Posted: Wednesday, December 10 2008. 14:25

Proseccoland: Pleasure under Pressure

Federico Capraro is a proud man. Leading a walking tour of Conegliano city that included several mini palaces and the famous Castle for our group of dozen he did not care to be addressed as the tour guide, but a friend instead.

Federico is also the young owner of the well known, family run Canon d'Oro Hotel, a refurbished 15 th century mini palace, situated on the historical XX September Street in this ancient Italian town, 40 minutes north of Venice, It is also the gateway to the Land of Prosecco, one of the most beautiful wine regions of Italy, known for its light hearted sparkling wines and the lush vineyards. His hotel offers comfortable stay and a personalised service that included his volunteering for this walk. It offers a kick start for a beautiful one-week holiday to someone looking for a zara-hatke vacation.

Passing by several old elegant buildings, we passed the house of Giambattista Cima, the famous 15 th century renaissance painter from the city. The walk up to the castle was invigorating under the warm sun. The castle looked beautiful from outside, especially with a glass of Prosecco in hand. After visiting many of our forts and palaces, especially our own recently designated Unesco Heritage property, Red Fort, I did not think it would impress as much as the beautiful valley with lush vineyards all around.

What on earth is Prosecco, you might wonder. Actually it is the name of the yellow coloured grape variety found mostly in this region. It makes young, fruity, fresh and uncomplicated sparkling wine. Insipid still wine used to be made for centuries, but the charm of making a sparkling wine from this grape was discovered 150 years ago.

Taking the cue from Champagne, a couple of local visionaries realised the potential this grape had to conceive a delicious and frothy bubbly. The process of second fermentation in the bottle, used by Champagne in the neighbouring France was replaced by the secondary fermentation in the tank to produce a young,  fresh and fruity Prosecco as in its modern avatar. Original method is still used to make some bubbly, using other grape varieties.

The beauty of Prosecco is that it is very fruity and frothy, has low alcohol and is refreshing and easy on the palate and the wallet. A glass or two are welcome at any time of the day, at any occasion. But its charm lies in its capability to accompany the complete meal, especially the vegetarian cuisine- even Indian chilli-under-control  dishes.

For most of our visits charted our course close to La Strada del Prosecco, The Wine Road of Prosecco. The first wine route set up in Italy in 1966, it has been revamped to give tourists an opportunity to explore the gorgeous terrain. The 27-kms stretch starting from Conegliano, the de facto social capital to Valdobbiadene, the wine capital on the other end has some truly breathtaking views that remind you of beautiful hill station in India. Tight and winding roads on the gentle rolling hills go past several vineyards on the way. This is the road you will become most familiar with during your vacation as most of the 150+ wineries are located on and around this road, which is in the shape of a loop.

One thing that struck me the most was that the winery owners are all very proud of their tradition and are passionate of making wines. While it offers a vocation to most producers, many do it just for passion and to stay in touch with nature.

Sojourn in the agriturismo: The whole of Italy is full of Agriturismo, a modern version of Bed and Breakfast small hotels. Known as relais, these were designed to give the visitors an opportunity to stay on the agricultural properties where one could enjoy the food made from the local produce on the property.

There has been a new trend of wine producers renting out the place of stay on the vineyards. Several small properties with 5-15 rentable rooms have come up in the Conegliano-Valdobbiadene region in the recent past and more are being built. They offer modern facilities, breathtaking views, a relaxing time and the added option of drinking and learning about wines produced by the estate. Here are a few that I visited and are recommended.

Alice- Relais nelle Vigne :  This agriturismo owned by the Bellenda wine estate,  near Vittorio Veneto, the northern end of the Prosecco territory is easily accessible by car from Venice on highway A27. It promises you a marvellous, relaxing time amidst the tranquil Prosecco hills all around. You could play golf at any of the 5-6 golf courses around (Green Fee around € 50). You may take a walk through the vineyards and find yourself even in the company of Cinzia Canzian who owns Alice as also a small winery of the same name, with a woman partner. 'To prove I can make wines too' she says with a twinkle in her eyes. No matter how much your interest in wines, you will come out sounding like a connoisseur after a brief sojourn here.

While breakfast is included in all such relais, at Alice you will also enjoy  local cheeses and charcuterie with a glass of Prosecco or two in the evening with compliments of the house. You can even ask the owner Umberto Cosmo wine production related questions like how he controls the yields in his vineyards or how many days is the secondary fermentation carried out. Trattorias and small restaurants abound in the neighbourhood, offering casual to haute cuisine in the evenings. They even prepare picnic baskets for lunch at reasonable prices.

Rooms cost upwards of €100 for a double room with a discount in August. All modern facilities are provided in the rooms.

