Wine Tasting - Wine Tours in Italy

Those who are visiting the major art cities in Italy in the early days of March, can enjoy important wine events.

In Rome, the Roma Wine Festival (Feb. 29 - Mar. 2) is an occasion to know Italy’s wines. Visitors to Roma Wine Festival will be able to taste through the wines of many of Italy’s finest estates, including the wines selected in the “Best 100” of 2008.
The fair features a section named The Grand Tour of Italy’s Wines which offers you the chance to sample the wines and get to know the many products of specific Italian regions, wine areas and cities.
Where: Rome; Venue: Spazio Etolie, Piazza San Lorenzo in Lucina. Details at http://www.romawinefestival.it .

In Venice, at “Gusto in Scena” (March 3 - 5), a 3-day wine tasting and conferencing event, selected wines are divided into four grape-growing areas, mountain, hill, plain, and nearby the sea and paired to regional recipes.
The event will be held at the Molino Stucky Hilton hotel, on the Giudecca island. The venue is 20 minutes ride with Vaporetto from Venice train station Santa Lucia. Molino Stucky Hilton hotel offers free waterbus from/to Piazza San Marco from 7:00 AM to 2:00 AM.
Where: Venice; Venue: Molino Stucky Hilton (Giudecca island). Event details at http://www.gustoinscena.it .

The city of Verona — in Veneto, offers you a chance to combine romance trips and tasting of excellent wines. With Verona setting for the history of the most famous lovers Romeo and Juliet as well as home for the major wine exhibition in Italy (WineItaly in early April), this Veneto’s city is an ideal destination for wine-romance trips.

This appears to be particularly true in the first half of February as a Valentine’s festival takes place there. It’s “Verona in Love“, festival inspired by the story of Romeo and Juliet, featuring a series of events dedicated to love and romance. It’s an annually festival; the 2008 edition runs from Feb. 9 through 17.
The ‘official wine’ for this romance festival is Soave, with Veneto — in particular the surroundings of Verona, major growing zone for this DOC wine.

Soave is a 12% white wine, with a light golden yellow color, a harmonious, semi-sweet taste and an intense and fruity aroma. You can have it dry still or dry sparkling. Soave Superiore is not to be released before March 1 of year following vintage. Up to six years, laying.

On November 6, as in any year, in Italy Novello Wine starts to be sold.

Novello is a primeur wine made from more than 60 different varieties of grape. Low in alcohol with a taste fresh and flavorful, Novello is a favorite among both wine amateurs and connoisseurs.

With more than 100 wine cellars across Italy which will open to the public for tasting the young wines, wine lovers will have more than a chance to taste seasonal foods and regional specialities offered to accompany the Novello wine tasting. In order to locate the cellars that will be open to the public, visit this web page (click the links “cantine della regione” to find out more about the cellars ).

Early November, Umbria offers an occasion to combine wine tastings with local delicacies and two of its major produce: truffle and olive oil. Some events in Umbria this week offer you a big chance to choose many enogastronomic tours combining wine, olive oil, truffle tasting with art, history and culture.

Beginning October 31 through November 4, two major white truffle exhibitions will be held in the historic towns of Città di Castello and Gubbio.
“Mostra del tartufo Bianco e dei prodotti agroalimentari” in Gubbio (October 31 through November 4) and “Mostra del Tartufo Bianco e dei prodotti del bosco” in Città di Castello (October 31 through November 4) will also feature local olive oil, wine, cheeses as well as the many woodland delicacies these zones offer.

Getting there (by public transp.):
- Città di Castello: take train to Perugia (Ponte S.Giovanni station, around a couple of hours away from Rome). In Perugia - Ponte S.Giovanni station change, take Ferrovia Centrale Umbra railway to Città di Castello
- Gubbio: take train to Perugia (around a couple of hours from Rome). In Perugia take a bus (Piazza Partigiani bus station) to Gubbio. From there it will take you around 1 hour.
- See Città di Castello and Gubbio on the interactive map.

“Frantoi Aperti“, is an event held in Umbria (November 3 and 4) to promote the local olive oil.
Many tours are being organized to guide visitors to ‘frantoi’ (where the olive oil is produced) located in an area well-known and appreciated from worldwide tourists for art, the beauty of its historic towns and the enchanting surrounding countryside. For event details and schedule visit frantoiaperti.net.

- Browse accommodations in Umbria.

Scenes from grape harvest and wine making in a farm located in the surroundings of Naples.
(via YouTube).