XXIV Alba White Truffle World Auction®

ON 12th NOVEMBER AT THE GRINZANE CAVOUR  CASTLE, THE SOLIDARITY EVENT PROMOTED BY THE  ENOTECA REGIONALE PIEMONTESE CAVOUR HITS THE STAGE

 

There is only one event that can be both local and international, that can combine food and wine, cinema, art, the excellence of products and the beauty of selfless gestures. There is only one event that can be a tradition, yet at the same time different and boundless every year. An event where quality goodness is maximised because it combines the best of the territory with tangible projects that shape solidarity.

The Alba White Truffle World Auction is back. On Sunday 12th November, at the Grinzane Cavour Castle, the absolute protagonist will be the Alba White Truffle, together with the great wines of the Langhe, Roero and Monferrato, the greatest combination for promoting this area in the world. And for the last 23 editions, the Auction has rhymed with solidarity: every corner of the planet has been reached with a charitable message and, thanks to the distinctive enogastronomic character of this land, many charitable initiatives have flourished and been strengthened.

More than 6 million 300 thousand euros, raised since 1999 and donated to charity organisations and projects in Italy and around the world, are the result of the generosity of the many philanthropists who have actively participated in the project over the years, thanks to the presence of great chefs and distinguished guests from politics, culture, show business and the international jet set.

Also this year, the most prized lots of Tuber magnatum Pico will go up for auction – in combination with the large formats of the wines of the producers belonging to the Consorzio di Tutela Barolo Barbaresco Alba Langhe e Dogliani – during the XXIV edition of the Auction, organised by Enoteca Regionale Piemontese Cavour, thanks to the invaluable support of Regione Piemonte, dell’Enit – Agenzia Nazionale Italiana del Turismo, Ente Turismo Langhe Monferrato Roero, Fiera Internazionale del Tartufo Bianco d’Alba, Centro Nazionale Studi Tartufo and dell’Ordine dei Cavalieri del Tartufo e dei Vini di Alba.

GREAT GUESTS

In this 2023 edition, the atmosphere at Grinzane Cavour Castle will be even more refined and iconic, thanks to the world of cinema and its protagonists.

Accompanied by Andrea Bosca, actor and director already testimonial at last year’s Auction, there will be Anna Foglietta, eclectic television and film actress, former patroness of the 77th Venice International Film Festival and who starred in various movies including “Colpi di fulmine“, “Perfetti sconosciuti“, “Mai Stati Uniti” and “Tutta Colpa di Freud“. She also starred this summer in the hilarious comedy directed by Edoardo Leo, “I miei giorni peggiori” and currently stars on Amazon Prime in “Everybody loves diamonds”.

Highly anticipated guests include Vittoria Belvedere, a highly successful Italian model and actress, on the small and big screen, who has starred in numerous TV series and dramas. She has worked on the big screen many times, most notably in 1999’s “La spiaggia”, 2000’s “Si fa presto a dire amore” directed by Enrico Brignano and 2004’s “La lettera” directed by Luciano Mattia Cannito. On TV, she joined Pippo Baudo together with Manuela Arcuri in the presentation of the Sanremo Festival, took part in Ballando con le stelle, Tale e quale show with Carlo Conti and “Meraviglie – La penisola dei tesori” with Alberto Angela. Last year, she starred with Enzo Iacchetti in the highly successful theatre show “Bloccati dalla neve“.

And that the Langhe can become a real film set with the Alba White Truffle as protagonist, is also demonstrated by “Trifole”, a movie by the young director Gabriele Fabbro, starring Umberto Orsini, Margherita Buy and South African actress Ydalie Turk, whose shooting will begin in November in our Unesco land and will also feature the Alba White Truffle World Auction, an event that will be included in a plot about which absolute secrecy is in force.

Alongside many other guests, there will also be prominent personalities tied to the world of sport and solidarity, such as Massimo Mauro, a friendly presence in the Langhe capital thanks to Alba dei Campioni, the international football tournament organised by the Fondazione Vialli e Mauro per la Ricerca e lo Sport Onlus with the aim of raising funds for research into Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and promoting the values of sport.

However, they will not be the only personalities tied to the world of football and sport who will attend the Auction: Alessandro Buongiorno, captain and flag-bearer of Torino, and Clara Mondonico, daughter of the unforgettable coach of Torino, Atalanta and Fiorentina, Emiliano Mondonico, who passed away in 2018 and to whom she decided to dedicate an Association to carry on the values of loyalty and commitment through sport.

