During the days of the 93rd Grape and Wine Festival of Velletri, inside the “Juana Romani” Exhibition Center, a series of important bunches of grapes collected from equally important vines that were once part of the vast collection of the Royal Experimental Winery of Velletri, the prestigious institute not far from the cemetery, were displayed on two scenic fountains created by the master Sergio Gotti.
The display of bunches of grapes allowed us to tell the many visitors how the modern wine culture of the city was born. It finds its origins in 1891, when General Menotti Garibaldi, first-born son of the hero of the two worlds, deputy elected in the Velletri college, wanting to rush to the aid of the many farmers brought to their knees by phylloxera, had vines brought from the Americas and by grafting them with the infected ones it was possible to cure the violent infection, thus the Royal Experimental Cellar – Royal Nursery of American Vines was born.
Thus began a story lasting almost 135 years during which the Via Lata institute became an international excellence, perhaps second only to Montpellier.
An extraordinary quantity of different vines grew on the land, almost 5,000, whose marse were kept rigorously numbered in a cave today identifiable as the one that opens out in front of the Servadio flower shop and closed with a grate.
Being able to tell this story in front of the King of the Moors, the Ignea, the Prosperi Muscat, the Hamburg Muscat, the Hungarian Red Razaki, just to name a few, made us proud to be from Velletri. The numerous visitors were able to browse through the valuable anastatic reprint of the booklet published on the occasion of the first Grape Festival in 1930, where among the many national realities they also found Velletri.
This demonstrates the extraordinary importance of the Veliterna wine culture, which over the years has brought the name of our city to prestigious exhibitions, also receiving important recognition. To complete the exhibition, the collection of bottles produced by local companies and those of twinned cities along the wine route.
The extraordinary importance of the wine culture of Velletri has been linked to the craftsmanship represented by the objects created over the years by the students of the “ceramic art” and “metals and goldsmithing” sections of the Juana Romani State Art Institute, some of these represent true avant-gardes because especially in the ceramic art section, some experiments have been carried out over the years that have led to the creation of pieces of extraordinary thickness allowing the students to win important awards, the same goes for the metals and goldsmithing section, the objects exhibited are those created in the 80s and 90s of the twentieth century, among these those awarded at the first goldsmith art exhibition in 1992.
All this to give a complete vision of the precious cultural heritage of our city, whose promotion must be a fundamental aim of the action of the Velletri Wine Festival “Nicola Ferri”.