The 299th Chapter of Spring in Langa took place on Sunday 20 March in the Hall of the Masks of the Castle of Grinzane Cavour, under the guidance of the newly elected Grand Master Tomaso Zanoletti.
Zanoletti entered the room accompanied by Bianca Vetrino who, after 10 years at the helm of the Association founded in 1967, officially passed the baton.
“The Order has experienced a true renaissance in the last twenty years thanks to those who preceded me, with the revival sought in the early 2000s with Alfredo Boratto and then in particular under the polite guidance of Bianca Vetrino whom I thank – said the Grand Master next to Master Vetrino, who remains member of the Ruling Council–. Born in an era when restaurants were few, cuisine considered as a service and tourists in the Langa very rare, the Order was an intuition of Luciano Degiacomi who, with foresight, chose the path of brotherhoods inspired by Burgundy, giving life to an association endowed with an effective and modern capacity for action. In the meantime, the territory has had a progressive growth until the real boom arrived with the Unesco recognition of the Langhe and Roero hills. This was also the case in our Order, both in the number of adhesions, which more than doubled thanks to the birth of Delegations throughout Italy and abroad, and in the ability to enhance culture and cultivate relationships. It is with this awareness that today I face this new task with commitment, because I know the importance that the Order has had in the past and I am convinced that its aims are not only still current, but particularly useful in this time, both individually, both in collaboration with the institutions and other realities of the territory “.
After the inauguration speech, the cultural moment of the Chapter had as protagonists the journalist and Knight Paolo Marchi with the journalist Cinzia Benzi engaged in a dialogue on the theme “Wine: plural feminine” with the preview presentation of the new project of the Identità Golose magazine: “Bubbles in the World“.
The Chapter of the Spring in Langa gathered over 60 Knights in the manor, symbol of Unesco and headquarter of the Order. During the meeting 9 new Knights were inducted, including the young producer Federica Boffa who today leads the historic Pio Cesare cellars in Alba and the entrepreneur Marco Stroppiana, owner with his family of the Mondo di Grinzane Cavour group.
The ceremony, which began with the show of flag wavers and musicians from Alba, ended with a four-handed lunch in the Cavour room prepared by the chefs Marc Lanteri, landlord, and Carlo Zarri of the Villa San Carlo restaurant in Cortemilia.
A new year that opens with the promise of new goals to be achieved and new important challenges to face
“We propose to the Institutions to nominate the territory of Alba and Bra as the Italian Capital of Culture 2026. After recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and that of Alba Capital of Corporate Culture, we believe that the time is ripe to continue the process of enhancing our excellence and achieve a further goal “.
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Ph. Credits: Maurizio Milanesio Photography
