Great wines, refined conviviality and contemporary culture in the beauty of Venetian Villas

Combining, with great elegance, the eternal beauty of the Venetian Villas, Unesco World Heritage Site, with guided tastings of fine wines and excellent food of the territory, reviving them in a key of conviviality and contemporary culture, with intense and entertaining moments of dialogue with prominent personalities such as Michele Serra, Serena Dandini, Oscar Farinetti, Dario Vergassola, Luca Telese and Luca Sofri. This will be done by “Sorsi d’Autore 2023”, among the most important and long-lived cultural and “territorial” festivals in Italy, signed by Fondazione Aida ets, with Regione del Veneto, Irvv Istituto Regionale Ville Venete and Associazione Ville Venete, which returns from May 28 to July 1 in the 16th-century Villa Cà Vendri, in Villa Cordellina Lombardi frescoed by Tiepolo, Villa Brandolini D’Adda, an 18th-century masterpiece, and in the Rococo jewel of Villa Widmann Rezzonico Foscari.
“Sorsi d’Autore 2023”, in its edition no. 24, is a well-established format that allows the always numerous public to live a truly multi-sensory and sophisticated experience, thanks to the beauty and historical-artistic importance of the chosen Villas, of which a meticulous tour is offered, and those chosen for 2023 truly represent some of the most remarkable places in terms of history, architecture, figurative arts and landscape architecture in the Veneto region: from the 16th-century Villa Cà Vendri in Verona, whose architectural perfection presents within it a decor that is true epitome of Venetian excellence, from period terracotta to Venetian mosaic, from materials of obvious Roman salvage to frescoes of the Venetian school, to the sumptuous six-hectare park enlivened by statues, fountains, the pond and a very fine colonnaded Nymphaeum enriched with a Gentile Chapel; to the eighteenth-century Villa Cordellina Lombardi in Montecchio Maggiore, a monumental complex of impressive richness that sees harmoniously distributed in the park barchesse, turrets, a grand rustico and inside the villa an important cycle of frescoes by Tiepolo dedicated to the splendors of Scipio L'Africano and Alexander the Great; from Villa Brandolini d’Adda in Pieve di Soligo, a magnificent example of 18th-century architecture embellished with an important florilegium of coeval gilded stuccoes and immersed in a park with breathtaking views; to Villa Widmann in Mira on the celebrated Riviera del Brenta, a perfect example of the balance between the most typically Venetian forms and the Rococo style of French taste reigning at the end of the 18th century, also surrounded by a park of recognized importance both for its botanical collection and for the large number of statues from different schools and eras.
But, thanks also to the quality of the food and wine tastings also led by Ais-Associazione Italiana Sommelier sommeliers and with the wineries of the Consorzio di tutela del vino di Conegliano e Valdobbiadene Prosecco Docg, Sartori di Verona, the official winery of Fondazione Arena di Verona, which will offer, at the inaugural event on May 28, Arnea Soave Brut, an anagram of Arena; La Cappuccina, with its certified organic production since 1985; Monte Zovo, which has been in the Cottini family for four generations; and Tedeschi, a historic winery in Valpolicella and a pioneer of Cru wines in the area.
All this will be joined by the experience and intellectual vivacity of the maters invited for the moment of public dialogue. An exception to this well-established successful direction will be the inauguration of May 28, in which, by way of exception, a cultural excellence of the territory will be celebrated in the magnificent Renaissance Villa Cà Vendri: the 100th Arena di Verona Opera Festival in collaboration with the Fondazione Arena di Verona and the City of Verona, Department of Culture, Tourism and Relations with UNESCO. For the very special occasion, the archives and historic arenian tailors, an emblem of Italian craftsmanship in the world, will present a careful selection of the most choreographic costumes that embellished some of the most successful stagings in the arenian history: Giuseppe Verdi’s “Un Ballo in Maschera”, with direction, sets and costumes by Pier Luigi Pizzi, a true icon of an aesthetic that is both sumptuous and refined; “La Traviata”, also by Verdi, with direction, sets and costumes by Hugo de Ana, another staple of theatrical beauty, Gaetano Donizetti’s “Anna Bolena” signed by cult director Graham Vick with costumes by Oscar winner Paul Brown, Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” directed by the unsurpassed maestro Franco Zeffirelli and or costumes by his longtime collaborator Maurizio Millenotti.
And the wearers who will embody these iconic roles of opera in the world will not be professionals of the catwalk, but rather ordinary citizens, to experience the unique thrill of the grandeur of the stage in gowns of rare beauty and precious workmanship. The historical parade will, in addition, be set to music by a piano and voice concert also offered by Fondazione Arena di Verona. Accompanying it will be a welcome drink, a food and wine tasting with De Angelis Food chefs who will present a selection of fresh pasta, samples of cheeses from the Consorzio di tutela del Formaggio Asiago, Bibanesi Classici Più Piccoli and De Eustacchio cured meats, with wines from Sartori and La Cappuccina, and Verum Bevi più naturale beverage products.
On June 16 at Villa Cordellina Lombardi, in Montecchio Maggiore, under the patronage of the Province of Vicenza and the Municipality of Montecchio Maggiore, there will be a guided tasting of do Monte Zovo - Famiglia Cottini wines by Ais Veneto sommeliers, with tastings of De Angelis Food pasta, Asiago, the Bibanesi Classici Più Piccoli, and De Eustacchio salumi, with a guided tour of the Villa and a meeting with journalist Michele Serra in dialogue with "colleague" Luca Sofri.
On June 30, at Villa Brandolini d’Adda in Pieve di Soligo, in the glasses for tasting with Ais Veneto sommeliers will be the bubbles of the Prosecco Docg Consortium, with the Association for the Heritage of the Prosecco Hills of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene and under the patronage of the Province of Treviso and the Municipality of Pieve di Soligo, with tastings of De Angelis Food pasta, Asiago, Bibanesi Classici Più Piccoli and De Eustacchio cold cuts, with a guided tour of the Villa and a meeting with entrepreneur Oscar Farinetti, patron of Eataly, and humorist Dario Vergassola.
Finally, on July 1, Villa Widmann in Mira, under the patronage of the Municipality of Mira, will host a guided tasting of Tedeschi wines, by sommeliers Ais Veneto, with tastings of Torronificio Scaldaferro artisanal ice cream for an unusual wine-ice cream pairing that will amaze even the most refined palates, De Angelis Food pasta, Asiago, Bibanesi Classici Più Piccoli and De Eustacchio cold cuts, again with a guided tour of the Villa and a meeting with host Serena Dandini for the presentation of her latest book, “Cronache dal paradiso” (Edizioni Einaudi Stile Libero, 2022), in dialogue with journalist Luca Telese.