Ciao Clemmie,
I have spent four wonderful days in the very small commune of Mezzocorona. You may wonder, why? Yeah, I just kinda picked it. After the throngs in Milan and the still somewhat touristy (but adorable) Verona, I was ready for something completely different. So, no Venice, no Lake Garda, and not even Trento or Bolzano…
First thing that took me by surprise was the warmth – in the mountains! Ok, so you’re in the valley but still, I thought it’d be a little cooler. For the record, I’m not complaining but I was surprised. As it turns out, it’s a bit of a microclimate; a few hundred meters up and it’s significantly cooler. The evenings and early mornings are also quite lovely, crisp and cool, and the air is perfumed with the scent of jasmine.
Mezzo is absolutely surrounded my grape vines. In fact, the region (Trentino) could give Napa and Sonoma a run for its money. The weird thing is, people don’t travel here for the wine or wineries. Most are passing through on their way somewhere else, which is a bit of a shame. For such a small town (~5000) there are a lot of young people and a whole lot of redevelopment happening. I’m guessing it’s a little bit of a bedroom community for the much larger Trento (100k+) that is maybe 20 minutes south. Lots of cyclists – there is a fabulous bike trail that runs from Trento all the way to Bolzano – the Val d’Adige Cycle Track, which I believe feeds in to other area tracks. I did bang around a little on the tracks with a hotel bike. As you can imagine, there’s also a lot of hiking in the region and skiing come winter.
I stayed on a grape farm – they grow Teroldego, an indigenous red grape, on the property and run what they call an Agritur. The farm was ancient, and the young people reworked the building and breathed new life into the grounds. Next door is a restaurant (Locande Camorz,) that takes “Farm to Table” cuisine to a whole new level. I had the chefs tasting menu, with wine pairing (that was 3 full glasses) and it was less than $50 and the single best meal I’ve had in Italy. I even ate goat cheese, and I hate goat cheese, but this preparation, paired with Müller-Thurgau of all things, was off the chart deelish. The goat and the M-T wine somehow made each other sing. The family that runs the operation are the kindest, most loving and generous of spirit people I’ve come across in Italy. It’s primarily run by a young couple in their late 20s (with a 1 yo baby) with help from mom, aunties, sisters , brothers – literally the whole family. Everyone pitches in on everything throughout the place, and they still seem to genuinely like each other and their guests.
I was also lucky enough to spend part of the day at the Mezzacorona/Rotari winery. Although to be honest, it’s more of a complex. I toured the winemaking facilities and had a chance to taste all the wines that never make it to Maine. Some don’t make it to the US, for that matter. The most remarkable part of the tour is the slow realization that fully 2/3rds of the facility is subterranean, and a good portion of the exposed facility has “green” rooftops. The building literally looks like it’s growing out of the ground. I won’t bore you with all the gory details but you know I was in heaven.