Civitanova Wine Festival 2023

Civitanova Wine Festival on San Martino Day – Civitanova del Sannio, Molise, Italy

Day 71: November 11, 2023

I drove up to Molise from Puglia for the weekend to meet up with Michele’s relatives that own a winery in Toro, a small town outside of Campobasso (the biggest city in Molise).  Please see my posting on their winery, A Visit to Cantina Herero.

The timing of my trip was great because all of Italy celebrated San Martino Day on November 11.  San Martino is considered the patron Saint of Wine.  And as the saying goes, every grape has to be made into wine!  Even though the tradition related to wine originated in Abruzzo, this day is celebrated widely in Molise as well.

I had the opportunity to go the town of Civitanova Civitanova del Sannio, about 1 hour from Campobasso to join the celebration in the evening.  Ten local wineries set up their stations in different locations around town.  Folks walked around from station to station, tasted wines and food from the region all evening long.

Please checkout the video of the evening below.  In addition to the wine tasting, there was also an artist that was demonstrating the art of engraving wine glasses, as well as a troop of dancers and musicians performing traditional dances from this region.