Prosecco is a wonderful sparkling wine from northern Italy. So, when passing through Valdobbiadene, famed for its Prosecco, I decided to complete the eponymous circuit, which incidentally, touched on some of the finest vineyards known in the world of Prosecco.
I must confess though, both this circuit, the towns, and even the famous vines of the Cartizze, are a bit remote, and relatively unknown to most wine hikers. What a shame! This is primarily an agricultural area, rather rural and a bit wild, backing onto some of Italy’s most rugged mountains outside the Dolomites. This creates in part an atmosphere of isolation, but for those determined to visit, it is only about 90 minutes from Venice, in a district known as the Marca Trevigiana, today practically identical with the Province of Treviso.
On the day I was in San Pietro di Barbozza, a section of Valdobbiadene, very dark clouds moved in quickly, and ominous signs of rain moving our way appeared. Fortunately, the 15-kilometer trail has built-in short-cuts, a sign of a well-designed trail. My best friend and I decided to do the shortest circuit, 8.5 kilometers up a steep incline to… a church. In Italy, churches are often visited as pilgrimage sites, so trails to them are usually well maintained, and well-marked.
On this trail, we would pass a number of churches, convents, and shrines. Not surprising, as wine-makers at these altitudes, and in the north, often need all the help they can get. My prayer, on this late May day, was that there wouldn’t be any hail (the curse of early budding vines) or lightening.
After passing the churches though, the trail followed along a crest. From this section, wonderful views of the district known as the Cartizze began. Mounds, nestled within mounds, in a bowl surrounded by crests such as the one we were on, is a good way to describe this area. While the wines from here are very interesting and often quite good, the geology is fascinating. This section of trail alone made the hike, now being done in spitting rain, very unique.
Shortly after passing one last shrine, in this case to Saint Gotthard in Saccol, the trail began to circle back to its start in the center of San Pietro. Ironically (or perhaps not), Saint Gotthard was officially canonized at Reims, the capital of French sparkling wine. With this connection between the saint, the capital of sparkling wine, and Prosecco-land, the trail continued past wineries and vineyards.
Climbing to the finish, several works of art in stone appeared, prompting thoughts like: when life gives you rugged mountains, create stone art! Some of them where quite clever, and some rather pretty.
Coming to the car, we concluded this hike, just as lightening and a downpour began. (Fortunately for the vintners, no hail developed!) Ahead of schedule because of the shortened hike, we had a delicious lunch, complemented by Prosecco of course! A delightful end to a delightful hike in Prosecco-land.