As wine tourism in Italy expands to include active options, there are more trails to hike or bike than ever before. I recently had another chance to visit Franciacorta. East of Milan, and just south of the sparkling clear waters of Lake Iseo, Franciacorta is an ideal location for a wine-themed biking vacation. The lake, in addition to being a beautiful, scenic backdrop, helps to moderate temperature; the hills shelter you and the vines from excessive wind; the wine villages are small, and charming. Best of all, it is quiet and laid-back: I encountered more people cycling than driving on some of the back roads.
What I Learned:
Franciacorta is in northern Italy. Lake Iseo to the north, the Oglio River to the west and Brescia to the east define this 2200-hectare (5400-acre) area of vineyard. Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Noir are the most significant varietals here.
Trail Name(s): Franciacorta Pas Dose/Itinerario 2/Percorso Blu (Blue)
Trail Type: Mid-distance circuit; surfaces mostly hard-packed gravel, or paved in built up areas; well maintained and fairly well-marked.
Length: Total – 30 kilometers/18.6 miles
Marking: Brown rectangular signage with white and blue writing (“Itinerario 2 Percorso Blu”)
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”)
Green is supposedly a calming color, I recalled as I cycled along Franciacorta’s Percorso Verde (Green Route). There could be some truth in that: The amount of green on this route seems to have created the most relaxed, carefree people I have met in a long time – and I count myself among that group on that delightful day.
I first noticed it in the town of Paratico, on the hill overlooking Lake Iseo. As I was photographing the incredibly blue lake spreading out in the distance, several runners came uphill behind me. Male and female, of all ages and sizes, they were obviously enjoying themselves on a group “fun-run”, and wanted me to photograph them as well.
