Wild fig trees weighed down with fruit tempted us even further as we continued the vineyard walk. Finally at the highest point of our walk we arrived at the garden of a mountainside country house. We were greeted by a Renaissance Ensemble of local children playing period music, snacks of local cured meats, and four more amazing local wines.
The experience lasted about three hours. Between drinking, eating, and walking, the 5€ we each paid for the tour was an incredible value. More than satisfied we made our way back into town and took advantage of the wide range of street food vendors for a non-traditional dinner experience. We opted for lamb on a stick, arrosticini, actually not typical of this region, but a popular festival food from Abruzzo in Central Italy. Buying our ticket from a central booth, we waited in line with about a hundred other hungry locals for nearly half an hour for this culturally significant experience.
Before the night was over, we wandered into another wine tasting where the local grapes are more refined in oak barrels. We found a “court of cheese” where we paid just 2€ for a whole tasting plate! Our fiends and their children exhausted and ready to go home, walking back toward our cars about 10:30pm, we paused for one of the most spectacular displays of fireworks we have ever seen, culminating a truly amazing experience we won't soon forget.
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