Foresteria Duca di Dolle: This property in the hilly town of Rolle, owned by the well known Bisol winery has been named after one of their Prosecco labels. It rents out apartments for the families. One could go for long walks or admire the beautiful surroundings lying down at the poolside. At €120 and more for an apartment per day, it is a mouth-watering option for the families who cannot live without their quota of Indian meals. Supermarkets are close by if you carry the Indian spices. Says Gian Luca Bisol, eldest of the cousins, who looks after this B & B, is fairly knowledgeable about India and the facilities he offers have a definite character just like his wines.

Prime Gemme : This refurbished 80-year old farmhouse run by Cesare Ruggeri, owner of Le Colture winery is located in their vineyards, near river Piave, on the Panoramic Road, another scenic route about 6 kms from Conegliano. You could go horse riding or to the nearby newly created modern health center for a swim or a body tone up.

Sitting in the garden outside, facing river Piave, with eyes closed, I could almost feel the Austrians firing canon from the other side of the river during World War I, when they had caused heavy casualties to the Italian side. Now, of course, the whole area belongs to Italy.

The facility offers breakfast prepared from seasonal products grown naturally in  their own garden. A newly built tasting room offers you the option of sampling their wines with delicious finger foods made from their own vegetables, wild herbs and mushrooms etc. Sitting in the tasting room, their Prime Gemme Prosecco tasted even more flavourful and if it were not for our luncheon appointment elsewhere, we would have loved to sprawl across the garden for a snooze, after a couple of glasses of their bubbly- something I could sincerely recommend.

The central location, modern facilities and an attractive price starting at € 80 a day make it an ideal option to use it even as the base for a week holiday in this region. By renting a car for about € 300 a week, I could go back to visit Venice in 50 minutes, drive around the Prosecco hills, on the Strada del Prosecco or the Strada Panoramica,  I could even drive to the historical city of Cortina in the North in an hour  for a day trip to the Dolomites Mountains that help prevent cold winds blow into this region; the grapes on the vines love it.

At all these facilities I was very impressed by the preservation of original architecture as much as possible with pride and passion. The old buildings have been renovated but the heritage has been proudly protected.

Eating out in this region can be fun. While the entire stretch of Strada del Prosecco and the small towns on the way is full of restaurants and trattorias- don't look for a McDonalds though, one restaurant you must visit is Ristorante Da Gigetto. Boasting the quality as good as a Michelin star restaurant, this is the best restaurant to have excellent meal with local cuisine. Located in Miane, 5kms from Valdobbiadene, it is run by Luigi, affectionately known as Gigetto and young Marco, who is the first chef.

 Da Gigetto has one of Italy's top ten wine cellars-our host told us it was one of the top three. Spread over several seamlessly connected rooms in the basement, littered with wine bottles lying in a method only known to the sommeliers, it stores about 20,000 bottles of 1600 labels. Luigi tells us how he is so very passionate about of his €1.5 million wine collection even though it seems to be too large for the 100-cover restaurant. 'I sell wine only to the restaurant customers but collecting wine is my passion,' he says while presenting me with the wine Menu. It is a full sized register that would take away a kilo of my 30 kg. allowance when I return, but could not resist carrying back.

The low wine prices at this gourmet restaurant would put any of our hotels and stand alone restaurants to shame. The delicious meal in the warm and rustic settings averages at €40 for lunch and €50 at dinner time without wine. A visit to this place is an absolute must if you ever drive through this neighbourhood. We had different hosts for the lunch and dinner and ended up visited it twice one the same day and with no regrets. The walls, ceiling, the table settings, the small PDR for eight are all full of artefacts that give you the feeling of eating at an old aristocrat family's house. The food is simple and delicious; Luigi's personal conversations and interaction  with different guests make you wonder how he knows all his guests personally so well.

Another restaurant I would recommend visiting is Le Corte at the fancy relais Villa Abbazia in Follina (tariff between €180 and €500); it will set you back by €45-65. There are several trattorias and casual eateries greet you at several places along,

serving reasonably priced Italian food, but don't expect McDonald's and Pizza Huts.

Most of us found the food delicious but were missing the hot chilli peppers. When I mentioned to our host sitting next to me, that we love red chillies in our meal , he also asked for some peperoncino, the red crushed peppers, lo and behold, the folks from Malaysia, China and  Singapore rushed for it. We could see  horror on the faces of the local Italians; we were told it was strange but not rude to ask, if we wanted to kill the aromas and flavours. So, don't be embarrassed about requesting for some., 'Posso un po di peperoncino, per favour,' will get you the aphrodisiac for your palate.

If you have the penchant to try something different on your next holiday, Prosecco land may be an ideal alternative. Here is a toast to your next vacation with what else but… a glass of Prosecco!

Subhash Arora