Even with the hassles of airport security, when it comes to flying we’re kids at heart.

The first clue was the gigantic size of the fermentation towers. We were at the Vezzoli winery in the Franciacorta region of northern Italy near the shores of Lake Iseo. Our guide, Arianna Vianelli of the Consorzio Franciacorta had taken us first to the Vezzoli winery, one of the major regional producers of sparkling wine, our first stop during a full two days of winery inspections and meetings with vintners. With a capacity of over 300,000 bottle a year, the Vezzoli winery is in the big leagues of sparkling wines made in the classical method but with a twist. The local “Solouva” method, recognized as the Franciacorta DOCG, uses grape sugar gathered from the first fermentation “must” back into the bottles for the second fermentation stage instead of using refined foreign sugar that most other vintners of sparkling wines rely on. The bottles are fermented longer and can be held in storage longer yet have a very fresh fruity taste. Some of their reserve wines are in storage for 60 months. The Rose Brut was especially wonderful. Later in the day we sampled Arianna’s own label of sparkling wines, Solo Uva. Delicious! Overall there are over 130 wineries in the Franciacorta region. We invite you to learn more through Arianna’s blog at unafranciacortinaincucina.com.

Imagine having your favorite chef uncle let you into his kitchen where he spends almost six hours with you discussing the mysteries of food, cooking and life, shares his tips around the stove and cutting board and invites you to try your hand at a few cooking maneuvers.. . That sums up our day spent with Chef Moreno Maglia. Chef Moreno, together with his wife Rossella, have been serving marvelous meals for over twenty years at the Ristorante il Caminetto “Fireplace,” their intimate gathering place located in a 500 year old building high in the hills overlooking Varenna. Chef Moreno prepared fresh pasta, ricotta and tomato sauce for tortelloni, a larger version of tortellini, plus yummy risotto and roasted lamb chops in a fresh bread crumb and herb coating. The restaurant was certainly a house of good smells. Needless to say, we indulged in a fabulous lunch as the wine flowed freely. Altogether we joined twelve other culinary adventurers, all Americans, for a lesson in the celebration of Italian food, life and culture.

As we wrap up our discovery tour of Italy’s Piemonte region we wish to thank Valerie and Evan of QVBE Vintners for their introductions to the many family-run culinary businesses and vintners who give this area such vitality.Val and Evan are highly personable, talented experts in the workings of the Piedmont food and wine scene and masters in their own rights on wine appreciation. The Piemonte wine districts of Barolo, Barbaresco, the Roero, and more were simply wonderful. We look forward to developing a series of northern Italy vacations for our travel guests and having a long and successful relationship with Valerie and Evan. We encourage you to follow Val’s blog at http://www.girlsgottadrink.com to learn more about Italy’s wine and tourism scene.

Wine makers speak with passion about their creations and we especially appreciate the opportunity to share in their enthusiasm. Our special thanks to our gracious hosts, Signore Antonio Deltetto and his lovely daughter Claudia , for their time and insights as we spent over three hours with them yesterday at the beautiful Deltetto family winery in Canale, Italy. Antonio happily explained the challenges and joys of the family wine business, now in its 60th year, and how the soils and hills of neighboring Piemonte Roero and Langhe regions lend themselves to different styles of wines based on the local Nebbiola and Barbera grapes as well as Arneis, Moscato, Pinot Nero, Chardonnay and other varietals.

Over 50% of the Deltetto label of elegant whites, fruity Pinots, noble reds and delightful brut and rose spumanti sparkling wines are exported to northern Europe and Scandinavia, Japan, Canada and the USA.
Antonio is especially proud of his Spumanti line which he started in 2000 and produces in the “Classic Method” of in bottle fermentation. We sampled Spumanti Brut Rose vintages going back to 2005 and were fascinated by the subtle differences. The 2007 was especially wonderful.

Overall, we lost count at how many bottles of the Deltetto line of fine wines we sampled through the morning. Antonio took us back to school for a morning well spent at the foot of a wine master about the great wines of Piemonte. We left with a notebook full of thoughts and look forward to our future shipment of Deltetto whites, reds and sparking wines.