Wine and music in a high tech architectural space for the most alternative evening Vinitaly has to offer.

Aperivino, is back once again, it’s Vinitaly’s most innovative evening event, with light shows, a surreal ambiance and the latest music all put together in one great “steel box”. Aperivino will be on Thursday April 1st, the opening day of Vinitaly, from 7.00 p.m onwards, and will be held for the first time in the most unusual venue: the giant “cool room” of the Stazione Frigorifera no. 10 in the ex Magazzini Generali (old warehouses) in Verona, this architectural wonder was built in 1930, and stands just in front of the trade fair buildings.

This event is already in its second year, and is the brainchild of the successful collaboration between three top wine producers: Donnafugata, Michele Chiarlo and Umani Ronchi. The three wine makers will be at the trade fair with their high quality produce and this year’s latest wines, all of which will be on offer for their customers, guests and friends to have yet another chance to sample, savouring with every sense the flavours of the fruit of their labour from each terrain, each one rich in its own individual culture and splendid nature: Sicily, Piedmont, and the Marches.

The excellent wines produced by these three companies will be there to taste together with traditional dishes from each of the three regions, the result of centuries of technical know-how and carefully selected combinations. Aperivino aims to offer a sensory journey through these wine makers’ products telling the “story” of their historical roots and what each company has done to promote the cultural riches offered in their own region.

Donnafugata will unveil its new works accenting Sicily’s cultural treasures: its sponsorship of the restoration of the 15th century curtain stand tablet depicting of Madonna and Child flanked by Angels at the “Pepoli” regional Museum in Trapani and of the Literary award ‘Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’. Both of these schemes complete the company’s already well consolidated collaboration with the Scuola Normale from Pisa which is excavating at the Rocca di Entella to unearth the remains of the ancient city of Anthìlia, which was at the heart of the Elima civilization.

Michele Chiarlo has plenty to say about his summer of opening of the Parco Artistico ‘Le Orme su La Court’ (in the footsteps of the court) and about the next “wine related” initiatives which will be taking place in June this year ‘Giallo di Vino’ (the title “yellow wine” is a play on the Italian word “giallo” for detective stories) in collaboration with the book store “Libreria del Giallo” in Milan, which will offer night time wine related mystery tales with 6 famous writers of this genre. ‘Corto in vigna’ will show a series of short films linked to the world of food and wine, in collaboration with the international short film festival ‘Corto in Bra’. The wine maker from the Piedmont region, together with WWF, will also present ‘A.B.I.T.A.T.’, a biologically themed Atlas which has information about the territory in the province of Asti: its data base aims to collect all the information regarding any flora and fauna sighted in the province of Asti.

Umani Ronchi will give two sneak previews. One unveiling the company’s new look, which will focus on a logo bearing the image of a comet of good omen, and the other, its plans for a new shop, designed by Marco Vignoni and Mariano Mulazzani, which will open this May. It stands just in front of the company and has a bold new design. This sales outlet confirms Umani Ronchi‘s commitment to innovative architecture, which can already be seen in the recently built ‘bottaia’ which opened to the public last May to give a functional logistics space offering continuity with the shop right next door.

Last but not least, for this second edition of Aperivino, top quality music is an absolute must. On the high tech stage the New York DJ Sharee Nash, will perform with her ‘dowtown diva’ act that livens up top events in the Big Apple’s hippest joints Wonder Bar and Lot 61. Sharee is also a good friend of Sting (yes, that Sting) who got her to do the commentary for his entrance to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

All of this will take place in the most unusual of venues – the 1930’s “largest refrigerated warehouse in Europe”, which is completely plated in steel – with walls that will have light shows using the lamps ‘Vase’ (designed by Mario Nanni) and ’Bamboo’ (designed by Luigi Cicognani and Marco Merendi), courtesy of Viabizzuno.

Public Relations:

Baldo M. Palermo [email protected] tel. 0039 0923 7242267

Laura Ellwanger [email protected] te. 0039 0923 724258