On the 10 August 2013 glasses will be raised all over Italy to toast the bicentenary of the birth of the great Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi.  Organized by the Movimento Turismo Vino and the Città del Vino (Cities of Wine) movements, the poetically named Calici di Stelle (Wine Glasses of Stars) event involves hundreds of piazzas and wine cellars all over Italy.

The 10 August is dedicated to St. Lawrence and is traditionally known as the best night in the summer for seeing shooting stars. Pietro Iadanza, President of the Cities of Wine, says that the annual event is an ideal opportunity to promote Italian wines in relation to the territory, tourism, culture and hospitality.

The Movimento Turismo Vino groups around a thousand of Italy's prestigious wine producers, while the National Association of Wine Cities is a network of small towns and communities, wine routes and farms that are traditionally linked to wine production and have at least one DOC or DOCG in their territory.

Info: www.movimentoturismovino.it   www.terredelvino.net