It’s State Fair of Texas season in Dallas this month–but if sharing Fair Park with 100,000 people doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, there are lots of smaller community events to choose from. On Saturday, we dropped in on the DFW Italian Festival, a celebration of Italian food and heritage that’s now in its third year.
The two-day festival consists of a ring of white tents pitched in a field in Irving’s convention district. Once inside the gates ($10 adult ticket), the smell of grilling sausage, simmering red sauce, and frying zeppole fills the air.
There is a music stage and gondola rides, an all-day bocce ball tournament and a classic car display. But we made a beeline for the Italian wines, of course. With sponsors both global (Banfi, Peroni) and local (Grappolo Wine Shop), the lot was flowing with beverages to beat the heat and wash down all the delicious fair food.
On this sunny October day, shelter from the sun was in short supply. Grappolo’s pop-up wine garden beckoned to this fair-skinned girly with the promise of shade and hard-to-find Italian wine styles.
Grappolo/Above Wines is an online retailer based in Irving which is also the only exclusively Italian wine shop in the DFW area. I’d previously attended one of their presentations on the wines of Campania and Puglia. The team is passionate about sourcing and celebrating indigenous Italian varieties, including those that are rarely exported to the United States.
Owner/founder Aldo Bove was behind the bar, presenting a focused list of 7 or 8 wines available by the glass and bottle. Selections ranged from the familiar (Chianti) to the highly regional (a Calabrian rosé made from the rare Gaglioppo grape and Gragnano, a popular fizzy red from Sorrento).
By 11:30 AM, the wines were chilled and the corks were poppin’. My wife and I grabbed a table and settled in for the live performances of Italian-language pop standards, choral music, and classical violin that was wafting over from the nearby main stage.
We opted for the Greco Vesuvio from Campania ($25) which was served in an ice bucket at the perfect temperature. Medium yellow with a grey-green cast, it tastes of tart green apple, unripe apricots, and white blossoms. It’s made in a dry, high-acid style with a slightly waxy texture and a lingering finish of green orange rind and honey.
After a couple of glasses of this crisp Southern Italian white, we were ready to eat our way around the rows of tents. We dined on meatballs with Italian bread, classic cannoli, and finally gelato (hazelnut and fior di latte!) by the Italian-owned Denton café Two Gentlemen of Verona.
But the overwhelmingly good, sears-itself-into-your-gastronomic-memory food item was the grilled Italian sausage sandwich. Buttery split bread (flat and toasted, like a torta roll) is stuffed with fragrant fennel sausage, grilled mixed peppers, and topped with a fresh lemon wheel garnish.
For an extra $2, you can add a tongful of seasoned rapini (broccoli rabe). I am totally rapacious for rapini, and there’s not a restaurant or grocer in Dallas where I can regularly find it! Aargh!
I don’t often miss working as a chef–but one of the perks I do miss is being able to order a case of specialty produce whenever I felt like it. I would’ve gobbled up all the rapini on the grill at the Italian festival, if they’d’ve let me.
We paired our main courses and desserts with a lightly chilled Valpolicella Ripasso, the Corte del Sole ($40). I absolutely love Valpolicella Ripasso as an all-purpose table wine. With its bright cherry flavors, low-ish tannins, and a touch of sweetness, it’s friendly to most palates and can pair with everything from appetizers to grilled meat to pastries.
By this time, the wine patio was buzzing with wine lovers, bellies were full, and conversation was jolly. We struck up a conversation with our neighbors and shared tips on where to eat and drink around the city.
All in all, it was a wholesome (and wholly delicious!) afternoon. Saluti a tutti!
Wines tasted:
Cantine Federiciane Greco Vesuvio (NV) – IGP Campania, Italy
Corte del Sole Valpolicella Ripasso (2020) – DOC Veneto, Italy
Review disclosure: I was not compensated or provided any free products for this review. Opinions expressed on The Wine Fairy blog are entirely my own.
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