travel

A DRIVING TOUR FROM VENICE

By CINDA CHAVICH

(Venice, Italy) - Venice is an iconic destination by any measure – the gondoliers gliding by along the Canal Grande, the pigeons and pedestrians competing for space in Piazza San Marco, the treasures of its impressive Basilica and narrow back streets to explore.

But when you’ve had enough of the city’s glitz and glamour, do what Venetians have done for centuries and head out to explore the provincial towns of the Veneto, the historic kingdom of the former Republic. From Treviso to Verona, it’s also Italy’s third largest wine producing region, and you can taste your way through some of the finest bubbly Prosecco, fiery grappa, delicate Soave whites and intense Amarone reds in the land.

LEG ONE: (Venice to Conegliano - 68 km)

Head north from Venice along highways A27, through the bustling provincial capital of Treviso, with its 16th-century town centre, canals and Gothic churches.

Continue north on the A27 to Conegliano, the medieval town which is at the heart of the Prosecco wine region, famed for it’s champagne-style bubbly wines, and a short 40-minute drive from Venice. It doesn’t take long to realize you’re in wine country – as you head north toward the Dolomites, the sea-level flatlands are quickly replaced by gently rolling hills covered with row upon row of vines.

Conegliano makes a good base for exploring the Prosecco Wine Route. Head into the old centre of town and to Via XX Settembre or Contrada Grande, the main route through the city’s old fortifications, and a street lined with 500-year-old frescoed buildings. Explore the town on foot, ducking into the Duomo (cathedral) to admire the still vibrant Madonna and Child altar piece painted in the 1400s by local native Giovani Battista Cima, famed for his artistic “snap shots” of this pretty region. Climb the narrow cobblestone streets and worn mossy steps, past more frescoes revealed behind the crumbling plaster of almost every façade, to the 11th-century castle that dominates the highest point in town.

Here you can gaze over the landscape, scanning the plains to the south to Venice and the rolling hills of vines to the north and east, from Feletto all the way to Valdobbiadene, where the finest Prosecco wines are made using the local Prosecco grape.

The 45-km Prosecco Wine Route follows the ridges through San Pietro di Feletto and Refrontolo, with its romantic waterfall and 16th-century mill. The scenic road winds through many small towns and villages, famous for making wines for wealthy Venetians for centuries. The route roughly parallels the Piave River, a landscape of conical hills and valleys carved by an ancient glacier which left moraines and alluvial terraces in its path, soils now criss-crossed with small farms and their patchwork of individual vineyards. It’s also an area which was bombed to near oblivion during the last world war, and beneath some grassy slopes, the scars of trenches and ruined buildings are still visible.

Detour north to Follina to see the 12th-century Santa Maria Abbey, where monks once lived and worked within the ancient walls, and wander inside the peaceful courtyard with its unique collection of carved stone pillars.

Valdobbiadene is your destination, home to some of the most distinguished Proscecco houses in the region.

The small highway twists and climbs through the charming villages of Santo Stefano and Saccol enroute, past dizzyingly steep vineyards, each row of grape vines with its own terrace.This is where the very best Italian bubbly is made - Prosecco Superiore di Cartizze - and in September you can take in the National Exhibition of Sparkling Wine or visit in spring for other festivals that celebrate the local drink. Ask the prosecco consorzio (www.prosecco.it) about arranging wine tastings at top properties like Bisol, Bortolomiol, Carpene Malvotti, Bortolotti, Ca Vittoria and Nino Franco wineries.

This is the foothills region of the Dolomite Mountains, so you can find trails to hike in the chestnut and fir forests, and typical mountain cheeses like Montasio and big sopressa salami to sample from small butcher shops like Salumifiocio Damuzzo in Col San Martino, a small town along the wine route.

This province is also known for both rice and radicchio (red chicory) so look for a delicious local dish that combines both, risotto al radicchio. Or stop in at the Latteria di Conegliano (0438 60777) where the region’s delicate and soft Casatella Trevigiana cheese is made fresh every morning, and you can sample Imbriago, the local sharp cheese aged in grape skins. There are small cafes and wine bars facing almost every town square, so never resist the impulse to stop, sit and sip.

