Roll out the wine and lets party, literally...
In the Tuscan town of Montepulciano, pairs of men train and compete in an annual wine barrel race.
Each year, these dynamic duos race through the tight streets of this medieval Italian town, rolling in front of them a 175-pound oak wine barrel.
Apparently this is a big deal, since everyone makes their way to watch his honorable race, which roughly started back in the 14th century as a tribute to Montepulciano’s patron saint, John the Baptist.
The festival lasts for 10 consecutive days, culminating with the wine barrel race on the 10th day.
Besides the Italian food, fun and merriment, the festival allows Montepulciano wine makers to endorse their wine, which has seen some competition from other sources such as the U.S., Australia and New Zealand. But despite competition, Montepulciano has a quite good superiority since they have been able to retain their Italian, German and Switzerland clients for years.
Apparently others have been catching onto this wine trend, since Montepulciano wine sales increased 17.4 percent in 2005 and have continued to increase.
One thing Italians pride themselves on, besides delectable food, is their superb wine. It has the power to make men perform wild races and gets whole towns to celebrate for almost two weeks! But honestly, Italians will uphold any tradition as long as they can let loose and enjoy the fruits of their labor…literally!
Check out the article:
Italian wine barrel race celebrates past and future
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/07/AR2006090700548.html?referrer=emailarticle
By Svetlana Kovalyova Reuters
Each year, these dynamic duos race through the tight streets of this medieval Italian town, rolling in front of them a 175-pound oak wine barrel.
Apparently this is a big deal, since everyone makes their way to watch his honorable race, which roughly started back in the 14th century as a tribute to Montepulciano’s patron saint, John the Baptist.
The festival lasts for 10 consecutive days, culminating with the wine barrel race on the 10th day.
Besides the Italian food, fun and merriment, the festival allows Montepulciano wine makers to endorse their wine, which has seen some competition from other sources such as the U.S., Australia and New Zealand. But despite competition, Montepulciano has a quite good superiority since they have been able to retain their Italian, German and Switzerland clients for years.
Apparently others have been catching onto this wine trend, since Montepulciano wine sales increased 17.4 percent in 2005 and have continued to increase.
One thing Italians pride themselves on, besides delectable food, is their superb wine. It has the power to make men perform wild races and gets whole towns to celebrate for almost two weeks! But honestly, Italians will uphold any tradition as long as they can let loose and enjoy the fruits of their labor…literally!
Check out the article:
Italian wine barrel race celebrates past and future
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/07/AR2006090700548.html?referrer=emailarticle
By Svetlana Kovalyova Reuters
posted by Liz | 4:24 PM
1 Comments:
Nice post. I brought back some wine from that area when I visited Italy this summer -- yum!
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