Agricola San Felice, Castelnuovo Berardenga. Great success for the Italian Pruning Festival 2024 by Simonit&Sirch Vine Master Pruners.
Matteo Finezzo from Verona is the best Italian vine pruner. He is the winner of the 2nd Italian Pruning Festival, the contest created and organised by Simonit&Sirch Vine Master Pruners: ore than 100 competitors competed at Agricola San Felice di Castelnuovo Berardenga in Chianti Classico. The best team was the Largoni Boys, Marco Cecchetto, Nikolas Marson and Marco Gregoris from the Cecchetto Winery. Second place in the individual race for Matteo Vecchia from Bologna, third place for Umberto Capraro from Valdobbiadene. In the team race, second place for Giacomo Frizzera, Federico Huez and Radoslav Radosevic of Cantine Ferrari from Trento; third place for Emanuele Guolo, Michele Martinazzo and Giovanni Perin of Tenuta Castaldo from Cornuda (TV). The judges were Marco Simonit, Pierpaolo Sirch, Simonit&Sirch Vine Master Pruners and international judges Rodrigo Soto (Az. Quintessa in California), Anna Jorgensen (Az. Cortes de Cima in Portugal), Matt Strugnell (Az. Ridgeview in the UK) and Philippe Kuntzmann.
The day was an occasion of great festivity, which brought among the rows of Agricola San Felice and its ancient village not only pruners and workers, but also nature lovers, green enthusiasts and families. Speakers and voices of the Festival were Francesco Quarna, DJ and winemaker, voice of Radio DEEJAY, passionate about viticulture and food and wine, and Andrea Amadei, radio and television author, voice for Decanter Rai Radio2. Omar Pedrini‘s voice and guitar closed the festival, giving everyone a deep emotional experience.
The public was then entertained by a number of highly appreciated performers, such as Da Move with an adrenaline-filled freestyle and acrodunking basketball exhibition, the Atleti Boscaioli with their spectacular axe, saw and chainsaw cutting demonstrations, and Lorenzo Guslandi, a multiple world champion in inline skating. Great interest was aroused by the Scissors Atelier held by Felco (technical partner of the event together with AVG Verdicchio Group) and the stand of Main Sponsor FINE+RARE of London (leader in the purchase, sale and management of private wine cellars). Among the various moments that marked the day were the Chianti Classico tasting; the short tours to admire the Chianti hills from above in the helicopter of record-breaking mountaineer Simone Moro; the activities for the children, who planted vine shoots, marking them with their names and thus creating a symbolic vineyard as a good omen for the future; and the Walk through History, Wine and Nature with the hiking associations Camminando a Quercegrossa and Gruppo Escursionisti Berardenga.
The Festival had the patronage of the Chianti Classico Consortium, the Municipality of Castelnuovo Berardenga and the ASA Italian Agrifood Press Association,
The third edition will take place in 2025 in the renowned Ribera del Duero wine region, in Spain.
