Slow Collio, “un Paesaggio da Bere” (Slow Collio, a Terrain to Drink). Upon reading the inviting name of this cycling itinerary, two contradictory thoughts came to mind.

First: What a great concept, combining the territory and the wine, all the while promoting the slow enjoyment of both; and then, in my experience hills and drinking wine could present a cycling challenge.

Then: the fact that the word “Collio” implies hills, which gave me, a not-so-fit wine enthusiast, a moment of sober reflection, before my enthusiasm for being outdoors, and visiting wineries to taste local wines kicked back in.

The “Collio” in this case, refers to the famous wine growing region in Friuli, a region in northeastern Italy. It consists of a collection of hills bordering Slovenia, west of the small city of Gorizia.

The bicycling itinerary, cleverly laid out to avoid most hills, begins on the outskirts of Gorizia, and heads west to Mossa. Known for the Ronco Blanchis and Villa Codelli wineries, it is a quiet, small town. Capriva del Fruili, another small town devoted to wine, comes next. Cycling past a golf course, the castle of Spessa is just visible beyond the green expanse of the course. The castle is home to a hotel, a couple of restaurants, and a well-known winery, as well as the golf course. Truly a place to visit for locally-sourced food and some of their own wines.

 

However, it is the town of Cormons that holds a place in the hearts of wine lovers. With dozens of wineries, it is a major center of wine production in this region, as many enthusiasts of flavorful white wines know. Vineyards to the north dominate the approach to town, while to the south, other forms of agriculture take place on the flat lands. The town center literally abuts vineyards ranged along the steep hillsides flanking it.

 

Cycling through and out of town, the circuit leads up the only hill on the trail, at La Subida. It is a bit of a challenge, but worth the effort, as on the other side, the trail drops into a natural bowl, surrounded by hills, with wide-angle views of the daunting Prejulian Alps in the (fortunately) distant background. Thus ideally situated, huge swathes of vines cover the sheltered, south-facing slopes. These hills produce some of the most distinctive wines of the Collio region.

 

The trail continues along the Plain of the Preval, the magnificent Julian Alps in the distance,  the Slovenian border nearby. While the first part of the trail is mostly urban, through the well-known wine villages of the region, this section of it is pure nature, along a beautifully maintained bike path. Several kilometers of it pass through fields, meadows and small woods, following along or crisscrossing little creeks. Picnic areas and isolated benches appeared at intervals along the trail, leaving me wishing I had brought a picnic lunch, with maybe just a half bottle of wine. Terrain and wine, just as the trail promised! But rain threatened, so I pushed on, and this bucolic idyll ultimately ended outside Mossa, closing the trail’s circuit.

 

While the trail had ended, the mission of it hadn’t. Back to Capriva and Cormons, to taste and buy some local wines. And now, I can certainly attest that this trail through the heart of the Collio’s unique terrain, and its wines, lived up magnificently to the promise of the its name.