4 Months, 10 Wineries, 86 Bottles...Just Getting Started

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I'm thinking once a quarter might be just right to take inventory.  We still need to do our research but it sounds like we'll be able to take somewhere between 400-600 bottles of wine home with us when we move back to the States.  So we are fully committed to amassing our European wine collection.  We might actually need to slow things down. 

It all might blur together so I'll try to take a pause periodically to capture the wineries we've visited.  So far we've visited 10 wineries...primarily here near Vicenza and in the Soave and Valpolicella wine regions.

Moving over here we were hoping there would be a Wine Club we could connect with and thankfully early on we learned of the Wine Club attached to the Vicenza Community Club.  They do a monthly wine trip and I've done every one so far except for the trip in August and the long weekend trip they did recently over Columbus Day weekend.

Tom's using an iPhone app to log the wines we have purchased and he said our virtual cellar already includes 86 bottles of Italian wine.

So...the first winery was Serego Alighieri Masi.  This was the June Wine Club trip.  This house and estate belong to the direct descendants of Dante.  Yes...THE Dante.  The estate is surrounded by Valpolicella vineyards.     
Bought first bottles of Amarone here.
Not yet ripe...but looking good
On our way home from visiting this estate we made a side trip to Fratelli Vogadori.  I didn't buy anything on that stop but imagine I will on future visits.
Next wine adventure was to Abbazia di Novacella, a monastery in the hills near the Austrian border.  Due to the elevation and weather...they grow grapes here that are commonly grown in Germany.  This was our July Wine Club trip.    
Monastery's vineyards
Next stop was Enomas Muraro, which I already blogged about.  This winery was near the hotel where we were staying and has what we lovingly refer to as gas-pump wine.
We're loving how dog friendly it is over here.  They boys will be wine connoisseurs too.

In September the Wine Club trip was to a nearby winery, Tenuta Maraveja, where we helped with the harvest.  It was a really enjoyable morning.  Beautiful weather, about three hours picking grapes, and then they served us lunch and we got to try their wines.  I did this trip solo as Tom was in Slovenia with a friend.
You'll be seeing a lot of these.  I love taking pictures of grape clusters.
One of my many buckets...the fruit of my labors
Filling up the truck
White grapes...don't see many of those around here.  Red is king in Italy.
Over Columbus Day holiday weekend we took a day trip to Soave.  I blogged about that trip too.  Here we met Soave for the first time...a white wine.  We didn't have reservations for either of the wineries we stopped at but nonetheless we got two great tastings.  First up was Villa Mattielli and second was Filippi.


I like the corks in the shape of Italy.  Maybe a craft project when we get back to the States.
Crews were bringing in the harvest when we were there.

View of Filippi's vineyards
October also included another Wine Club trip.  This time to Piovene Porto Godi.  We got a tour and a wine class.
One of their newer cellars

We've been busy in October.  Time for one more wine trip.  This one was to the Valpolicella region.  Our wedding anniversary was on October 25 and Tom asked what I might want to do.  I suggested we go to Valpolicella and visited a winery that we first visited back in 2010.  We were living in Germany at the time and got lucky enough to join a wine club trip down to Lake Garda, here in Northern Italy.  It was on this trip that we first met Amarone, which has been a favorite ever since.  The winery is Le Marognole.  It was wonderful being back.  We got a little tour and a great tasting and walked away with a case (6 bottles) of Amarone.  We plan to go back each year we are here.
We made it!  So excited.
The grapes dry for a few months before they are processed.
Reunited and it feels so good...
Just down the road was another winery, Le Bignele.  We had another great tour here and wonderful tasting.
Had the boys with us.
Tom looking a little blurry eyed

My boys
I thought the golden leaves were so beautiful.
A great anniversary trip and only one hour down the road!
We're just getting started so stay tuned for more wine adventures.  We haven't even gotten back to Tuscany yet.  Brunello...we are coming for you!

P.S. It took some digging but I found the photos from our first trip to Valpolicella.  It was October 2010.  So we returned almost seven years later.  I had thought it was a Memorial Day trip but it must have been over the Columbus Day holiday.  Here are a couple photos from that trip and our first visit to Le Marognole.  Great memories. 


     
  
    

Comments

  1. UnknownNovember 1, 2017 at 9:03 AM

    I've been watching your FB posts but to see it all together is amazing. What a wonderful adventure you are on, thank you for sharing it with us, it is certainly an inspration to embrace life. How exciting to be building an Italian Wine Collection!! Many blessing to you and Tom on your travels.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. NicoleNovember 1, 2017 at 10:38 AM

      Heather...thank you so much for the sweet message. We are really enjoying this amazing adventure and feel very blessed. We'll have plenty of wine to share with friends and family once we get back home to Arizona.

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