I cannot recommend highly enough booking with Visit Prosecco to tour the beautiful Valdobbiadene wine region with a wonderful, knowledgeable guide/driver (Hi Roberta!) to enjoy the wine, the food and the beautiful scenery.
From start to finish, Jo and Roberta were great to work with and made booking and planning the tour simple and easy and I appreciated their recommendation for how long we would need to do everything we wanted. Roberta picked us up from the cruise terminal in Venice and on the way to the first winery suggested stopping for an espresso at an amazing coffee bar with wonderful pastries and treats so if she suggests it to you – say “yes please!!”.
The two wineries we visited (La Tordera & Col Vetoraz) were beautiful, the wines were wonderful and they taught us a lot about the region and the different styles of Prosecco and were very generous with their tasting pours. Roberta also shared her knowledge about the wines and answered all of our questions so we felt like we really got to know a lot about Prosecco and the region. Treat yourself to a bottle of DOCG Superiore di Cartizze – I promise you will not regret it – and the price is so reasonable compared to what you pay back at home just for basic DOC Prosecco.
Lunch at a small Osteria on the hillside with a wonderful view and fantastic food was a great break between the two wineries and you have to try a bottle of Col Fondo Prosecco made the old fashioned way with the yeast sediment still in the bottom of the bottle. We tried a cloudy glass with the sediment mixed in, then a clear glass when it settled and they were very different, but both very delicious!
For the wonderful immersive experience you get with a passionate, knowledgeable guide taking you to excellent wineries and restaurants, the cost was very reasonable and great value in my opinion. We looked at just hiring a private driver who would have been about 50% more expensive and all you would get is a driver, not an expert guide who knows the best places to visit and will make sure you have an experience to remember for the rest of your life.
After a stop for the mandatory daily gelato, Roberta dropped us off at our hotel near the airport (which also saved us paying for a transfer from the cruise terminal) and we couldn’t have found a better way to spend our last day in Italy before heading home. It really was an experience you will remember forever so thank you Roberta (and Jo) for giving it to us!
Vivian, Mark, Ingrid & Danielle