The sixth edition of the Sant’Andrea di Rometta event, scheduled for 2 August, was presented in Palermo. The Municipality of Messina, Lead Partner of the European project INSPIRE, outlined its strategy on agrobiodiversity, village recovery and sustainable tourism. The project will be present at the event with a dedicated stand.
Palermo, 29 July 2026 — This morning, at the seat of the Sicilian Regional Assembly, an institutional meeting was held dedicated to the sixth edition of “Wine Not?”, scheduled for Sunday 2 August in Sant’Andrea di Rometta. The occasion brought to the attention of the Sicilian Parliament not only the event promoted by Pro Loco Sabatina – Sant’Andrea APS, but also the European project INSPIRE, of which the Municipality of Messina is Lead Partner within the Interreg Euro-MED 2021–2027 Programme.
The meeting was promoted and supported by Sicilian Regional Assembly deputies Cateno De Luca and Giuseppe “Pippo” Lombardo, whose commitment was instrumental in making it happen. Both emphasised the importance of enhancing small communities and inland territories, and of preserving local traditions as components of the identity and social and economic cohesion of villages.
Emanuele Borghetti, president of Pro Loco Sabatina – Sant’Andrea APS, and Antonio Borghetti, event coordinator, spoke about the history of the event and the structure of this sixth edition.
The Municipality of Messina was represented by Dr Rita Melita, in her capacity as Project Manager. The content of the initiative was presented by Dr Beatrice Briguglio, Project Manager, in the presence of Gabriele Arcovito, president of GAL Taormina Peloritani – Terre dei Miti e della Bellezza. Alessandro Nava, president of the Rometta Municipal Council — a sponsoring body of the event — also took part.
Greetings were conveyed by the Deputy Mayor of Messina, Laura Castelli, and by the Metropolitan Mayor Federico Basile, who stressed the need to complement the work of local associations with structured and verifiable planning tools.
INSPIRE (INnovative Sustainable tourISm gRoundEd on agrobiodiversity) is a European territorial cooperation project bringing together eight partners from five countries — Italy, Spain, France, Greece and Albania — around a shared goal: making the protection and promotion of Mediterranean agrobiodiversity the foundation of a sustainable and replicable model for managing tourist destinations.
The project operates across five pilot territories, including the metropolitan area of Messina, through the mapping of agrobiodiversity resources, the activation of Living Labs involving local stakeholders — farmers, tourism and catering operators, associations — and the development of local action plans. The aim is to build a de-seasonalised tourism offering, rooted in traditional agricultural supply chains and identity-defining products, capable of generating income for local communities while preserving their natural and cultural heritage. The agrobiodiversity mapping and Living Lab activities are coordinated by Fondazione Slow Food ETS, a project partner, based on methodologies already tested across the Mediterranean basin.
As part of the project’s activities to inform and engage local operators, INSPIRE will have an information stand at the 2 August event, to present the European initiative’s objectives, activities and expected results to the public and sector operators, and to open a direct dialogue with producers and professionals. The event is promoted and organised by Pro Loco Sabatina – Sant’Andrea APS; INSPIRE does not contribute to its funding and participates solely through information and communication activities.
Nino Mostaccio, president of Slow Food Messina APS, who will coordinate the food area of the event, also spoke at the meeting. Mostaccio highlighted the role of food culture and local production in sustaining the activities and communities of small villages: where people continue to grow, process and cook, territories preserve and pass on their identity. He also underlined how knowledge and cataloguing of local production is a prerequisite for any tourism offering grounded in real and verifiable elements, in line with the methodological approach of the INSPIRE project.
Gioele Micali, AIS Taormina delegate and head of events for AIS Sicilia, also intervened, presenting the characteristics of the Messina area’s and Sicily’s denomination-of-origin wines in relation to the soils, altitudes and agronomic practices of their production territories.
On Sunday 2 August, from 7:00 pm, the village of Sant’Andrea di Rometta will host thirty wineries and over one hundred labels, alongside the food area curated by Slow Food Messina APS, guided tastings, art and music. The “V2 Data Wine Not? 2026” Award, voted by the public, will also be presented. The event is held under the patronage of the Metropolitan City of Messina, the Municipality of Rometta and UNPLI, in partnership with AIS Sicilia and Slow Food Messina APS.
INSPIRE in brief
INSPIRE — INnovative Sustainable tourISm gRoundEd on agrobiodiversity — brings together eight partners from five Mediterranean countries (Italy, Spain, France, Greece, Albania) and runs from April 2025 to December 2027. The Municipality of Messina is its Lead Partner.
INSPIRE is co-funded by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund under the Interreg Euro-MED 2021–2027 Programme – ID Euro-MED0401041 – CUP F49I25000250006. Project website: inspire.interreg-euro-med.eu
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