Italy Diary - SNOW! and the Gelisi Antonio Winery

Yes, I am still dragging out my Italy memories. :)

On our 4th day in Italy, we woke up to find this on the hillside behind our hotel room.

SNOW!!!!! I had not even realized that it snowed in Italy (especially where we were) so it was a nice surprise.

That morning, one of my high school friends, whose husband is stationed out there, picked me up from my hotel room and brought me to this town hidden off one of the main roads. I would have never been able to find it on my own, so THANK YOU JOANNE!!!!

This town was so quite and peaceful (as were all the surrounding towns).

What made this town extra special was the spring that was hidden toward the back of the town. The water was so amazingly blue!!!

That “what appears to be little” crevice in the rocks is an entrance to a cave. Apparently, a number of people get lost in that cave. I guess I can’t blame them. I’d follow the beautiful blue water, too, to see where it lead to.

There were cute little bridges and walkways that lined the water.

I could have sat there and stared at this for hours (if it wasn’t 20 something degrees, that is).

The next day, I approached the front desk to ask if the local winery, Gelisi Antonio, conducted tours and wine tasting.

Maximo’s response was “Yes, I will call and set up a private tour for you. Make sure you eat before you go because 3 glasses will make you drunk.”

HUH? Glasses?

This rode led us to the winery. Gorgeous, right?

We arrived to find the bottling truck there. That in itself was fun to watch since we had never seen the process before.

We were VERY tempted to grab a glass and stick it under this hose. That’s a waste of some good wine, people!!  

Our unexpected host for the tour was the owner himself, Sergio Gelisi. He is an extremely nice gentleman that takes prides in his company.

We expected to find a room full of oak barrels filled with wine, but instead found this…

I was hoping for old school methods of wine making, but instead found myself remembering a scene from the movie Strange Brew.

Even the storage area had beautiful architecture. I loved the ceilings.

We took a walk around the vineyard and it was a gorgeous, peaceful view.

After Sergio had completed the tour, his sister Roberta, provided us with glasses full of wine for the wine tasting. It is definitely not like wine tasting here in California. Maximo was right about needing to eat before going.

My favorite is definitely the Moscato. It was like drinking grape juice. Needless to say, I did NOT share my bottles with my husband when we got home. ;) I haven’t even drank my last bottle yet because they don’t sell the wine here in California. Any East Coast or Texas folks want to do me a favor and scope out your AAFES or local wine stores?

Yes, we tasted them all. When in Italy…., right?

The car ride back to the hotel was yet another opportunity to enjoy the beautiful sunset.

We returned from dinner to see the snow glowing on the mountain tops. SOOO PEACEFUL!!!!