Good sleeps:

Canon d’Oro Hotel, along the historic via XX Settembre in Conegliano, in one of the town’s most beautiful frescoed buildings (0438 34 249)

Hotel Villa Abbazia, a lovely Relais & Chateaux property in Follina, with an elegant restaurant and tea room (www.hotelabbazia.it)

Good eats:

Wine by the glass at Al Milani Enoteca con Cucini in Follina (0438 971 412)

The finest local dining at Ristorante La Corte in Follina, featuring creative versions of traditional dishes (0438 971 277)

Ristorante Da Gigetto in Miane for local specialties (0438 960 020)

www.commune.conegliano.tv.it

LEG TWO: (Conegliano to Soave - 140 km)

From the idyllic little vineyards of Prosecco, head south to another famed Italian white wine region, Soave. It’s a two-hour drive, south on highway A27, then west along the busy A4 toward Verona. But if you resist the lure of the big city and stay in small Soave, just 30 km west of Verona, you’ll be rewarded with another spectacular medieval town and bucolic rural region to explore.

Soave – both a town and a wine region - was the first area in Italy to create an “enoturista” or wine route for touring, aimed at linking wineries, historical sights and good spots to stop for food and lodging (www.stradadelvinosoave.com). This is the place where the indigenous Garganega grape is used to make the typical dry white Soave wines, but there are also sweet Recioto di Soave dessert wines (made with grapes dried for several months in cool attic rooms before pressing) that are a must to try.

It is the ancient castle and walled city of Soave that is instantly impressive when you arrive here – the 10th century fortress it set high on a hill and is in view wherever you are in the region and makes the perfect backdrop to the Medieval White Wine Festival held each spring. A tour of the historic castle – with its 12th century frescoes from the della Scala dynasty, bits of ancient armour and weapons, and spooky tower where prisoners were dropped to their death – is a must, if only for the views from the battlements. Many battles were fought here and stepping over the drawbridge brings to mind the knights in movies like Robin Hood or Monty Python’s Holy Grail.

You can begin visiting Soave wineries for tastings right inside the ancient town walls. Start at the wine route office and they will help plot your tour, from the local Cantina di

Soave co-operative, with its tasting bar and large wine shop, to the premium producers like Coffele and Pieropan on the main street, or just sit in a local café and taste. Along the wine route, you can visit family-owned wineries like Ca Rugate, Gini, La Cappucina, Filippi, Suavia and Montetondo, some which also offer bed and breakfast style accommodation.

The wine route is 50 km long, winding up through hillside vineyards, past parish churches and castles, and through 13 tiny municipalities.

The road heads east from Soave to Monteforte d’Alpone, where you can see the 15th-century Santa Maria Maggiore parish church and archbishop’s palace, and the 8th-century Romanesque Abbey of San Pietro in San Bonifacio. From here, you can follow a number of northerly routes through the steepest, and best, vineyards of the Soave region, through towns like Brognoliogo and Fitta to the high point at Castelcerino, where you have panoramic views of vineyards and valleys.

The steep hills rise between the Alpone and Tramigna rivers, and there are many places along the way where you will want to pull over and gaze out over the valleys of vineyards to the plains of Verona, the old city walls of Soave and the castle a hazy reminder of your destination in the distance.

From here, turn south down steep, winding roads down to Costeggiola, then follow the valley north. Head west, switching back over another pass to reach Illasi, with its impressive Perez Pompei-Sangramoso Villa, once the seat of government but now the elegant Le Cadrare restaraurant, set in a forested park that looks down over valleys of vines, cherry and chestnut trees.

From here you can make your way back to Soave heading straight south through Caldiero, or branch off through Colognola ai Colli, a lovely town, perched high on a hill, with the ruins of Villa Spinola and a pretty park.

The wine route encompasses a mesh of interlacing roads that invite leisurely exploration. You might even want to abandon your car in favour of a bike or a pair of hiking boots to explore this compact, but hilly region. It’s the course for the Montefortiana marathon – one of Italy’s most famed runs and a sister to the New York marathon – and there are three marked cycling routes through this classic winegrowing valleys.

While you’re in the region, enjoy the local cuisine,

based on ingredients like the famed Vialone Nano rice for risotto, olive oil, chestnuts and the Cazzano black cherries, often found preserved with sugar in the local grappa. Dishes like risotto i bisi (with peas), fresh tagliatelle pasta with tomatoes and peas, snails and black truffles, and rustic cherry tarts are all part of the culinary mix.

