Fiestas
Cómpeta Wine Festival
By m.p. - Aug 15, 2007 - 11:14 AM
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The people of Cómpeta, an inland village in the Axarquía district of the Costa del Sol, celebrate the start of the grape harvest in August with ‘La Noche del Vino,’ or ‘Night of Wine,’ held every year on 15th August.
This festival, which first began as a farewell party for the farmers who were leaving for the grape harvest the following morning, is said by some to be a homage to the Roman god of wine, Bacchus.
Whatever the reason, La Noche del Vino is now so popular that it has been granted status as International Tourist Interest and is one of the main attractions to the village in the summer.
The practice of giving out free samples of the local wine was started by a local man, Aurelio Fernández Navas, in 1974, and has now grown to thousands of litres of both sweet and dry wine which are enjoyed by the thousands of people who visit the festival every year.
This celebration for Cómpeta’s locally-produced muscatel wine, which even has a wine museum dedicated to it, is not confined to the night itself: the festivities start on the morning of the day in the village square which is named for the grape harvest: the Plaza de la Vendimia.
One of the most popular events comes at midday with the traditional treading of the grapes, where locals spend more than three hours treading grapes in a wine press set up in the square: five hundred kilos are used to produce the ‘mosto’ – the grape juice which will be ready for drinking in a month.
Tradition dictates that four men from the village must carry 50 kilos of grapes to the wine press in just one trip: they usually use pillows to protect their necks from being rubbed raw by the heavily-laden grape baskets.
Meanwhile, as the men tread on, other locals can be seen preparing in huge pots over wood fires the traditional dish which is served to soak up the alcohol, migas, a dish based on breadcrumbs. A salad is also served, as local musicians play in the square to accompany the feast.
The party moves to the main square, the Plaza Almijara, when night falls, where a stage is set up in the form of a traditional farmhouse for performances from flamenco singers and folk groups.
The wine continues to flow as the music and dance continue well into the next morning in this celebration for Cómpeta’s most famous local product, el vino de Cómpeta.
More information - www.competa.es
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