Trail Name: Vignamaggio
Trail Type: Short distance, 3 interconnecting circuits; variety of surfaces from paved to hard-packed, or loose, gravel, to grass; maintained, and well-marked.
Lengths:
V0: about 1.7 kilometers / 1 mile
V1: about 3.4 kilometers / 2 miles
V2: about 3.5 kilometers / 2.25 miles
Total: roughly 8 kilometers / 5 miles
Convenient to: Greve in Chianti, Florence, Italy
Marking: Square blue/green signs with white letters: V0, V1, V2
My first question: does that translate as capitol or capital? The answer is capital. Second and third questions: what is a capital, and why are ten of them in vineyards? The answers to these questions became clear once I started hiking through the vineyards of Soave.
Continue reading Soave Classico and the 10 Capitelli Circuit
What I Learned
The town of Soave with its famous vineyards is located west of Venice, in a hilly landscape between Verona and Vicenza.
Soave wine tends to be a blend. The Garganega grape is the main grape found in its wines. Its juice will always comprise at least 70% of any DOC Soave wine. Trebbiano and Chardonnay can also make up the blend. Around the towns of Soave and Monteforte d’Alpone, Sauvignon Blanc is also cultivated. Decades ago, Soave’s unique white wine didn’t have the best reputation. All that has changed with a stringent adherence to the quality rules.
Trail Name: Dieci Capitelli
Trail Type: Mid-distance hiking circuit; mostly paved or hard-packed gravel, maintained, but uneven in spots, and fairly well-marked.
Length: total: circa 10 kilometers/6 miles
Convenient To: Verona or Vicenza, Italy
Marking: Brown sign with trail name in white letters; yellow signs with black lettering indicate location (or way to a location).
Continue reading Soave Classico 10 Capitelli: Trail in a Nutshell
Italy has a lot of wines, and a lot wine regions. In addition to still wines, Italy has several versions of sparkling wine. Prosecco and Asti Spumante are perhaps the best known. The region of Franciacorta, a relative newcomer to Italian sparkling wine production, seems to outshine them all though, not only in quality sparkling wine production, but also in wine tourism.
Franciacorta is an ideal location for a wine-themed biking vacation. The lake of Iseo, in addition to being a beautiful, scenic backdrop, helps to moderate temperature; the hills shelter you and the vines from excessive wind; wine production, an old tradition here, resulted in small, established wine villages, linked by country backroads. Best of all, it is quiet and laid-back: I encountered almost as many people cycling as driving on some of these backroads. With this in mind, the regional tourism board has created some well-thought out, marvelously scenic, wine-themed routes. Each of the numbered five routes was color-coded and cleverly named after one of Franciacorta’s famed sparkling wine products. (See the trail Nutshells: Green Trail and YellowTrail.)
What I Learned
The term Franciacorta refers to a region in north central Italy. The term Franciacorta also refers to a production method. Thirdly, this same term refers to its sparkling wines.
Trail Name(s): Itinerario 1/Percorso Giallo (yellow)/Franciacorta Saten
Trail Type: Mid-distance circuit; mostly hard-packed gravel or paved in built up areas, well maintained and marked.
Length: total: 30 km/18.25 miles
Convenient to: Lake Iseo, Italy, Brescia, Italy, and about 75 minutes from Milan.
Marking: Brown rectangular sign with white and yellow writing (“Itinerario 1”, “Percorso Giallo” “Saten”)
The Alto Adige is Italy’s name for the province beginning north of Trento, and continuing north to the Austrian border. Formerly a part of Austria, this bilingual region has another name for itself: the Suedtirol (South Tirol). In this area, grapes grow on the sunny side of the Dolomites mountains. To highlight its wine-making culture, landscape and traditions, the region has developed three biking circuits that allow wine-enthusiast bicyclists to explore this beautiful area.
Continue reading Alto Adige: A Trail of Lagrein and Sauvignon
What I Learned:
Lagrein, Vernatsch and Gerwuerztraminer are three grape varieties traditionally grown in this South Tirol Region.
Trail Name: Trail of Lagrein and Sauvignon/Weinroute Nord (Northern Wine Route) of the Suedtirol Weinstrasse.
Trail Type: Mid-distance cycling circuit; almost exclusively paved, well maintained, but the route itself is not marked.
Length: Total: 45 km/28 miles
Convenient to: Bozen/Bolzano, Suedtirol/Alto Adige, Italy
Continue reading Suedtirol Weinstrasse – Trail of Lagrein and Sauvignon: Trail in a Nutshell