Good Sleeps:

Hotel Roxy Plaza in Soave (0456 190 660)

Filippi Agriturismo, at the historic winery near Castelcerino in rural Soave (0457 675 005)

Hotel Regina, an elegant property in the hills around Castelcerino (0457 675 260)

Good Eats:

Enoteca di Monteforte in Monteforte d’Alpone (0457 613 422)

La Cappuccina restaurant operated by the winery in Monteforte d’Alpone (visit the tasting room and 1400s private chapel, too). (0456 175 036, www; lacappuccina.it)

The elegant Le Lance D’Oro at Le Cedrare villa in Illasi (0456 520 719, www.lecedrare.it)

Ristorante Baba-Jaga in Montecchia di Crosara (0457 450 222, www.baba-jaga.com)

LEG THREE (Soave to Negrar and Sant’Anna d’Alfaedo via Verona – 70 km)

Valpolicella is the next significant wine region of the Veneto,

the place where famous red wines like fresh classic Valpolicella and the deep, rich inky Amarones, made from grapes still laid to dry for months on bamboo racks, are found.

Heading west on the A4 out of Soave, take route 11 through the city of Verona, then continue west and north of the city towards Negrar.

Wineries are scattered throughout the countryside outside Verona, a high plain that rises up to the Lessinia mountains to the north and reaches olive and grape-studded foothills of Bardolino near Lake Garda in the west. Along the way, you’ll find the marble quarries which supplied the materials for the dozens of historic villas that

dot the countryside, the summer homes of wealthy Veronese nobles in the hills. Some of these now house wineries that you should seek out for both the architecture and classical gardens, and the fine wine.

One such stop should be Bertani set in the elegant 18th-century Villa Novare in the heart of the Valpolicella region near Abrizzano, just northwest of Verona. With its frescoes and statuary, a wine museum and historic cellars, you can learn how the Amarone grapes are dried and taste some of the region’s finest vintages (0458 658 444, www.bertani.net).

In nearby Negrar, you’ll find Villa Rizzardi and The Gardens of Pojega, classical Italian-style gardens designed for Count Antonio Rizzardi in 1783. Wandering among the allees of huge cypress and aromatic plants, with statues of mythical figures and a grassy amphitheatre edged in boxwood, is an excellent counterpoint to a tasting of Guerrieri Rizzardi’s classic Valpolicella and delicious Ripasso-style wines, enhanced with flavorful, partially dried grapes.

The Valpolicella area is also known for pork sopressa, coppa, suckling pig porchetta, olive oil and sharp Monte Veronese and Cimbro cheese (aged in Amarone skins from winemaking).The ultimate place to taste and buy these artisan products is Benedetti, a stylish destination deli and cheese shop worth the pilgrimage to Sant’Anna d’Alfaedo (www.benedettilessinia.it), north of Negrar. Fill your bags with picnic food.

Continue north and you’ll soon find yourself in the mountains, the local outdoor playground with vacation hotels, hostels and family-run restaurants,

and the base for sports from cycling to skiing. It’s here that the Bavarian Cimbri settled in the 1200s, bringing their traditions of cheesemaking, and where you can still see remnants of stone villages, with their slab stone roofs and herds of dairy cattle.

Look for restaurants serving local specialties

like pasta with dark truffles, lardo (a spread of pork fat, rosemary and cracklings for bread), and beef braised in Amarone wine.

Return to Verona, driving south through San Pietro in Cariano and Pedemonte, stopping at the Scamperle family’s LeSalette winery and cantina in Fumane enroute. While you’ve been a world away, 90 minutes on the speedy A4 highway puts you right back in Venice.

www.tourism.verona.it

Jaunt: Venice to Verona (via Conegliano and Soave)

Distance: Approx. 300 km (including wine routes)

Fuel: 1 tank

Duration: 3-5 days

Prime Time: May through October

Tunes: Andrea Bocelli’s Romanza or Il Divo’s Ancora

www.tastereport.com

WINE TOURISM: Exploring Italy’s Veneto region

Italy’s Veneto region is home to the finest bubbly Prosecco, fiery grappa, delicate Soave and intense Amarones in the land.

photos by Cinda Chavich