Jerzu Wine Festival 2012 – a celebration of Sardinian wine

Sardinia’s Wine Festival is a truly unmissable event. This year the 33rd edition will take place from the 4th to 10th August in Jerzu, a town lying in the shadow of the tacchi (huge limestone rock formations) in the Ogliastra region of the island.

Sardinia’s rows of sun-soaked vines creak under the weight of the dark, juicy grapes of the full-bodied Cannonau, the oldest wine of the Mediterranean.

During the festival the town of Jerzu comes to life, ringing with the sounds of clinking glasses as guests follow a programme of wine tasting that will take them to all the historic wine cellars of the town, among the oak or chestnut barrels where the wine matures, bringing cheer to both the taste buds and the heart.

But wine-tasting isn’t the only activity – there is a week full of special events, from opportunities to try the specialities of the local cuisine (culurgiones, Sardinian ravioli; roasted suckling pig; seadas, a Sardinian dessert; and more) to entertainment from street artists, shows and exhibitions. There will be music, with the jazz of Gatti Mezzi and a Sardinian take on rap from Ratapignata (4th August), a parade of folk groups and floats showing the cycle of wine production and a concert of the eclectic Sikitikis and Diablo (5th August), and a performance from the comedy singer-songwriter Dario Vergassola (8th August). The Wine Festival comes to a close with a final, starlit toast, where participants will raise their glasses to the heavens and make a wish.

Images from: http://bit.ly/MZzmjS