Category: Italy/Slovenia/Austria/Liechtenstein/Switzerland, Fall 2021

This morning we headed to Petrussa Winery located in Prepotto, Italy.  You cross the border between Italy and Slovenia multiple times on the way to the winery.  Who designed this border anyways?  It seems less organized than a house on Hoarders!  I think whoever has the contract for making these signs has something to do with it!

After driving down many narrow streets and witnessing about a dozen near misses with little cars, we arrived at the winery.

They took us on a quick tour of the wine making facility and their cellar.  They even have their own bottling line, and this is a pretty small winery!

The winery is run by husband and wife Gianni and Lorena.  They were excellent hosts, and obviously love what they do for a living!  Here is Lorena discussing their aging process and the coopers they use in the cellar.

Gianni is on the far left.  He is apparently a former world champion 400 meter runner for Italy.  I bet I could take him!

They set up the wine tasting in their backyard.  Sweet digs.

This wine was so acidic it was too much for even me!  Jeez!

This wine was much more to my liking, a Pinot Blanc (the Italians always have to call things differently!).  I’m in for a 6 pack of this wine, at least!

Nina is discussing the finer nuances of Slovenian versus Italian wines with Rasti, Uros’ father (the one that wanted the hotel and restaurant named after him…at least that’s my story).

Gianni is saying “Rasti is a full of a shita, he knows nothing of Italian winesa!”.  Or something like that.  I don’t speak Italian!

We had a couple of reds as well, but I have to say, I’ve been far more impressed with Italian whites than Italian reds.  These did not blow me away, but then I’m a Pinot Noir guy, and few red wines can match the splendor of a good Pinot.

We then drove to the tiny Slovenian town of Smartno, which sits on the top of a hill overlooking vineyards in every direction.  A truly gorgeous spot!

I explained to several in the group that my wife used to use the name of the city during numerous Teacher-Parent conferences, trying to explain to the parents why their kids weren’t doing so well in school.  Another view from Smartno.

We had lunch at an excellent little spot called Marica.

You might remember a song about this place from the movie Team America:World Police

The only thing missing is the “A”.  Right?

Their specialty was gnocchi, and it was truly excellent.  I didn’t get a photo…sorry!  We took over the entire interior of the restaurant.

After lunch we visited Gonjace Tower, just outside of Dumbyes….err…Smartno, which overlooks the entire area.

Pretty incredible views in every direction!

The Slovenian flag flying proudly at the top of the tower.

We then visited the historic train station in Slovenia, where the border wall use to exist.  There is now a marker delinating the border, so that you can stand in two countries at once.

Everybody had their own take on this.

I always knew Eric was a little French…

Italy won the match, but Siriti is always the winner in my book.  Sorry Shaggy!

The historic train station.

There are apparently thousands of these old NATO bunkers along the former border.

Before dinner I noted there was a brewpub just 5 minutes from the Dam Hotel, so a group of us walked over.  Pretty decent spot!  There were no Tarantino sightings, and Mr White and company were not present.

Up next, dinner at the Dam Hotel.  Hot damn!

 

 

 

 

 

 

During breakfast at the hotel in Salo, they placed this leaf on the plate, and I could swear it was a marijuana leaf.

We departed from our first home base of Salo and headed to the tiny town of Bassano Del Grappa, where we visited the stunningly beautiful villa and winery of Le Vie Angarano!

This winery is run by several sisters, one of which greeted us on arrival.

Here are Giovanna and Carla showing off their treasure.  Sorry to get you with your eyes closed Carla (always take two photos idiot).

They set us up with lunch in the middle of the vineyard.  Spectacular!

The wines were excellent.  I will be buying a couple of these from Tinto wine store in the near future.  The white wine was particularly good, moving up to the best white wine in Italy so far.

According to Giovanna, there are only 14 wineries in the world making this varietal, Vespaiolo, all in this little region of Italy.  I have to say it’s become an instant favorite, ranking right up there with Vermentino, which has been my favorite white varietal for years.  I see a few cases of this wine in my future.

This wine is worthy of aging.  They poured a 2016 and it showed no signs of aging whatsoever.  If anything, it added some nuance.  Nice stuff!  Interesting that they changed the label between 2016 and 2020.  You can also note they changed the name of the winery.

I didn’t get a picture of it, but they also poured a 2015 Cabernet, and I could swear it was from Napa.  Really good wine, and I’m not a Cab drinker!

Everybody is enjoying the lunch.  The weather was perfect!

Kent took me over to show me the grapes that are currently being harvested….the guys were just meters away cutting grape clusters.  These are just beautiful!

Another shot of the stunning villa, which just recently obtained a Unesco designation.

Paul Turina guided us towards the chapel of the villa under the guise of a tour.

What awaited us inside was our own little set of opera songs!  Truly amazing performances!  I was asked not to post them for now, but hopefully I can amend this post later with a few snippets of the music.  It was really quite remarkable being up close to these powerful voices.  My ears are still ringing!

Paul definitely went above and beyond here!  This was such a special part of the trip.  Thanks Paul!

My good friend Chris Stotka turned 53 today.  I don’t think he will ever get a better performance of Happy Birthday than this one!

The winery even presented Chris with a cake.  The dude is living La Vida Loca!

Imagine this being your backyard!  I don’t want to cut the grass though.

We then drove to Solvenia, where we are staying in Nova Gorica at the Dam Hotel.  I can’t exactly explain the name, I may ask the owner, Uros, tonight.  Maybe he was just arguing with his father Rasti when he was trying to come up with the name?

Rasti: “I think you should name it after me.”

Uros: “That’s a bit presumptious.  I’m the one doing all of the work and the cooking!”

Rasti: “Yes, but I brought you into this world you little snot!”

Uros: “I don’t care what we call the Dam Hotel!!!”

We had a casual dinner in the back yard of the hotel.  Uros, the owner and the Chef, has earned a Michelin Star for the hotels restaurant, and it showed in the food.

Allan was pouring wine and trying to explain to me how to say “Thank You” in Slovenian.  He quickly gave up, realizing his efforts were fruitless.

This was such an excellent dish it deserved a photo.  Some homemade pasta in an excellent creamy sauce with white truffles.  Yum!  There was also an egg dish and a scallop dish that were so good they disappeared before I could even think of getting my camera out.

This was just an incredibly great day!  Tinto Travels is killing it!