Oktober Weinfest - Alto Adige - Trentino - Valdobbiadene - Veneto
WINE, CULTURE, CULINARY DELIGHTS
12 day immersion: September 19 - September 29, 2025
You are right: Munich is not a wine growing area but we will start our wine tour through the Northern Italian Alpine wine regions in the beer capital. We start our wine tour in Munich with a wine tasting at one of Germany’s most acclaimed wine merchants. Saturday morning we will witness the festive “Grand Entry of the Oktoberfest Landlords and Breweries” which is the highlight of every Oktoberfest. The huge brewery horses pulling the beer wagons to the festival tents are beautifully decorated, the landlords and -ladies are dressed in their best traditional Bavarian outfits and this festive beginning of the Oktoberfest has not changed much since its beginning in 1810. You will be a witness to a true, extraordinary, festive tradition unique to Munich. Sunday, we take the train to the incredibly charming town of Bozen, the heart of the Trentino-Alto Adige wine region and gateway to the higher Alpin mountains. We explore the beautiful wine regions of Alto Adige and Trentino and learn about many grape varieties indigenous to these regions. We also learn about winemaking in the "cool-climate" wine regions. With climate change inevitable, higher altitude regions - such as these ones in the pre-Alpine region - where temperatures are considerably cooler, will become more and more important for producing high quality wines of elegance and moderate alcohol levels. The heritage – also in the winemaking field - is truly Germanic, given the fact that Trentino-Alto Adige belonged to the Austrian Habsburg Empire since the Middle Ages. After WWI and the collapse of the Habsburg Empire, these regions were distributed to Italy. However, it was only in 1946, after WWII that an agreement was signed which definitely gave Trentino-Alto Adige to Italy as an autonomous region. Our journey takes us further south-east to Italy’s Veneto wine region where we stop in the breathtakingly beautiful Valdobbiadene-Conegliano region, the home of top Prosecco production and top-notch Franciacorta, Italy’s answer to Champagne, a sparkler which is produced in the traditional method by an extended second fermentation in the bottle. The final stop will be the Lagoon of Venice where we visit some wine producers and will have a fantastic seafood meal on the small island of Torcello. Maybe (I will observe the website to get the schedule for the 2025 / 2026 season asap) I can add a treat for all opera fans: attending an opera performance at the world-famous Teatro La Fenice in Venice.
- We will visit about 20 Domaines on our way from Munich to Venice.
- We will get intimate insights into the world of the "cool-climate" wines with visits to famous Domaines, but also to excellent lesser known and unknown producers.
- We will learn about the classification of the wines of Italy.
- We will indulge in the beauty of the gorgeous vineyards in the pre-Alpine regions.
- We will explore the fascinating history of the region and its importance for wine production and wine trade.
- We will learn how Prosecco is produced.
- We will learn what Traditional Method means in sparkling wine production when visiting Franciacorta.
- We will have meals at beautiful, quaint village restaurants typical for the region.
- We will dine at exquisite gourmet restaurants worthy of a Michelin star.
- We will experience the unique mix of Austrian/German/Italian culture in Trentino-Alto Adige.
- We will dive into pure Italian Hospitality in the Veneto.
- We will have wine pairing luncheons or dinners in an intimate setting at different Domaines which we share with the proprietors / general managers and/or winemakers.
