This was the first year that VinItalia, hosted by the Italian Chamber of Commerce, opened its festival to consumers. We’re glad they did! The festival showcases all that’s fab about Italian food and wine with over 40 exhibitors vying to provide Melburnians with a taste of Italy.
The Royal Exhibition building, as it does for so many of our favourite festivals, transformed into a foodie and vino playground. There were dozens of wine exhibitors plying reds and whites. My plus one and I strategised to complete a round of whites, it was a warm-ish afternoon, followed by the reds. There was a total of 400 premium wines on selection…needless to say we didn’t quite get that far! DOC was on hand to present their scrumptious pizzas and there was a cheese pyramid of sorts to break up the mouthfuls of wine.
The festival lasted from 10am-7pm with a general admission pass. At $35 this was incredible value for money. With musical interludes, talks and masterclasses you can easily wile away the entire day here. Make sure to come hungry and thirsty, like a good Italian nonna you can expect to always be offered more. The exhibitors, as expected from Italians, are full of passion and pride over their creations. That’s really what I always love about these festivals, the chance to chat to the proprietors about their history, inspiration and aspirations.
– Rukmal
Rukmal (Ruki) is The Plus Ones’ Managing Director. He looks after the marketing, technology, and finance areas of TPO and loves nothing more than analysing data and optimising campaigns. Okay, perhaps building a global digital media company is a touch more interesting. While he rarely writes articles these days, preferring to leave it to our incredible staff writers, he can occasionally tap his right brain.
