(rfg) The blossom of spring brings wine lovers to discover and celebrate the Nosiola, Trentino’s only white grape variety, and the Vino Santo, an extraordinary passito of very long withering and aging.

Take Trentino’s only white grape local variety, imagine what brings out after the world’s longest natural withering and having the chance to taste it in tastings, walks and cultural sightings in its local lands, with mesmerizing landscapes of the Valle dei Laghi, an area of east of Trento where u can experience Mediterranean climate. All of this is “DiVin Nosiola: quando il vino si fa santo”, the first wine event of the year in Trentino, scheduled from the 30th of March to the 8th of April, that will have Nosiola and Vino Santo, Trentino’s DOCs and Slow Food as protagonists. For the occasion there will be dedicated tastings, events and initiatives to discover the natural and cultural treasure of the valley.

Nosiola is a white grape that benefits from the Mediterranean-like weather and the winds from south that hit this region north of the Garda Lake as the Ora, it’s cultivated primarily in the Valle dei Laghi, but also on Aviana’s hills and in Vallagarina.

Vino Santo – not to be mistaken with vinsanto – is the passito that grows from grapes of those vines: placed on trellis called àrele in very open places, they are left withering from late September until pressing during the Holy week, from which this product takes its name. At this point the must is separated from the dirty part and left quiet in small barrels for at least 50 months: it develops an amber yellow color, an intense and vast aroma; actually the aging usually last ten years for a precious nectar, for this reason Vino Santo Trentino DOC has a very small yearly production.

To promote these specialties, “DiVin Nosiola: quando il vino si fa santo” proposed a busy schedule full of events, special mentions to the long waited “Rito della spremitura” during which grapes of Nosiola get pressed, the walks in the vines and the tastings of wines and schnapps.

For the full DiVin Nosiola program check their website www.vinosantotrentino.it