THE HOSTS

You can’t change a winning team: the event will be hosted by TV presenter Caterina Balivo, from September star of the daily programme “La volta buona” on Rai 1, joined by journalist and gastronomic curator Paolo Vizzari: backing up the auctioneers will be the entertaining contributions from the histrionic Enzo Iacchetti, TV presenter, comedian and cabaret artist.

The countdown is on: with the musical accompaniment of violinist Elisa Scudeller and the Soloists of the Classical Orchestra of Alessandria in collaboration with Alba Music Festival from 1 p.m., thanks to the live broadcast from international venues involved, the walls of the prestigious manor house – declared a Unesco World Heritage Site, as part of the broader recognition of the “Langhe-Roero e Monferrato Wine-growing Landscapes” – will be ready to host the bidding for extraordinary lots of Alba White Truffle, paired with the large formats of Barolo DOCG, Barbaresco DOCG and the wines of the producers belonging to the Consorzio di Tutela Barolo Barbaresco Alba Langhe e Dogliani.

The auction lots will also be further enriched by some giant Panettoni “made in Piedmont”, weighing 10 kg and 20 kg, signed by Albertengo, a historic company based in Torre San Giorgio, in the province of Cuneo, which produces one and a half million festive pastries every year. Livia and Massimo Albertengo will give the guests joining live from the international venues connected with Grinzane Cavour a nice present: a trio of mini panettone cakes made with apricots, Moscato and traditional glazed panettone.

WORLDWIDE STREAMING AND INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY

The Alba White Truffle World Auction enhances its international vocation, with the very rich parterre of live broadcasts: three already confirmed, prestigious venues, which will see an additional new entry, that have a long-standing relationship with the Alba White Truffle and solidarity. The amount raised during the Auction at the Grinzane Cavour Castle will be donated to support outstanding charitable initiatives, including the Fondazione Ospedale Alba-Bra Onlus, whose mission is to develop care and hospitality at the “Michele e Pietro Ferrero” hospital in Verduno, the Fondazione Vialli e Mauro per la Ricerca e lo Sport Onlus,  dedicated to supporting the prevention and treatment of cancer, to fund research of excellence on ALS and promote activities aimed at increasing sports awareness, along with the Every Child Is My Child Onlus project, born from the spontaneous association of artists who – were called and involved by actress Anna Foglietta and, driven by their indignation at the massacres of children in Syria, decided that it was no longer enough to simply condemn and provide theoretical support, and that a direct commitment was needed to guarantee a future for children affected by war.

To rebuild and protect the weakest and most vulnerable is also the objective of Alba’s Edoardo Bosio, president of the Comitato Razom, who will unveil the international cooperation project set up to build an air-raid shelter in a kindergarten in the Ukrainian city of Bucha, one of the areas most affected by the war with Russia. During the World Auction, solidarity will fly to Kenya, with a live streaming from North Kinangop, where the urologist from Corneliano Bruno Frea, retired director of urology at the Molinette Hospital, will talk about his mission in the hospital created by Don Sandro Borsa and his latest challenge: a fundraising campaign to build new operating theatres.

HONG KONG

The broadcast from the metropolis of Hong Kong, one of the world’s most important international financial centres, has now become a tradition, thanks to the invaluable collaboration of Maria Pranzo of Areté food and wine. The event, in the presence of the Consul General of the Italian Republic in Hong Kong Carmelo Ficarra, will be held at the famous Mandarin restaurant and will feature Piedmontese entrepreneur Matteo Morello, founder of the ristorante Castellana. An unforgettable culinary experience will be created by a team of four chefs: Romeo Morelli of the Castellana, Fabiano Palombini of the ristorante Perla together with Robin Zavou and Matthew Reuther of The Mandarin Oriental. The fruit of the participants’ solidarity will go, as has been the tradition for the last 19 years, to the Mother’s Choice Institute, a charity that helps children in need, with no family.

SINGAPORE

Art by Daniele Sperindio – restaurant run by the same starred chef – in Singapore, set inside the prestigious National Gallery, will once again take centre stage at the event, in the presence of the Italian Ambassador in Singapore, Dante Brandi. The proceeds of what will be raised in the city-state island, located in the south of Malaysia – a market of excellence marked by a growing passion for the Italian wine sector – will be donated this year to the Singapore Children’s Society, a charity that cares for children and young people in need in the Asian peninsula.

VIENNA

For the second consecutive year, Vienna will be among the protagonists of the charity event, organised by the Austrian delegation of the Ordine dei Cavalieri del Tartufo e dei Vini di Alba, in collaboration with Enit Vienna. The lunch will be a “symphony” orchestrated four-handedly by chefs Luciano Tona, ambassador of Alba – UNESCO Creative City for Gastronomy – and chef Denis Koenig, owner of Le Salzgries Paris restaurant in Vienna.  On the charity front, the chosen project is Glückskind, an initiative – promoted by Sinnbildungsstiftung, a charity active in support of education – that aims to enhance the qualities of students and their self-esteem in the entire school system. The Ambassador of the Italian Republic in Vienna, Stefano Beltrame, will attend the event dedicated to our land.

