Ravenna, Urbino & The Marche

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Ravenna, Urbino & The Marche

Ravenna, Urbino & The Marche

Ravenna, Urbino & The Marche

Ravenna, Urbino & The Marche

9 - 14 September 2007, 26 - 31 October 2008

This tour stays in Ravenna which, now an attractive provincial town, replaced Rome as the most important city in Italy when Rome ‘declined and fell’. The legacy of the time are the mosaics in the Tomb of Galla Placidia, one of the last great Roman matrons, and the slightly later, monumental mosaic of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian and his court. These are perhaps the most important works of art in the west to survive from this era.

From here we move southwards and call in at the medieval hill-town of Urbino. In the 15th century this was one of the most important towns of Italy and the imposing Palazzo Ducale houses the National Art gallery of the Marche. The Duke of Urbino was Raffael’s patron.

Le Marche is a relatively undiscovered region of Italy that nestles between the Adriatic sea and the Apennine mountains and has beautiful landscapes, dotted with many secret villages. One of the most dynamic of Italy’s wine regions, the Marche has extremely old wine traditions. However, the current crop of winemakers are very forward thinking and the wines of the region are getting better and better each year. Exciting new developments have taken place with the creation of new DOCs such as ‘Offida Rosso,’ where the wines are made from montepulciano and cabernet grapes.

We visit two of the top producers of Verdicchio; Garofoli and Umani Ronchi. Here we discover this excellent native variety hailing from the valley of the Esino River. It has a delicate aroma but can age well - a rarity in Italian whites.

For the reds the main variety include montepulciano (the grape variety, not the village in Tuscany!) as well as sangiovese and cabernet. The reds are attractive, brambley wines with great potential for ageing. Rosso Conero & Rosso Piceno from the likes of Boccadigabbia and Velenosi are serious red wines equal to some of the best reds of Italy and becoming more well known on the international stage.

In the Marche we stay first in Macerata with its beautiful ‘Loggia dei Mercanti’ and ‘Torre del Orologio’ which has splendid views from the top of the tower. We continue to the attractive town of Ascolo Piceno which is a beautiful city which has been relatively undiscovered due to it's location, this was a very popular place with our clients on the 2007 tour.

Being Italy, pairing food with wine is never far from the mind and the Marche has its moreish Vincisgrassi (a local type of lasagne) and stuffed olives amongst many other tempting dishes.

On the last day, outside Rome we visit the Frascati estate of Colle di Catone for our final lunch together.