This is just how much I LOVE this event! I always tease my husband because in the year that we were married, our wedding took place on the same weekend as Cantine Aperte. No, no, we did not go villa hopping dressed as bride and groom in order to drink free wine! We skipped it that year and thoroughly enjoyed our Italian wedding. I always remind him, however, that I chose him over vino. ; )

What is it? When is it? (skip this part if you already know - the good stuff is below!)

Cantine Aperte - or "Open Wineries" in English - happens on the last weekend of May every year.

Select wineries throughout Italy open their doors to the public and offer tastings of their delicious nectar, accompanied by tours of the vineyards and the courtyards of the villas. Some wineries do require that you make a reservation to enter and have a tour before hand, but this is always marked on the official Cantine Aperte website/ Cantine Aperte map. Each winery organizes its tour and tasting in a different way. 

Almost everything is free. At the first winery you visit, just purchase a glass and a carrying bib for around 5 - 6 Euro, and you can take glass with you to the other wineries you visit without having to purchase a new one. The proceeds from the wineries that have the official bib (such at the green one in the photo above) go to charity (UNICEF, as you can see in the photo). Last year I did visit one winery that required us to buy a glass in order to enter (even though I already had one!) but the place was so beautiful that I didn't care. Besides, I could always use an extra wine glass around the house! 

Cantine Aperte 2015

This year, our trip took us through Collio, the heart of Friuli's wine region in the Province of Gorizia.

WARNING! This article will begin with many photos and many details, but don't be surprised as the photos and details decrease as it progresses. 

NO, it was not due to being too tipsy to manage a camera in one hand and a wine glass in the other!

We spent all day tasting, and after a while I simply wanted to enjoy the beautiful countryside surrounding us instead of looking at everything through my lens.

I had a list of wineries that I selected in advance, but along the way we discovered a few others and the plans changed. I suggest visiting three - five wineries if you want to thoroughly indulge in each one you visit. Pack in any more and you might not be allowing yourself enough time at each one to fully appreciate the event!

TENUTE VILLANOVA - first sto

I found this gem on Pinterest, of all places. I was looking for wines from Friuli and when I saw that it dates back to 1499, I knew it had to be good.

I was not mistaken!

HIGHLIGHTS:

Location - The grounds were amazing. Beautiful buildings, well-cared for garden. Everything was stunning.

Music -  Under one of their archways they set up a classical music concert area. There were children, probably around 12 years old, playing the pianoforte when we were there and they were quite talented for their age! 

Wine - Rosé wine. It's the best that I have had to date. It had an amazing aftertaste that I'm sure could be better described to you by a professional connoisseur. The Rachel opinion: sweet, flowery and for some reason it made me think of cake! The woman offering tastings suggested making a risotto with strawberries using this wine. I will be trying it!

I also recall their Friulano wine sticking out to me. Light and not overbearing. Good as an aperitif or with a meal.

Tour - The tour was short, sweet and to the point. I liked this, because sometimes they will ramble on about the prizes they have won internationally. It's nice to show pride for one's product, but some of them talk A LOT while the rest of the crowd is just wondering, "So, when do we taste the WINE?" Our tour guide was one of the winery's enologists, and as another tour group passed he pointed out that the other enologist, a girl, was only 27 years old! Pretty impressive for such a young lady.

Distillery - The also have a grappa distillery, and grappa from Friuli is considered the best by many! The price seemed to range from 30-40 Euro for a bottle. Pricey, but for the quality it's worth it.

Snacks - They provided gluten-free crackers for those who need to steer clear of gluten. They also offered cheese and bread. Yum!

LOW-LIGHTS: None, honestly. The only confusion that we encountered was in the wine shop when we were buying wine. They had discounts only on the wines offered at the tasting and the bottles had to be purchased in quantities of 6 (NO mixing types of wine) in order to get the discount. At the tasting we were told that we could mix types of wine. No harm done and we got it straightened out! 

Visit their website here.

TENUTA BORGO CONVENTI - second stop

I saw that this winery was literally just on the other side of the Tenuta Villanova vineyards, so thought we should stop. I checked out the website beforehand and liked what I saw.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Spacious - Large courtyard and parking area. Believe me, some of those wineries are amazing but a nightmare to park in. This place had a friendly man directing traffic. Great!

Villa - It featured a beautiful villa which was used for special events that anyone could book. Art gallery, wedding, friends who want to have a special get-together etc.

Tour - The wine tour was different. Some would probably think it strange, but to me they presented everything in a very unique and original way, and I really liked that about it.

