The owner of Caterina’s Trattoria in Jacksonville is organizing a wine, food and art festival she hopes will boost the Rogue Valley economy and bring closer relations between residents of Southern Oregon and Italy

You haven’t heard about Festa Italiana? Don’t worry. You will. Catherine Moore will make sure of it.

From now through the first weekend in August, the owner of Caterina’s Trattoria restaurant in Jacksonville will appear to be everywhere, all at once, promoting a new wine, food and arts event she believes will boost economic development and Italian-American relations in Southern Oregon.

"My goal is for this to become a weeklong annual festival featuring the wines of Southern Oregon and the wines of Piedmont, Italy," she says. "Our agricultural economy is shifting from orchards to vineyards. Let’s get a dialogue going."

So that was Moore at last week’s Medford City Council meeting, passing out personal invitations to members.

That’s Moore in TV commercials and on radio talk shows, chatting up the idea.

And that’s Moore pausing midway through a chicken salad to implore a fellow restaurant owner to plug her pet project.

"Look what we’re doing!" she tells Porter’s co-owner Rolar Yondorf, flashing a colorful poster and a huge smile. "Can you put it up someplace really visible?"

Yondorf, of course, complies.

There are few people, in fact, willing to resist the enthusiasm Moore brings to the Aug. 2-4 event that kicks off the all-Italian opening of the classical season at Jacksonville’s Britt Festivals — and builds from there.

"I went to Catherine because she’s the natural one to talk to about this stuff," says Ron McUne, executive director for Britt.

Not only does Moore, 42, run an Italian restaurant focused on authentic dishes, for years she has led wine and food trips to Italy and taught cooking classes focused on the country. So when Britt conductor Peter Bay suggested offering a weekend of Italian music that would spill out into the community beyond, McUne enlisted Moore.

"What am I going to do, say ‘No?’ " asks Moore, who starting planning in November with the help of a few key volunteers. "With no consideration for whether I could do it, I launched in."

Nine months later, final details are coming together for the event that will feature an Italian-style public street fair complete with fortune tellers, games, food and music and displays of Italian art.

There will be an afternoon wine tasting with side-by-side pourings of Italian and Southern Oregon vintages, and an elegant multi-course winemaker’s dinner.

The chef for the Italian Olympic team, Enrico Ambrosetti, will join local chefs to teach a cooking seminar, and the former mayor of Medford’s sister city, Alba, Italy, is scheduled to arrive for the festivities.

"You’ve got to have something fun to get the people there," says Moore, who expects 500 folks for the wine tasting alone.

Along with the ceremonial guests, however, will be high-level representatives from the Italian wine industry who will offer information, advice and goodwill that could significantly alter Southern Oregon winemaking, Moore says.

Aldo Vacca and Pietro Ratti from the Consorzio del Vino d’Alba, will offer a first-ever professional seminar on Friday, Aug. 2, for local wine growers and winemakers.

"The fact that they’re coming here to do this is a big deal," says Moore. "People need to realize how special these Italians are."

Moore hopes that the initial meetings will lead to fruitful dialogues about climate, soil and grape-growing that could lead to insights into Southern Oregon’s $15 million annual wine industry.

"I’m not a winemaker and I’m not a grape grower, but I think a Barbera could grow here," Moore says.

Whether any specific varietal is viable is uncertain, says Laura Lotspeich, owner of the Pheasant Hill vineyard in Talent and president of the Oregon Wine Growers Association. But she agrees that the public focus and professional relationships Festa Italiana could bring would be valuable.

"I think Catherine is right," Lotspeich says. "I think it might be a seed of economic development, but it is that seed."

Tourism dollars alone could be a boon for the region, says Julie Petretto, executive director of the Medford Visitors and Convention Bureau. If 3,000 out-of-towners showed up for such a festival, it could pump $375,000 into the local economy in just a few days.

"I think that it will eventually grow and become very popular," says Petretto.

The notion of expanding the region’s economic draw through wine tourism isn’t new, says Rob Pochert, business development manager for the Southern Oregon Regional Economic Development Institute. As an example, he points to efforts by Anne Root of Eden Valley Orchards to develop regional winery tours and related events.

"With the right kind of promotion and timing these things can work," Pochert says. "But raising funds and getting the plan in place and off the ground is going to be a big challenge."

Funding for the $15,000 event has been hard to come by, admits Moore, who received about $2,000 from local service groups. She expects to explore grants and private gifts before next year’s effort.

Equally challenging will be nurturing cooperation of the many restaurants, stores and community businesses necessary to support the project. The timing of this year’s event smack in the middle of summer’s busy tourist season limited the participation of some merchants.

"I’d be all for it," says Mike Higgins, new partner at the Jacksonville Inn. "But let’s do it in October or March."

Details of funding and timing can be worked out later, Moore says. The important thing is to garner support for the notion that winemakers from two continents can find common ground here.

Eric Weisinger, winemaker at his family’s Ashland winery, says Moore’s got his vote.

"What we have here is the potential for the sharing of ideas," says Weisinger, who’s also president of the Southern Oregon Winery Association. "Action is the result of such ideas and to me that is a very powerful thing."

Reach reporter JoNel Aleccia at 776-4465, or e-mail jaleccia@mailtribune.com