From Verona: Prosecco & Classic Method Sparkling wine tour, with light lunch

Join our full day wine tour in the glorious Prosecco Region, one of the most famous and appreciated Italian wine areas for its unspoiled nature, its historic villas and excellent sparkling wines…

Prosecco wines are Italy’s most popular sparklers. While it’s often compared to Champagne, it’s made with different grapes and a different winemaking method: the Charmat method.

The general public is certainly unaware that around 1750 the vine already identified with the name of Prosecco was well known in Veneto, but not in the area that is now considered the most suitable and historical, Valdobbiadene and the province of Treviso, but in Monteberico, on the Colli Berici, a few km from the city of Vicenza and less the one hour from Verona center.

This is a full-day outdoor experience to the “Colli Berici” Region: just 45 minutes driving from Verona city center, The Colli Berici area extends south of Vicenza, over a large area enclosed between the sweetness of the Adriatic and the majesty of the Alps.

The almost mythical origin of the hills is very ancient, born from the warm waters that we find today in the tropics and with the strength of the volcanoes it brings out the lands where we can now admire them. The result, combined with the climate tempered by the sea and protected by the mountains, is a landscape of great impact, where the work of man, especially of wine producers, has left important traces and nature has kept its charm intact.

We will start our day by visiting an authentic award-winning winery, famous for its Prosecco extra dry and pas dosé, all organic. We will immerse ourselves in the nature of this original 16th century estate, walking among the vineyards and the small riding school that surrounds it.

Their Prosecco is a wine that is born calm and reaches the vivacity of the perlage thanks to the processing with the Charmat method. And it is, above all, one of the few in Italy processed in purity, 100% prosecco.

During our tasting, a lunch will be served under the historic “barchessa” overlooking the vineyards.

The lunch is based on typical products of the area, such as their fragrant extra virgin olive oil, regional cheeses, charcuteries and other seasonal products.

In the afternoon we will immerse ourselves in a small village known for its prehistoric caves, paths, water mills, where we will visit the second family-run winery, where values ​​such as genuineness and passion for the land are expressed in their excellent wines.

During our wine experience we will learn and try the difference between Prosecco method and Classic method (the Champenoise method).

The key difference with the classic method lies in the use of a secondary fermentation process.

Instead of moving the wine into the ageing step of the process, somebody using the classic method will place their blended wine in bottles with a touch of yeast and some extra sugar. The bottle is sealed with a temporary plug and stored horizontally in a wine cellar. The wine then undergoes a second fermentation. Only this time, the temporary plug prevents the carbon dioxide the process creates from being released. Those gases stay in the wine, resulting in the creation of the bubbles that Champagne is so famous for.

All this facts and much more will be explained and comment and experience during our wine trip.

Back to Verona in the afternoon.