They dedicated three rooms inside the home to different seasons: the Spring room, The Autumn room and the Winter room. Each room had a different wine to taste, considering the season being represented along with artwork from different artists. There was different music in each room, to represent the artist and the season. Very unique and original! The final room was separate from the main house, the Summer room, where we tasted a delicious Sauvignon that we ended up buying. It was a great way to have guests interact with their wine, their villa and the artwork. 

The View - I found that the views from the upper level of the villa were stunning. I was rather drawn to the open windows and had to snap a few of those cliché shots of the vineyards beyond. But it was so romantic

LOW-LIGHTS: We were a bit confused after we parked and walked to the villa entrance. There wasn't an official greeter when we walked in, so we stopped someone passing by and asked if we could look around. He explained that it was all open, and then took us to the first room where he poured us some wine and then left us to chat and ponder the art / the room. The concept was great, I think they just needed to have each room constantly manned and then another person to accompany guests to the next room instead of leaving us to choose everything. The Sauvignon we purchased was good, but cost 12 Euro for a bottle. Pricey.

Visit their website here.

VILLA RUSSIZ - third stop

HIGHLIGHTS:

Location - This was tucked into the rolling hills of the Collio and featured breathtaking scenery. They had numerous buildings and an important history to boot. It served as a military hospital during WWI and is now used to help youth that have an unstable family environment and need a safe haven. 

Tour - Although the tour was a bit too long for me, I was grateful to the staff at the entrance accommodated us since we had not made a reservation. It was clearly labeled on the official Cantine Aperte map that you needed a reservation (oops! didn't see that), but they had some room for us and let us in anyway. The tour was extensive: they explained the history, showed us an example of a vine that had been planted earlier this year and then a bit about their wine making process. Very interesting. Here, I also learned that the grape skins need to remain with the pulp for 15-20 days in order to retain the red color (for a red wine). Since the pulp doesn't contain any color, a red wine would actually be more white in color if you did not leave it with its skin! 

LOW-LIGHTS: I was personally not impressed with the wine nor the prices. 20-40 Euro for some bottles! I tried the Riesling and Les Enfants, but did not find either to my liking at that particular moment. Can anyone suggest some other wines that they produce that I might try? Wine tasting is very subjective, of course, but I love suggestions! They only had three wines out for tasting, so I wasn't really able to get a feel for their wine.

Visit their website here.

ROCCA BERNARDA - fourth stop

We didn't actually mean to stop at this winery! We thought it was another one. Happy surprise!

HIGHLIGHTS: 

Location - A castle perched atop a hill that is rolling with vineyards. Need I say more? This place was stunning, amazing, beautiful, peaceful...

People had packed a picnic and purchased a bottle of wine, then they spread out across the grounds and in the vineyards to indulge. Maybe next year I will have to try this!

Tasting - We got there around 5:00 pm and it was packed. If there were tours, we missed them, but the fact that you could go in and select from about 10 different wines was great! They had Picolit, which is a very sweet wine produced in Friuli, that you had to pay to taste. For one bottle it was over 30 Euro. I didn't taste it, tough! Next time. By this point I was all "wined" out, so I just tasted one prosecco. 

LOW-LIGHTS: The road up was meant for one car; there were often times two cars. Parking was a mess! People had lined their cars on one side of the already-narrow road, so we parked a ways out and walked up. No big deal, really, but getting there was a bit messy! 

Visit their website here.

SCUBLA - final stop

We decided to go here because my husband and I had tried a bottle of their Refosco Dal Peduncolo Rosso just a few days prior to the event. We LOVED it, so when we saw that they were taking part in Cantine Aperte and we were already in the area, we decided to go up. Sorry, but I didn't take any photos here and I was so sick of wine at this point that if I tasted more, I wasn't getting a real idea of the quality of their wine. We bought what we knew was good and saw the little cantina.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Refosco Dal Peduncolo Rosso!!!!!! The view was also beautiful and the little house where they had the tasting was quaint and cozy. Lovely place.

LOW-LIGHTS: See my complaints above regarding parking at stop number four! Same concept. We parked below and walked up.

Visit their website here.

Summary

This was a great trip! I wanted to go deep into the heart of the Friuli wine region and that is exactly what I did. I saw new places, drank some new wine, and the weather was ideal. I hope these suggestions have helped!

Special Tip! I also love visiting both Tenute Tomasella and Villa Brandolini d'Adda (Vistorta winery). Excellent wine, beautiful locations, and no complaints about either one. GO TO THEM!