Festa del Vino Vernaccia di Pigato

Festa del Vino Vernaccia di Pigato is one of the wine festivals that anchors the Liguria calendar, drawing both local visitors and international wine travellers each year. It is held at Albenga / Diano Castello in Imperia province, in the heart of one of Italy's most distinctive wine areas. It is an annual event with an established local audience and a consistent place in the regional calendar. Annual festival in the Riviera di Ponente celebrating Pigato, the saline aromatic white grape that defines this stretch of the Ligurian coast. Producers along the wine route from Albenga to the French border pour current Pigato vintages alongside Vermentino, Rossese di Dolceacqua and the rare Ormeasco di Pornassio. Strong Mediterranean food pairings with focaccia, trofie al pesto, anchovies and locally caught fish. Italian grape and harvest festivals — sagre and feste dell'uva — are some of the country's longest-running celebrations, with many running uninterrupted for a century or more. Programmes typically combine grape-stomping demonstrations, traditional music, parades of allegorical floats, food stalls offering regional specialities, and tastings of the area's wines. The events have strong local character and are often as much community celebrations as wine programmes, with town councils, parish committees and local producer associations sharing the organisational load. Many festivals incorporate religious elements — blessings of the harvest, processions to the parish church — that connect the wine calendar to the liturgical year. The event is organised by Strada del Vino e dell'Olio della Riviera Ligure di Ponente, which sets the tone and direction of the programme each year. Liguria is a small, steep wine region producing wines on terraced slopes that drop dramatically to the Mediterranean. Vermentino, Pigato (a saline Vermentino-related variety) and Rossese di Dolceacqua dominate the Riviera di Ponente in the west, while the Cinque Terre and Colli di Luni in the east produce Vermentino-based whites and the rare sweet Sciacchetra. Volumes are small and most wines are consumed locally, often with Ligurian seafood and pesto-based dishes. The 2026 edition is scheduled for Summer 2026 (dates TBC). Cost details: Paid (tasting pass). Full programme, ticketing and updated information are published on the official site at https://www.stradadelvinoligure.com/. Visitors are advised to check directly with the organiser for the latest schedule, as Italian festival programmes are sometimes updated close to the event date. Liguria is reached via Genoa, with the Cinque Terre easily accessible by train from Genoa or La Spezia. The Riviera di Ponente in the west is reached via the coast road from Genoa to the French border. Ligurian cuisine pairs the wines with focaccia, trofie or trenette al pesto, anchovies in olive oil, salt cod, and the local farinata chickpea pancake. The dramatic terraced vineyards above the Mediterranean give the area's wine events a distinctive setting.