Italian Wine and Food Festival 2017

Created in 2013 by award-winning sommelier and passionate italophile Lara Caraturo, the Italian Wine + Food Festival celebrates and promotes Italian wine and food culture in Australia. It is produced by Lara and the team at Progetto Panevino, an events company obsessed with all things wine and food, and especially all things Italian. Their mission is to create engaging and informative events with artisans, quality wineries, renowned chefs and personalities, allowing guests to discover industry luminaries as well as rising stars, and deepen their love for authentic Italian wine and food.

In a bid to capture the spirit of Italy’s rich gastronomic culture and the diversity of its many regions, they give guests an opportunity to explore Italian wines region by region, taste food, coffee and beer, plus feast on authentic Italian pizza, pasta and snacks. Held at The Cutaway and Barangaroo Reserve, the Sydney incarnation of the festival found an appropriate backdrop to celebrate its fifth year anniversary to appease an audience ranging from spaghetti-loving kids to the most engaged Italian-speaking wine connoisseur Sydney’s top Italian chefs were turning out in force to make it a day to remember, with much-loved locals Giovanni Pilu (Pilu at Freshwater), Lucio Galletto (Lucio’s), Federico Zanellato (LuMi), Stefano Manfredi and Gianluca Donzelli (Pizzaperta), Nino Zoccali (Pendolino), Richard Ptacnik (Otto Ristorante), Gabriele Taddeucci (Balla), Lucio de Falco (Lucio Pizzeria) and Youssef Touati (Salt Meats Cheese) leading the charge providing cooking demonstrations with chefs and providores on the Smeg Main Stage. A market like setup allowed for shopping and tasting opportunities, brimming with salami, cheese, pasta, bread, coffee, olive oil, pastries and gelato featuring Vannella Cheese, Pasta Emilia, Salumi Australia, Dust Bakery, Berkelo, Dolcettini, Zippoli, Buon Ricordo Olive Oil, Consorzio del Prosciutto di Parma, Consorzio del Parmigiano Reggiano, Goose on the Loose, Luca Ciano Sauces, Salt Meats Cheese, That’s Amore Cheese, Arancini Art, Molecola, Truffle Traders, Rivareno Gelato, Drink in Style, Cellar V, Vinotopia, Botella, plus a Nutella Pop-up.

Over 200 Italian wines were on offer, separated by the region, plus Italian-centric Aussie wines along with curated Italian Wine Masterclasses offering insights into winemaking, grape varieties, the regions and best of all, how good they taste. For the ones in need of a liquid pick-up, there was coffee from Espresso di Manfredi’s baristas, Moretti Beer on tap, or sip on an authentic Italian aperitivi from Big Poppa’s bar team, serving up Negroni’s, Venetian Spritz and Americanos. Pizza Acrobatics by Italian World Master Pizza Chef and Australia’s Got Talent star Youssef Ben-Touati from Salt Meats Cheese, and Melbourne band Santa Taranta performing traditional music from Southern Italy offered entertainment. A perfectly curated festival is all about celebrating wine, food and culture together in inimitable Italian style.