Friday 26th of August

After a quiet day yesterday Chiara had a little more planned today.  We'd mentioned going to a local cantina (wine cellar & seller) in the Prosecco region after I'd told them about my stop at the Montrachet-Puligny area in France on my way south.  Chiara used to be a sommelier so had a good idea about the best area to visit and she also had her preference for the brand too - Bisol.  She said they were not the biggest producer in the area but she liked their product.  The previous day she had contacted them and booked a tour and tasting session in English for today at 10am.  It wasn't too far away so we set off just after 9am, the satnav helping us get lost when Chiara knew most of the way anyway.

Typical view of the area 

The driveway as you approach the office/factory

The office/waiting room, with their products on display including a Ferrari Prosecco you can only buy if you bring your Ferrari ownership documents with you

Once there we entered the office and were introduced to the guide.  He went through the range of products they offered explaining the differences in terms of both the grapes used and the production techniques.

We started the tour looking at the autoclaves.

To me an autoclave is something used in the production of carbon fibre products - high temperature and pressure but these are also autoclaves.  The temperature varied depending on the grape/product type but was generally enough to allow the yeast to to work and then dropped to near zero when they wanted it to stop maturing.  Obviously the pressure bit comes in as the yeast produces the CO2 and the pressure increases.  Each storage unit held something like 40,000 litres and at the rate they could bottle the wine that was 1 1/2 days production.  As we were there they were cleaning the autoclaves out getting ready for the new harvest starting at the start of September.  They had something like 20 staff looking after the vines but this increased by 50 he said when the harvest started.

We then moved into the bottling plant.  He explained how the bottles where warmed to ambient temperature in a kind of oven in order to reduce moisture.  The bottles were then filled, corked and capped and before they were boxed up they went a manual visual check to ensure that they were filled ok.

Once the separating cardboard had been added to the box and it was all sealed up it passed over a scale - the last check to make sure that the volumes in the bottles were as expected.  Once past this section the cases were stacked up and shrink wrapped ready to go.  A fully automated process and only a handful of people in there looking after it.

Some of the products were allowed to mature in the cellar and so we were taken downstairs to see these. On occasion they had to be moved to agitate the ingredients but this was a manual process of restacking the bottles elsewhere.  At some stage too they were also put in a special rack which as the bottles were moved up the rack caused the sediment to collect in the neck of the bottle (which would be at the bottom as it was upside down).  To get this sediment out they would first freeze the neck of the bottle, remove the cap and then the gas would push out the sediment as a block, before corking the bottle.  Sounded a long and tedious process but which also had to be done quickly so all the gas wasn't lost from the wine.

The sediment/yeast visible in the bottle as it still matures

 At the end of the cellar was the mini museum where you could see some of the old machinery used to fill and cork the bottles (along with protection against the glass exploding with the pressure).  This area was particularly good for storage as it was underneath a local stream, so the humidity and temperature were ideal.

Bottling machine on the right

After this final section we were taken back upstairs to the tasting room.  Having little knowledge of Prosecco I chose to start with the basic version.  This is made using mixed grapes from just outside the borders of the special growing area.  It was a nice wine, very clean and easy to drink.  After that we stepped up a notch and after that another notch and finally a couple of the premium products from the Cartizze region. This area is 107 hectares in total of which the family (if I recall correctly) owned about 5 hectares and rented another 5-7 hectares.  Some of this is on the south slopes which while good product is not as good as those on the north slopes.  The difference between them was usually clear and particularly the creamy sensation as you went up the product tree.

Selection of Bisol products - included specific products for a local Maserati dealer

This is the base product - still good though!

This is a medium level product said "Jayo" not Jay-lo

Ok so I tried a few different ones

Our excellent tour guide delivering the purchased products to the car.  Not all of it mine!

It was a nice little tour and lasted a good 90+ minutes by the time we'd finished.  At €7 per person it was well worth the trip.

Back in the car it was getting a little hot so we headed to a local village to try a recommended restaurant for lunch

Scorchio!

I noticed on the way out that even the "weeds" growing on the bridge across the stream were grape filled

San Stefano - a gorgeous area of the country

Just another of the many (100+) cantinas in the area

After asking directions a couple of times we found the restaurant.  I was pleased to see they had my favourite penne-al-arrabiatta on the menu so I went for that.  I was warned it was very piccante - with chillies from southern Italy but it was great.  Chiara went for a cold pasta which looked good too.

Later in the evening we went with an aunt and uncle and Alessio from next door to a local restuarant at San Fermo for pizza.  The view from the restaurant was very good - looking down the valley over Feltre.  The pizza was good too.  Instead of my usual Diavolo I opted for San Daniele (usually with crudo ham) and added some mushrooms.  Desert was a rather nice tiramisu.

From there we left the oldies (thanks oldies for the dinner) and headed to Belluno for the cinema where we watched Horrible Bosses.  Unlike my prior visit there to see Twilight I didn't understand much of what was being said but the comedy often spoke for itself.  The star of the show for me though had to be Bobby Pellit (Colin Farrel) as the coked up boss.

Tomorrow... all change.  Heading to a B+B in the local area for a short while before the adventures begin again in ernest - perhaps near Stelvio.....