WINE TOUR

8 - 12 hours  for each tour

Chianti Road -  Castelli Romani - Umbria - Veneto  - Piemonte

 CHIANTI ROAD: Chianti is a region of hills and valleys, situated between Florence and Siena and is a wide stretch of cultivated land of olive groves, vineyards and woods, dotted with ancient parish churches, farmhouses and villages. It is known all over the world for its wines. The Chianti hills wind alongside the Arno valley from Florence to Siena in the direction of Arezzo and form a natural boundary of the region. Tuscan wines are among the best in Italy. Their reputation is due mainly to the reds which incude Chianti, an excellent table wine produced in the Chianti area. The many small, rustic Tuscan taverns offer a wide range of local Chianti wines in a simple setting. In many villages you can still find the local "mescite", now unfortunately disappearing. Vineyards with olive groves characterize all the Tuscan landscape.

PIEMONTE: Castles rising above the morning fog on mountain peaks, acres of pinstriped vineyards, steaming dishes of risotti with fresh porcini mushrooms, red wines that are complex, layered, and unforgettable. This is Piedmont, located in view of the Italian Alps. The more elitist vineyards, and one of the richest countrysides and cuisines are found in Piedmont, a noble region which belonged to the Savoia Royalty and first promoted the Italian unification. Moving within the frame of never too distant Alpine and Apenninic peaks, you can start with a glimpse of the Lago Maggiore, and then visit Torino, the capital. Then we definitely head to the venerable wine districts of the Langhe and the Monferrato a region with the highest density of DOC wines: the light Freisa, the serious basic Barbera, the Dolcetto, the refreshing Moscato and the Asti Spumante. The cuisine of this region is an unexpected wealth of recipes, ideal complements to their great wines: endless starters, the rabbit, the Barolo beef stue, for example, the Castelmagno cheese, and the king, the Alba white Truffle. Then, moving in the region of Alba, capital of the precious white truffle, you enter the Barbaresco and Barolo realm.Possible detours can take you to taste to the nearby Franciacorta, to Val d’Aosta, to taste a real Alpine environment, or at the opposite to the seaside on the Ligurian Riviera. The best wines produced in this area are: Barolo, Barbaresco, Barberas, Freisa, Dolcettos, Roero, various Asti, Monferrato. Turin, once the seat of the Italian Monarchy, and boasting a great Egyptian museum, is perhaps better known as the city of Fiat, of the best chocolate and a capital of the gourmets. One day or two here will achieve the picture of the Piedmontese civilization. Nearby, we can visit the Cinzano or Martini estates, houses of vermouths that the whole world now drinks. Our tour can start with a classic, relaxing Alpine landscape: the Lago Maggiore. From Arona we can touch the little known Gattinara and Ghemme wine zones. From Asti, we roam the lower and upper Monferrato, a region with the highest density of DOC wines: the light Freisa, the serious basic Barbera, the Dolcetto, the refreshing Moscato and the Asti Spumante.  We stop at exquisite estates as the Marchesi di Gresy, the Verduno Royal Castle - also a great family run restaurant - Gaja, Marchesi di Barolo, or Fontanafredda. This is a best chance to learn the differences between Barolos from different crus or from the la Morra and Serralunga communes, and the grand finale of our trip. By our careful selection of restaurants and wineries, we alternating wine and unforgettable tastings of the grand, little known, Piedmonts cuisine.

VENETO - FRIULI: From Venice to Verona and the Garda Lake. Take a tour in the elegant cities and to the Villas of the Venitian Republic. Follow the map of the big Amarone, the earthy Valpolicella, the Garda lake Chiaretto, the Spumante from Trento, the Prosecco, the aromatic whites from Bolzano, and the top Grappa from Bassano. Powerful, cosmopolitan, refined, the Venitian Republic was formed by these four regions. Its heritage is to be found in the old fashioned, polite culture, in the neat countryside, as well as in the famed proclivity of Venitians to feast, as in the Venice Carnival, to drink good wines, and to indulge to pleasures in general. The Northeast produces 1/5 of Italy’s wine and boast the largest percentage of DOCs, controlled quality wines. Celebrated for its good whites, as well as for its distinguished, durable reds, this region discloses a variety that will satisfy every and each drinker in any moment of life. The wines you can taste in the wineries along the way of your tour may be a Prosecco, or a Bardolino chiaretto from the Garda Lake. The seafood and "risotti" will combine with Soave or with the classy whites from Friuli. The pasta with the drinkable, local Merlot and Cabernet, naturalised in the Piave plain and in the Colli Euganei. Reds from native Corvina grape in Valpolicella, shall enhance the meat, the fresh cheeses, and prosciutto from San Daniele. The richest dishes, and the cheeses from Asiago will lead us to the top of range Amarone, the incredibly powerful, patriarch of the Venitian wines. The fertile countryside offered food in abundance, including vegetables, fruits, game, large shrimp and river trout. Venetian cooks are proud of their ability to combine foods and invent sauces to enhance to origian flavour of the ingredients.