May 10, 2018
Day 10 - Road Trip Day
We were up at 7:30am for a quick breakfast then it was on the road by 9am. We headed south east on the A1 Autostarde until we reach the north part of Bologna where we connected with the A13 Autostrade making our way north to the Colli Euganei. The Colli Euganei is quite like the Sutter Buttes of Northern California, but it is very accessible unlike the Sutter Buttes. Here is a link to a very good website covering the Colli Euganei. www.euganeanhills.com
Here's a quick peek at what one will occasionally see while on the Autostrade... a completely crazy and very aggressive driver.
We made a gas stop above Bologna at an AutoGrill rest stop and took some relief then browsed in the AutoGrill shop.
Apparently the craft beer movement is alive and well in Italy! Our first visit of the day was at the Vignalta Winery located up in the extinct volcanoes of the Colli Euganei. The winery sits just outside the town of ArquĂ Petrarca. As we got to the edge of the Colli Colli Euganei, we passed through a few small towns and then began to see the hills of the extinct volcanoes. Then it was a short steep ascent to about the 700' elevation.
We arrived at Vignalta around 11am and were greeted by Lucio Gomiero, the owner who is a very dear friend of Darrell's. Lucio lead Darrell and Shaun into the cellar.
I took some footage of the retail shop and tasting room then, because the weather was patchy with sun and clouds, I decided to get some aerial video of the vineyards before any showers started in.
Lucio sampled us on a number of his wines including numerous vintages of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Pinot Noir. Darrell liked one of the Cabernet Franc vintages so much that he made arrangements with Lucio to have it bottled under our Corti Brothers label. All of this hard work made us hungry and it was time for lunch. Lucio had us follow him to a nearby restaurant. After a fifteen minute drive through the beautiful twists and turns of the Colli Euganei , we arrived at Trattoria Da Sgussa in the town of Faedo. www.trattoriadasgussa.it
We sat outside under the awning and were served house made salumi and cheese. Lucio brought along six of his wines for lunch. I had the lamb rib chop dish, which was absolutely delicious! They served chocolate cookie wafers with a tiramisu style cream. Trattoria Da Sgussa was spot on! If ever in the Colli Euganei, I highly recommend a stop for lunch or dinner.
It was now time to drive to our next destination, Luxardo Girolamo S.P.A. the famous six generation distiller who was the creator of Maraschino cherry liqueur. Luxardo sits just outside of the town of Torreglia, which lies inside the Colli Euganei. It was a short 15 minute drive from the restaurant which saw many twists and turns, then a descent with beautiful views of the plains below.
We were escorted to the main office where we were met by Franco Luxardo, the last surviving member of the family's 5th generation. Here is a wonderful video link of Franco reciting the company's history. www.diffordsguide.com/Luxardo
After touring us through the offices and showing us all of the history, memorabilia, and product lines, Franco took us on a tour of the production areas.
The last part of our tour landed us it Luxardo's packing and shipping area. There we saw 17 pallets of Luxardo Maraschino Cherries, which were all headed to San Francisco. The the 17 pallets held cases of 4 x 3 kilo tins, which is well over 28,000 pounds of cherries! The Luxardo's own over 29,000 cherry trees in the area making them the owners of the largest cherry tree orchards in the European Union. These cocktail/dessert cherries in sugar are one of their biggest sellers, and all thanks to Darrell. Franco Luxardo validated the story that years ago during a past visit by Darrell, they offered Darrell a taste of their cherries which were made only as a novelty. Upon Darrell's tasting, he told Franco that Luxardo should market them in the U.S. Bar business. They listened and the rest is history!
After a very fascinating visit, it was time to say goodbye to Franco and move on to our next destination.
Just a short 2 kilometers away in the neighborhood of Luvigliano, we came to Villa dei Vescovi, which is a renaissance-style, rural palatial home originally built between 1535-1542 as a summer residence for the archbishop of Padua. The Villa with its well-tended gardens sits among vineyards and orchards in the lovely Euganean Hills about 20 km outside Padua.
The afternoon slipped by quickly. We truly enjoyed or visit to Villa dei Vescovi. It was now time to say goodbye to Lucio and make our way back to the Autostrade and head back to our Hotel in Parma. After an hour on the Autostrade, we were all hungry, so Darrell pulled out the Fuoricasello guide and found an interesting restaurant on the edge of Bologna. Polpette e Crescentine, as reviewed by Fuoricasello, was about 5 minutes off of the Autostrade. They specialize in traditional cuisine of Bologna and the Emilia Romagna. We sat and were quickly served some gnocco fritto, the traditional fried bread dough we were served at the Palace Hotel Maria Luigia in Parma yesterday evening only these were delicious. Darrell selected the wines, and I had a simple salad and being in Bologna, I had to have the Pasta alla Bolognese. Darrell also ordered a pate of Mortadella. Everything was superb, even though we all were eating light tonight as our intake during the trip so far has been borderline excessive.
It was still light when we arrived, and was now dark when we got back into the car for the drive back to Parma. The drive took just about an hour. We met in the bar to have a night cap and then turned in for the night.