So you have decided to go to Liguria. You might know about the historic portof Genoa from which Christopher Columbus set out to visit “The New World”. Youmay be familiar with the Italian Riviera, unashamed competitor to its Frenchcounterpart. Perhaps you have heard about Cinque Terre, five seaside villagesthat are a favorite with hikers and romantics.
If you haven’t been to Liguria you may not have ever tasted Ligurian wine.Not very much is exported to North America. On a personal note, I have tastedand reviewed wines from 19 of Italy’s 20 regions. Only Liguria was missing.While researching this article I found a red and a white which I orderedon-line and have finally reviewed both in other columns.
The little town of Monterosso al Mare, the largest of the Cinque Terrevillages is festival land; it celebrates a Lemon Feast on the Saturday justprior to Ascension Sunday, a Flower Festival of Corpus Christi on the secondSunday after Pentecost, and a Salted Anchovy and Olive Oil Festival on thesecond weekend of September. Or you may prefer the upscale village of Portofinoto see how the other half lives. If you like fish you can find a wide varietyin restaurants ranging from mom and pop trattorias to fancy restaurants. Orvisit the Acquario di Genova, which is Europe’s largest aquarium.
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The soil is poor; the slopes are steep and well-drained. Liguria has what ittakes to produce fine wines. But, perhaps unfortunately, more and more of theagricultural production is going to olive groves, flowers, or housing for thenumerous tourists. Ligurian grape varieties include the white Vermentino andthe red Ormeasco (called Dolcetto in neighboring Piedmont) and Rossese. Theyalso produce some wine from one of Italy’s red signature grapes,Sangiovese.
Liguria festivals include: Portofino – St. George Bonfire in April,Riomaggiore – Feast of San Giovanni in June. Casella – Historical Festival andPalio in August, Levanto – Maritime Festival in July. Pontinvrea – CherryFestival in June, Castiglione Chiavare – Eggplant Festival in August andBogliasco – Olive Oil Festival in August.
Companies offering wine tours of Liguria include La Dolce Vita Wine Tours,Nyala Wonder Travel, and Wine Roads. Liguria wineries that hosting visitsinclude A Maccia Azienda Agricola in Ranzo and Terre Bianche in Dolceacqua.They are both involved in agrotourism, so you can spend a good part of yourvacation on site.
Levi Reiss authored or co-authored ten computer and Internet books, butwould rather drink fine French wine with friends. He teaches classes incomputers at an Ontario French-language community college. Visit his Italiantravel, wine, and food website www.travelitalytravel.com and hisglobal wine website www.theworldwidewine.com featuring aweekly review of wines and new sections writing about and tasting organic andkosher wines.
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Italy travel: Rome. Slideshow video of St. Mary’s (The Basilica of SantaMaria Maggiore), St. John’s (The Basilica of St. John Lateran), the RomanCatacombs, our final Perillo Tours Familia dinner (with some *very* green wallsin the background). Finally, some very tired kids on the way to the plane home.What a fantastic trip that was! (You can view this video, and other travelvideos in full-size and near-DVD quality, travel stills and more atwww.jpmeyer.com). Italy travel tours with Perillo Tours, www.PerilloTours.comReal People having Real Fun!