A fair for tasting and getting to know 2009

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Created on Monday, 30 March 2009 09:53

Last Updated on Friday, 22 July 2011 18:04

Written by Vicente LLadró

The Mostra de Vins I Menjars Tradicionals (The Traditional Food and Wine Expo) will be at the Jardin de Turia from the 1st to the 5th of April

Arriving on time for its spring date, a year on and the Mostra de Vins I Aliments Tradicionals de la Comunitat Valenciana celebrates its 21st edition. It will open on the 1st and will remain open until Sunday the 5th in the evening, in its usual venue of recent years, at the Jardines del Viejo Cauce del Turia, next to the Alameda Bridge.

On this occasion there will be 114 stalls, 18 more than at last year’s event. Proof that the businesses and craftsmen of the trades in question see our expo as an unbeatable opportunity to face the crisis.

Half of this incomparable gastronomic fair, which is organized by the Proava Association, is occupied by wine stalls. All the prestigious wineries of the Comunitat Valenciana will be there, as well as the regulatory councils of the three Designations of Origin, and there will be a heavy Valencian Cavas presence, to the point that 21 different brands have signed up for the tasting contest.

Next to the wines will be the hand made cheese, honey, turron and cold meat stands and noticeably the presence or the pork meat artisans. Now joining the classics de Requena-Utiel, Ontinyent and Compat are l’Horta, and the famous Rodrigo de Massamagrell.

Apart from being able to see what is on offer, the visitors to this Expo will also be able to have a taste. As always, there will be a ticketing system for modestly priced consumption. The novelty of this edition is that at the centre of the venue there will be a special area for recovering the ancient custom of the “Vermut Valenciano”. For five euros, each person can eat two courses and enjoy a glass of Valencian Vermouth or of any other wine they prefer.

The Expo will have a wide program of educational activities, as well as contests and attractions mainly linked with teaching on the responsible consumption of wines. In this matter, Eduardo Mestres, alma mater of Proava in the organization of the whole conglomerate, is an authentic master.

A Turron making artisan will produce his creations in the public eye, to demonstrate how these sweets are made.

The agricultural centre CERAI will contribute with wine tastings among the visitors, but Mestres has also prepared an aggressive program to demonstrate the advantages of Valencian wines against those of other origins as well as to educate on the importance of moderate and responsible consumption. And so he will organize a musical wine tasting, consisting of guessing, with eyes closed, which are the best wines among the bottles chosen by the public while the band plays on. On another occasion, also with eyes closed, Mestres will try to discover the wine preferences of some visitor who will join in the game. In so doing he will try to show that one shouldn’t choose a wine just because of its label or because of the fame of a brand.

Upon introducing the Expo, Mestres voiced a few criticisms aimed at the Ayuntamiento de Valencia because “they haven’t helped us at all; on the contrary, they have made us pay a guarantee, they are making us responsible for all the cleaning and they have not made concessions for exhibitor’s parking, when in reality this gathering is a gastronomic and cultural event of great relevance, and it is free for the city”.

Las Provincias
27.03.09
Vicente LLadró