Ciao a tutti,
I hope you’re all well and looking forward to winding down soon as we prepare to welcome in a new year. There has been so much going on in the last couple of months that I can hardly believe the year is nearly over! This was a really big year for lots of people as the pandemic got under control and I hope it was a better year for you than the last couple.
Personally, we started this year in quarantine in the very far north of Italy and since then have moved to Rome, started new jobs, got engaged, run the very first Untold Italy tours (something that I still pinch myself about!), and will end the year finally back home in Australia for a whole month. It’s funny how much can change in a year, isn’t it?
Anyway, today I wanted to talk to you about visiting wineries when you travel to Italy. It’s likely a little different than what you’re used to back home so I wanted to provide a few pointers, plus my recommendations for three fabulous wineries after visiting some last week. I’ve also just started the first level of the Italian Sommelier course, so if you like wine stay tuned as I will be sharing more over the coming months!
At the end of this newsletter, I have two more exciting announcements to share. So scroll through to the end if you’re not into wine.
How to visit an Italian winery
Visiting a winery in Italy is almost a completely different experience to how it is back in Australia. Winery days back home normally involved squeezing in as many as you possibly could, hopping on a tour bus (or hiring a driver) so no one had to be the designated driver, and sitting back halfway through the day for a delicious lunch at one of the wineries.
In Italy, you can’t normally just show up at a winery unannounced and a lot of the time, they don’t have a dine-in restaurant where you can eat lunch or dinner. Plus, you’ll be lucky to visit more than two wineries in a single day, it’s just not done because they normally want to show you their entire property and really explain the ins and outs of their winemaking philosophies. That said, my top tips when you’re planning a winery day in Italy are:
Make an appointment ahead of time
Block out at least two hours per winery visit
Book a nearby restaurant for lunch or ask the winery for their recommendation when you make your booking
Hire a driver if you don’t want to be the designated driver (or join a tour like one of ours which always includes winery visits!)
3 Must Visit Wineries in Northern Italy
Last week I was invited on a press trip to head up north and discover three diverse wineries in three different regions of Italy - Veneto, Lombardia, and Friuli Venezia Giulia. Both Veneto and Lombardia are very popular with tourists, so if you’re heading to either of these regions next year, be sure to bookmark these places if you’d like to add a winery to your trip!
Lombardy: Mosnel
Have you ever tried Franciacorta before? It’s a sparkling wine from Lombardy that is every bit as complex as Champagne but incredibly unknown by the average person. Consider this- there are just 20 million bottles produced in the entire region vs 350 million in Champagne, and 700 million Prosecco!
It’s a real gastronomic wine that pairs really well with great food. Franciacorta is entirely hand-harvested and can be made with Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir and more recently Erbamat (an indigenous grape that was lost but has recently been rediscovered).
Mosnel is a family-owned winery that has been making wine since the 1960s and is well worth the trip. Their gorgeous Franciacorta is aged for a minimum of 24 months in the bottle (the standard in the region is 18 months) and is elegant, integrated and full of citrus and green notes. If you visit during the summertime, they prepare picnic baskets that you can grab and take into the winery for a gorgeous lunch and wine tasting. Heaven!
Veneto: Monte del Fra
If you’re planning a trip to Verona or Venice, here’s a lovely winery to add to your list. Monte del Fra was originally started by wine-making Friars. Today, the current family have been making wine here since the late 1950s in Custoza - one of the most beautiful areas outside Verona near to Lake Garda but lesser known than others. If you like white wine, they make elegant ones using Garganega, Trebbiano Toscano, Cortese and lncrocio Manzoni grapes, but they also produce red wines using Amarone.
My advice is to add this as a trip if you’re visiting Lake Garda or nearby Verona for a couple of hours. Then, head for lunch or dinner at a gorgeous nearby hamlet known as Borghetto Sul Mincio. It’s incredibly beautiful and you can wander over the canals! We dined at Antica Locanda Mincio, a member of the Italian Association of historic Inns and it was pure magic!
Friuli Venezia Giulia: Gravner
So far up north that it borders Slovenia, our final winery visit was undoubtedly the most different! This is an incredibly hard winery to visit as the team are tiny so if you don’t manage to get a booking, look out for their wine instead. They are organic and biodynamic operating (although without the certifications) and famous for their macerated or ‘orange’ wines, which they’ve been making well before it became ‘trendy’ to drink.
The main production here is indigenous Ribolla which is fermented and aged in Georgian amphora that they bury under the ground! Each bottle is kept to age for 7 years as it echoes the idea that every cell in the human body changes within the same time period. At this point, the wine is considered ‘ready’ to enter the world. The team consider 2011 to be their most special vintage yet, so if you’re curious to try Gravner wines, try and get a hold of this bottle!
I personally loved this winery because it really makes you stop and think. We were toured around by the owner and when the subject of natural wine came up, her take on it was something that really resonated and reminded me of how Emiko Davies’ sommelier husband Marco talks about this. Mateja says ‘wine can’t be natural, because it’s not made by itself’.
If you’re planning a trip around this area, I have the absolute best restaurant/accommodation idea for you. We had a ‘take home’ lunch from the nearby Michelin starred restaurant La Subida and it was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. They have a more casual Osteria at the property and you can also stay in their gorgeous little cottages.
Learn Italian now with 40% off the Intrepid Italian Course
I wanted to let you know that if you’ve had your eye on my friend Michele’s Italian courses, she’s offering 40% off for a limited time only. If you have a trip coming up, this is one of the best things you can do to prepare. Surprise the locals with your language skills, avoid tourist traps and have more authentic and memorable travel experiences using The Intrepid Guide’s unique 80/20 method. The offer ends Nov 28, 2022 at 23:59 PST.
The Untold Rome Tour is Here!
Finally, I have some incredibly exciting news to share that we’ve been working on in the background…we’ve launched a series of Untold Rome 3 day tours for 2023!
Whether this is your first trip to Rome, or your tenth, we’d love you to join us to fall under the magic of one of the greatest cities in the world. If you are intrigued by the people whose stories are the very fabric of this incredible city, you will love this food and wine-loving trip to the Eternal City.
And that’s it for now! So many exciting things happening and if you’re hoping to come to Italy next year, do stay tuned for some more thrilling updates to come. We’ve been working like little Italian honeybees on some really amazing itineraries to add to our suite for 2023 in addition to Puglia, Piedmont and Umbria.
Wishing you all a wonderful week,
Liv x