From March 13th-14th, 2022 the Independent Fair of Natural Wines returns to Rome, at Spazio Novecento, in the heart of Eur, featuring natural wines from traditional producers like Italy as well as lesser known producers from Eastern Europe, including the Ukraine.
Everything is ready for the second edition of Vini Selvaggi, the Independent Fair of Natural Wines, on stage from March 13th-14th in Rome, hosted at Spazio Novecento, in the heart of the Eur district.
The fair brings together over 80 producers and more than 600 labels from Italy, Spain, France, Slovenia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark and Ukraine, ready to be sampled by all lovers of good wine.
The 2022 edition of Vini Selvaggi, compared to the previous one, will see the presence of a greater number of wineries, craft cider makers, breweries and distilleries, with an increase also in the gastronomic part of the event, which will include, among other things, the presence of numerous producers of organic food.
The Fair is organised by Solovino Enoteca Naturale, since 2018 the natural wine shop and online store of Lorenzo Macinanti and Giulia Arimattei, operating in the Prati/Trionfale district, and by Francesco Testa, an expert selector of Spanish wines and wine producer in Galicia with his winery Pequena Adega Romana.
Vini Selvaggi aims to promote awareness of a new way of drinking, responsible and authentic, based on the commitment of small wine producers whose common denominator is natural winemaking and attention to sustainable agriculture. The aim is to bring to the glass a juice of the land without artifice, far from the standardisation of perfect taste dictated by fashion.
“In recent years we are encountering more and more wineries embracing clean agriculture and the ‘low intervention’ approach of natural winemaking. Vini Selvaggi seeks to encourage winemakers to follow this path, which is not without its pitfalls, but which leads to a ‘living wine’, a squeeze of the land, which the new generations are looking at with increasing enthusiasm. In our constant travels around the rest of Europe, we notice that this trend is growing strongly, especially in the generations that do not have the background of conventional wine. This means that in the absence of reference points imposed by the market, ‘natural’ wine is the only wine possible,” say the organisers.
Natural winemaking is based on spontaneous fermentation activated by indigenous yeasts – otherwise known as ‘wild yeasts’ – and does not resort to manipulation, the addition of additives, except for negligible amounts of sulphur dioxide, or any of the techniques used in conventional winemaking. The grapes are hand-picked and come from healthy vineyards, cultivated according to the principles of organic and biodynamic agriculture.
The stars of the event will therefore be small natural wine cellars, cider makers, breweries and craft distilleries, all committed to clean agriculture and to working in the cellar as “low-intervention” as possible.
“The genuine ferment that we are seeing in wine-producing areas that until recently were considered minor like Eastern European countries and Spain are often unknown to us, but also the decision by France to regulate the phenomenon through the “Vin Methode Nature” specification, should give us food for thought so that this joyful renaissance in the wine sector is also taken more seriously by our legislators,” say the organisers of the event.
In addition to the 600 or so labels on display for tasting, there will be space for two workshops presented by Matteo Gallello, a populariser and storyteller. The first is “Double vertical: Marino Colleoni’s Rosso and Brunello“, focusing on the tasting of six red wines from Podere Sante Marie, in Montalcino, owned by Marino Colleoni and his wife Luisa. Protecting biodiversity at the Podere has been a lifestyle choice for over twenty years. The peculiar geological structure of this area also allows Sangiovese of an unmistakable depth and finesse, net of a warm spontaneity.
“I Colli piacentini: dialogo con Elena Pantaleoni” is the title of the second workshop, a journey to discover viticulture in the Colli piacentini, a practice with distant origins, deeply linked to the geomorphology of four main valleys: Val d’Arda, Val Nure, Val Trebbia and Val Tidone. These are places with a strong vocation that produce wines of great intensity thanks to the characteristic soils and talented vines such as aromatic malvasia di Candia, barbera and bonarda. Together with Elena Pantaleoni, owner of La Stoppa, an itinerary will be traced, with 8 wines to be tasted, including the culture of the territory, history and perspectives.
Vini Selvaggi will be preceded by a preview on Saturday March 12th in Piazza dell’Orologio, at the Borromini Study centre run by Gustolab.com