IT was soggy underfoot from heavy rainfall earlier in the week, with an occasional misty shower passing through, but there was an undeniably distinct warm ambience embracing thousands of visitors to wineries across the King Valley for the revived Weekend Fit for a King festival over the long weekend.
The intimate surrounds of each winery with their homemade Italian dishes, coupled with some of the best Italian varietal wines in Australia, served up by owner families and staff, offered the very best of the valley's tantalising tourism assets.
For former Wangaratta local Kerryn Fletcher and friend Ben Roache, and their busload of district and Melbourne patrons, La Cantina King Valley was the perfect spot to enjoy a "superb" lunch on Saturday and savour some Italian reds, notably Nebiolo and Sangiovese.
"We've been coming up here for about 25 years and just love the authenticity of the event...it's just very relaxing," said Kerryn.
"I just love how you can chat about the wines with those who make it, and get a deeper appreciation and understanding," enthused Ben, his glass tinkling as sommelier Lou Frost offered up another "fruits of their labour, with no preservatives".
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Further up the road at Dal Zotto Wines there was evidence of the "family friendly" festival with Albury teenagers Jessica Jones and Caleb and Stella Hopwood giving the bocce court a good work over.
Their parents were inside the cellar door, joining more than a hundred people sampling the vast range of wines.
First time festival goers Erin Dalrymple, Nicole Palombi, Brooke Allender and Wangaratta's Ashleigh O'Donohue were making light work of a colourful antipasto platter, accompanied by a bottle of prosecco - the bubbly Italian varietal wine the Dal Zotto family introduced to Australia in 1999 and have helped develop a national brand for valley wineries.
"We usually go to Rutherglen's Winery Walkabout but we were looking for a change this year and this is fantastic," said Erin.
"It's so more relaxed, a premium experience with refined food, and the wineries care so much about telling you about their wines...we love the reds.
"And yes, so family friendly," Erin added, pointing to a table of their parents, who like hundreds others, were making Whitfield Caravan Park home for the weekend.
Past Whitfield at Pizzini Wines, Yarrawonga's Ben Doyle and four year old daughter Ellie were happily playing with the life-sized chess pieces after enjoying a burger and a wine on the lawn with friends from Melbourne and the North East.
"It's a regular annual catch-up," said Ben.
Metres away inside the rustic shed half of the 160 guests for the long lunch were bopping on the makeshift dance floor to Paris Zachariou's rendition of Wham's 'Wake me up before you go-go'.
Melbourne guests James and Tanya Elliott, considered "locals" on account of their frequent visits to their holiday home at the Rose River over the past 18 years, said the day was a "celebration of life...stop and enjoy it".
Maitre d' Nat Pizzini said the winery was pleased with Saturday's numbers, with more on Sunday, and that it was great to have the festival back, after a break since 2019.
The sentiments were echoed by Wines of the King Valley president Dean Cleave-Smith.
"Given the challenges around staffing, we've made this a relatively low key return, but visitation numbers and their enjoyable experiences at the eight participating venues (Brown Brothers, Darling Estate, Politini, John Gehrig Wines, and Hurdle Creek Still) has made the weekend a success," he said.
"More venues are looking to participate in our next big weekend festival of La Dolce Vita in November."