FRANKFURT

There is always a first time, and that is Frankfurt, a dynamic, cosmopolitan city that is very sensitive to the appeal of the Alba White Truffle, the undisputed star of the World Auction.  The chosen venue, Ristorante Brighella, is a blend of Italian tradition, hospitality and imagination that has been celebrating the Alba White Truffle for over 30 years with a week dedicated to solidarity and the promotion of Piedmont. It will be chef Leo Caporale‘s turn to make guests dream with unexpected combinations and surprises on the table. Food and excellence will be just the means to make solidarity fly, which will involve Paralympic sport, and in particular the German swimming team. The spotlight will be on the German Youth Cup, a competition between young athletes from the regional federations of the German Paralympic Sports Association.

STATEMENTS

ROBERTO BODRITO

Roberto Bodrito, president od the Enoteca Regionale Piemontese Cavour states: “The Alba White Truffle World Auction is now an exceptionally long-lived event because it manages to combine several elements, without losing its identity: the promotion of the territory and the excellence of Alba, the Langhe and Roero, the international vocation through prestigious connections, but above all the valorisation of tangible charity projects. Today we are celebrating a charity event that sees in each other an opportunity to do our best and to deliver, together with the mayors of the City of Alba, Carlo Bo, and the Municipality of Grinzane Cavour, Gianfranco Garau, a message of peace and brotherhood. And to achieve this we will use the excellence of our food and wine, led by our wonderful Alba White Truffle, Barolo and Barbaresco, and we will also bring our ability to think as one single territory”.

ALBERTO CIRIO

“The Truffle Auction – emphasises the President of the Region, Alberto Cirio – “is, by now, one of the most eagerly awaited and consolidated moments of autumn in Piedmont. It has always been an opportunity to strengthen international ties with those who are in love with our land and our Unesco hills and to make our uniqueness even better known. The growing increase in conscious tourism in our areas, also this year, shows the great interest in Piedmontese excellence, starting with the Alba White Truffle, which is one of its most prestigious symbols”.

MATTEO ASCHERI

“Barolo, Barbaresco and Truffle are excellences of our territory that underline, albeit in different ways, the centrality of man and the importance and care he gives to nature – adds Matteo Ascheri, President of the Consorzio di Tutela Barolo, Barbaresco, Alba, Langhe e Dogliani –. Indeed, the care of the land and all that surrounds us is our priority as a Consorzio and it is this that allows us to have products of such excellence that make us known throughout the world and attract people from all over the world to our villages. The combination of our prestigious bottles with the Alba White Truffle lots is therefore based on the same vision of care and promotion of the land and territory. The promotion of our territory is also carried out through these international initiatives: the truffle auction and the “Barolo en primeur” auction on 27th October, which combine the values of solidarity with the promotion of our land, thanks also to the contribution of the communal lots donated by our producers.”.

MARIANO RABINO

“This 2023 is giving us extremely positive data for presence and arrivals throughout the territory, with numbers even up on 2019, which was the year of records – sums up Mariano Rabino, President of Ente Turismo Langhe Monferrato Roero –. We are pleased to see the return of long-distance, quality tourism, with attentive and well-informed travellers. In addition to the already consolidated markets that see us as the target destination for those looking for excellent food and wine, our destination is also becoming increasingly consolidated for cycle tourism, opening up important new scenarios”.

ANTONIO DEGIACOMI

“Over the years, the Auction has proved to be an extraordinary instrument of promotion and solidarity. We, as Centro Studi, in light of a series of climatically unfavourable years for the spontaneous growth of truffles, would like to stress once again the importance of protecting and cultivating natural truffle beds, by planting new potentially truffle-growing plants and, in general, fighting climate change”, remarks Antonio Degiacomi, President of Centro Nazionale Studi Tartufo.

LILIANA ALLENA

“L’Alba del Futuro (the dawn of the future) is the payoff of the 93rd edition of the International Alba White Truffle Fair: the earth is and will be one of the few certainties,” – sums up Liliana Allena, President of the Fiera Internazionale del Tartufo Bianco d’Alba –. The truffle, which is born and grows in the soil, in the same soil gives us great wines and great products that made the Langhe Monferrato and Roero area a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Auction, with its call for solidarity, also reminds us of the importance of equality and sustainability, environmental as well as social and economic, a challenge that requires immediate responses and that concerns us all”.