Montà Food and Wine Festival

Festival Location: Monta, Italy

Festival Type(s): Food and Wine Festivals, Wine Festivals, Food Festivals

Food and Wine Tasting in North-West Italy

By: © Sally Taylor 2009

It was on my very first trip to Italy where I stumbled on this food and wine tasting adventure to rival all others. An annual celebration - 2003 being its tenth anniversary - it was only by chance that I happened to be in Italy during the last weekend of May to catch up with two old school friends from Australia, one of whom was Italian. Being very much the lover of Italian food, (I didn't realise how much so until I experienced the "real stuff") I was happy to hear that our Italian school buddy had organised for my Aussie friend and I, and about eight of her friends to go on a food and wine tasting tour about half an hours drive south of Turin.

We knew almost nothing about the day's schedule, apart from involving a relatively relaxed walk of about five kilometres, several different foods and a number of local wines. Suffice to say this didn't come even close to preparing us for what was to come.

We arrived in the tiny town of Montà early that afternoon to a crowd of several hundred people, hundreds of picnic baskets and more than a few organisers. Considering our very limited knowledge of the afternoon's events had led us to assume that it would just be our small group sampling the produce of some local restaurants and cafés, it came as quite a shock to see so many people and, most of all, not a single other tourist. It soon became apparent that the only entertainment we would need for the afternoon was the singing, dancing and generally juvenile antics of the local Italians! It's amazing how entertaining people can be when you can barely understand a word of their language.

After waiting a while for the very "enthusiastic" part of the crowd to start the walk, we collected our baskets, fully equipped with plate, cutlery, wine glass, bread, sausage and tea-towell. We then made our way in the general direction of a party that was only just starting but which people were already well and truly into the spirit of. Had these people really just started to drink? And if not, what condition were they going to be in by the time we'd finished this adventure?

Just a few hundred metres up the road we had our first stop for bruschetta and white wine. "Beauty" I thought. "Not much walking, but lots of wine and food, just what I like!" How much more misled could I have been? Over the next five hours or so, we walked roughly 8 kilometres from Montà to another small town called Canale, through some of the most amazing country I have ever seen. There was no shortage of vineyards and orchards with breathtaking views over the mountains, the company was fantastic, and the food was... well...fabulous!!! Do the Italians even know how to make bad food? Traditional English fare of baked beans and mushy peas for some reason just doesn't compare.

The walk itself was bloody hot and dusty and occasionally a bit hilly, especially hard for our high heeled Italian friend obviously as clueless about the day's schedule as ourselves. Luckily, though, we'd dressed as typical travellers, and the hills weren't so much of a challenge. However, a few extra wines might have told a different story, and for some of the locals that was certainly the case.

Over the space of the walk, we stopped another five times for more food and wine made on tressle tables set up under the shade beside the walking track. All the food was freshly prepared and cooked in front of us, to the extent that a big piece of cow was sliced, breaded and cooked right before our eyes. The "local entertainment" gradually became more and more raucous and certain characters began to emerge when they realised there were a couple of Aussies on the adventure. I have yet to work out why, but being Australian seems to attract attention regardless of who you are or where you go. I just hope it's for good reasons!

Finally, by about six thirty that evening, we reached our final destination in Canale to good old Italian ice cream, a dessert wine and a live band. Needless to say, our group was more than a little buggered, completely and utterly grotty but somewhat satisfied that we'd been on such a fantastic adventure. The Italians in our group loved it, but us Aussies had decided it was the most interesting and truly cultural thing we had done on our travels so far. The organisation was superb, with everything seemingly running the way it should. Who knows? Maybe we'll be back next year, and perhaps we'll see you there!

Recommendations and booking details:

Don't forget your hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, camera, runners and dark or old clothing. Our high heeled Italian friend's snow white shirt was never going to be white again by the time she'd spilt several glasses of red wine! And if you have problems with using the vineyards as a toilet along with hundreds of others then don't bother going.

As for booking details, I don't actually have any seeing I didn't organise it. But if you really really want to go, give me a yell via email (sallytaylor1978@hotmail.com) and I'll see what details I can get from my Italian friend.

by Sally Taylor