Traveling Italy

You can't go to Italy and not visit the Italian Wine Region. You will find some of the oldest vineyards in the world and see where the best wines in Italy are produced. The Italian wine region produces about 20% of the world's wine.

You will be offered wine about everywhere you go since there are grapes grown over the entire region. The wine is made by everyone from the large wineries to the simplest villager. They say there are a million vineyards throughout the Italian wine region.

Since there are so many wineries to choose from, which ones should you see? One is the home of the Super Tuscan, which is the Tuscan region. The reason they are called the Super Tuscan is they do not follow the typical wine making rules. They make blends using a non-traditional method that combines certain grapes that are normally are not combined.

Northern Italy is the home of the Ca'Bruzzo Italian Winery which is close to Venice. There are 5 varieties of grapes grown there which produce about 20,000 bottles of wine a year. This winery is owned and run by a small family who believe their close physical contact with the vines bring greater flavor to their wines.

On your tour, not only will you get to taste the wine through the different stages of development, but you will see the wine cellar where the family will teach you how to make wine, and you will also learn the care of a vineyard. The main focus there is to grow their grapes organically which has the greatest benefits for the wine.

You will come across one of the most memorable wines of all of Italy and it is called "Est! Est! Est!" This is a semi-sweet white wine from Montefiascone which has a mildly fruity flavor with some effervescence.

The story is said that the wine was named after a German bishop who needed to get to Rome. Someone was send ahead of him and marked the doors of the inns that served the best wines all along the way. If the door was marked with the word "Est!" in chalk, the bishop would go there and try the wine. By the time he got to Montefiascone, he loved the wine so much that he marked the inn door with "Est! Est! Est!"

No matter which direction you choose or food you decide to eat, your visit to "Wine Italy", the Italian wine region, will be one you will always remember.