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Breganze – Before Torcolato
January 19

“Before Torcolato,” Breganze celebrates its Torcolato Sunday, Jan. 19 in the name of tradition
On Sunday, January 19, the 30th edition of the “Prima del Torcolato” will be held in Breganze, to the notes of violinist Fabio Dalla Costa’s Torcolato Violin and with a theatrical interlude by Diego Dalla Via. Vicenza cartoonist Ivan Bigarella will be the new Torcolato Ambassador to the World 2025.
Thirty years of history, thirty years of tradition to be enjoyed with every sip of Torcolato: The new production of DOC raisin wine. Breganze will have the flavor of special vintages this year. On Sunday, January 19, in fact, the ritual of the first square pressing of the dried Vespaiola grapes will return to Breganze for the 30th edition of the “Prima del Torcolato.” An anniversary that will celebrate the first thirty years since the entry of Torcolato into the Doc Breganze appellation and of an event that has been able to take root in the Veneto wine culture.
In particular, in the Pedemontana Vicentina, the history of the territory and its deep peasant roots is intertwined with that of Torcolato. A bond that dates back to 1890, the year in which the name Torcolato first appeared to identify the famous raisin wine that later became the symbol of Doc Breganze. This tradition, more than a century long, found thirty years ago a new expression with the ritual of the first public pressing. After four months of drying in cellar fruit cellars, bunches of Vespaiola grapes are in fact pressed in the piazza for the traditional toast with the first must of the new vintage.
“Reaching the 30th edition is a source of great pride for the entire Consortium and its member wineries,” says Giuseppe Vittorio Santacatterina, president of the Consortium for the Protection of Breganze Wines DOC. Torcolato Doc Breganze has been able to face head-on the crisis that has hit sweet wines in Italy in recent years, managing to maintain a stable demand on the market. Its uniqueness, an expression of the territory in which it is born, is the strength of this sweet raisin wine obtained from the best bunches of Vespaiola grapes, an indigenous grape variety of Breganze.” “The challenge for the next five years,” Santacatterina continues, “will be to take the name of Torcolato even higher, both in Italy and abroad, a goal we will be able to achieve only with the teamwork of the Doc Breganze wineries, communicating the unique value of our territory.
The program of the 30th edition “Prima del Torcolato”:
- From 9 a.m.: opening in the square of the Market Exhibition of typical products and the Torcolato stand by the Pro Loco Breganze, where it will be possible to taste Torcolato from the producers of the Consortium and to taste “La Pèca del Salbaneo,” the artisanal dessert with three exceptional ingredients: the Torcolato Doc Breganze, the Marostica Cherry Igp and the extra virgin olive oil from the Pedemontana del Grappa Cooperative.
- From 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.: “Toast in the Bell Tower,” guided tours of the Diedo Tower, one of the tallest bell towers in the Veneto region, with the characteristic high-altitude tasting of Torcolato, by the Arci-Ciacola Association and the Gruppo Campanari di Breganze.
- Starting at 2:15 p.m.: the folkloric parade of the Magnifica Fraglia del Torcolato Doc Breganze, followed by the greeting of the authorities and the investiture of the new Brothers and the Torcolato Ambassador to the world for the year 2025. The title will be conferred this year to Ivan Bigarella, a well-known cartoonist and illustrator from Vicenza who landed in Disney as cover artist for Mickey Mouse and Duck. The investiture will be sealed with a collective toast with the first Torcolato must of the 2024 vintage obtained by pressing in the characteristic wine press set up in the square.
- It will, therefore, be an anniversary under the sign of tradition, but also of theatrical art and music. For the occasion, the program has been enriched with a theatrical interlude entitled “Parole intorcolà” by Diego Dalla Via and a musical moment that will feature the famous Torcolato Violin, which luthier Fabio Dalla Costa has been producing in his historic workshop in Breganze since 2004.
- From 4:30 to 8 p.m.: the “Fruttaio Tour” with free guided tours of the eight participating wineries: Cantina Beato Bartolomeo Da Breganze, Col Dovigo, IoMazzuccato, Le Colline Di Vitacchio Gianpietro, Maculan, Miotti Firmino, Transit Farm, Vitacchio Massimo.
The 30th edition of the “Prima del Torcolato” is organized by the Pro Loco of Breganze, in collaboration with the Municipality of Breganze, the Consortium for the Protection of Breganze Wines DOC and the Magnifica Fraglia del Torcolato, with the valuable support of BCC Veneta.
The D.O.C. Breganze
The Consortium for the Protection of Breganze Wines DOC, founded in 1982 by five producers, now associates 17 winemaking members. The area covered is that of the Pedemontana Vicentina, which has always been a land of great viticultural tradition, and since 1969 has boasted the Doc Breganze, the first in the Vicenza area. It includes the hills and the immediate plain included between the valleys of the Astico and Brenta rivers. Of this area Breganze is almost the geographic center, while the other strongholds are Thiene to the west and Bassano del Grappa to the east. The Doc Breganze groups fifteen types of wines: Bianco, Tai, Vespaiolo, Vespaiolo Spumante, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Bianco, Chardonnay, Sauvignon, Rosso, Merlot, Cabernet, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Nero, Marzemino and Torcolato, the latter being surely the most famous and representative of the denomination.
The Torcolato
Torcolato Doc Breganze is a sweet wine, which is made from bunches of the Vespaiola grape, an indigenous variety of Breganze, harvested perfectly ripe, selected and put to dry in airy environments (like the barns of old farmhouses). Here they are left until the following January when, having reached a high level of sweetness, they are pressed. After a slow fermentation, the wine rests in small barrels even for more than two years or at least until December 31 of the year following the harvest before being bottled.
About the “Before Torcolato”
Full details are available on the official website www.breganzedoc.it