Chasing Down
The Best Alpine Wines in Italy
The mountainous regions of Italy give birth to some of our country’s greatest wines and most unique locations. Not to mention traditional distilleries and mouth-watering foods. This tour is an exploration of all of this, from the super steep winemaking cliffs of the Cinque Terre to the alpine vineyards of the Dolomites, while hitting the legendary foothills where Prosecco and Amarone come to life.
Day 1
Your Italian wine tour gets its start in Levanto, a gorgeous seaside town in the Italian Riviera. All participants arrive in Levanto independently, and after checking into your hotel, as a group we do a short walking tour around the medieval city center, so that you can get your bearings. Afterwards, we will do an “apericena”, the Italian version of wine and light dinner, which will more than satisfy you before you are ready to head to bed early after your long day of traveling.
Day 2
As a group, we head into the Cinque Terre by train (it’s just a short ride), stopping in jaw-dropping Manarola. We’ll visit the village and get all the vistas before going to do a Cinque Terre wine tasting with a famous local sommelier. Alongside the wines, you’ll learn about the history of winemaking in the area and you’ll practice first-hand the Italian way of tasting wines. The Cinque Terre is famous for crisp, salty white wines and for the legendary Sciacchetrà straw wine, and you’ll get a taste of all of these.
Day 3
Our day starts out again in the Cinque Terre. Our first stop is Monterosso, where we stroll between the old and new parts of town and make a stop at the amazing Franciscan Monastery overlooking the sea. Then we head to Vernazza, the crown jewel of the Cinque Terre. After visiting the village, we will go to the Cheo vineyard and wine cellar where we will meet with the winemaker, talk about the incredibly difficult technique of making wine in this arduous and fragile territory, and taste the fruits of his labor.
This evening, we will all enjoy dinner together in a restaurant featuring Ligurian specialties.
Day 4
Today is a transfer day, getting us halfway between the sea and the alps. But it’s worth the stop! Our private bus will take us from Levanto to the hills outside Parma, where we will stop at a Parmigiano-Reggiano cheesemaker. After seeing how the King of Cheese is made and visiting their organic dairy farm, we will do a tasting and lunch at the cheesemaker. After lunch, the bus will take us a bit further to Modena, where we have a real treat for you. As much as we hate to admit it, you can do things other than wine with grapes, and the most incredible of all of these is traditional balsamic vinegar. The fascinating art of turning grape juice into the most exquisite vinegar that lasts 15, 30, 50, even 100 years is something that the owners of Acetaia San Matteo are proud to show you, and they will enchant you with their passion and their products. A tasting with different types of vinegar and wine will be served.
After all this, we will check into a nearby hotel, where you are free to do what you wish for dinner.
Day 5
In the morning, the bus will take us from Modena to Bolzano, where we will be staying for three nights. You will be free to wander around in the morning and do lunch as you please. After lunch, a local guide will give us a walking tour of the city, showing off the town and its history, and explaining how this part of Italy is so unique and different from the rest of the country. You’ll quickly understand why Bolzano is often voted the most livable city in Italy.
In the evening, a group dinner is organized in order to sample the unique Alto Adige cuisine.
Day 6
Today we will be exploring the heart of the Dolomite winemaking region along the world-famous “weinstrasse.” In the morning we start by visiting the organic vineyards of Elena Walch. The rich variety of grapes that give spectacular results in this region are on display, from Pinot Nero to Sauvignon Blanc and others in between. There will be lunch served at the winery.
Then after lunch, we will go into the Suisi Valley to visit another, smaller winemaker and do a sampling of his wines.
Once we get back to Bolzano, everyone is free for the rest of the day.
Day 7
First up today is the legendary winemaker Giulio Ferrari. Ferrari is a wine powerhouse in Italy and rightfully so: they were the first in this area to create absolutely top-notch unforgettable champagne-style sparkling wine, now known as Trento DOC. Learn about the “Metodo classico” technique while sampling their heady wines and doing lunch at the cellar.
After lunch, it’s time for the Italian tradition of an after-meal digestif. We drive just a few more minutes down the road to the Marzadro Distillery to see inside the operations of a grappa producer. Grappa is the final stage of winemaking: the pressed grape skins are distilled to make a liquor than can be as fiery or smooth as the producer wants. Marzadro makes some of the best.
Day 8
Another transfer day, but once again, our bus will make a wonderful stop midway in the heart of the land of Prosecco: the sensuous hills of Valdobbiadene. Everyone is drinking it, but not everyone gets to do it where it comes from. We stop at one of our favorite prosecco producers to learn about its history and tradition before it became the world’s favorite bubbly. Lunch served along with the wine tasting at the cellar.
From here, we take the bus on to Verona, where you check into our hotel and have the rest of the day free.
Day 9
Just one organized stop on this, our last day together, but it’s a big one. Amongst the top wines of Italy, Amarone is one of the most celebrated, and we are going to a wonderful producer – Stefano Accordini – whose vineyards just happen to be the highest amongst all Amarone makers. Taste not only their Amarone, but 6 different wines presented by the wine cellar during lunch.
The rest of the day in Verona is free to spend as you like, but we can’t say goodbye without a blowout meal, so we’ll be doing a final group dinner at a legendary Slow Food restaurant whose owner once oversaw a dinner between the Roman Catholic Pope and the Eastern Orthodox Patriarch.
