Cycling Through Romagna’s Vineyards: A Food and Wine Adventure on Two Wheels
Do you want to have an unforgettable food and wine experience on two wheels? We’ve got you covered!
A wine and food tour focused on Romagna’s best wineries and grape varieties. This region, besides savory foods like cured meat, terrific grilled meat, Fossa cheeses, and amazing dishes of handmade pasta, has a lot to offer, specifically in terms of wine.
We are going to taste Sangiovese di Romagna, Albana, Centesimino, Famoso, and Uva Ruggine, but not only, since we will fully explore a land where history and art are fused into a bucolic landscape. To let you embrace the beauty of this terroir, we selected the most typical restaurants that combine imagination and skill with the great culinary tradition of Romagna.
Ravenna, with its magnificent mosaics, Faenza, the ceramics mecca, Terra del Sole (the Sun City), a small metaphysical town nestled on the Appennines, and Brisighella, a wonderful example of medieval architecture, stand out among the cities we will visit.
In each region, we will discover the most enticing delicacies while visiting wineries that best embody (bottle) the spirit of renewal that is bringing Romagna wine to the forefront.
The uniqueness of this wine and food tour is that, given the beauty of these hills, we will reach some wineries by bicycle, but don’t worry, the tour is designed to offer a choice between a hard path for those who have a lot of energy to spend and an easier one to enjoy the view at your leisure.
Schedule
Day 1
Transfer from Bologna airport to our holiday villa among the vineyards, La Sabbiona, which produces good wines and a velvety extra virgin olive oil. After lunch, we’ll ride to the Old San Biagio winery, which is on a hill with a view of the whole valley. We’ll spend a couple of hours tasting and exploring these beautiful vineyards, some of which are more than 40 years old. We’ll end the day with a delicious dinner on the terrace of the San Biagio restaurant, where chef Morini creates wonders with Slow Food ingredients.
Day 2
We will admire the mosaics of San Vitale and Galla Placidia’s Mausoleum, then the Tomb of Dante and Fortebraccio Gardens, to finish with a visit to the San Francisco church. Lunch at Ca de Be’, an iconic restaurant with a monumental selection of wines, and on the way back home, we will take a closer look at Sant’Apollinare in Classe, one of the most beautiful Romanesque churches that preserves breathtaking mosaics.
In the afternoon, we will visit the Leone Conti winery, where we will taste excellent whites based on Albana di Romagna, but also some nice bottles of Centesimino and, of course, Sangiovese, just to finish with two stunning raisin wines paired with blue cheeses. In the evening, there will be a cooking class where you will learn all about hand-made pasta and dinner with paired wines.
Day 3
In the morning, the first stop of our winery tour is at Spinetta Winery, where lots of native grapes are paired with cold cuts of Mora Romagnola, a wild pig bred in the woods. Then we will move to Brisighella to visit this charming medieval village perched on the rocks. Lunch at a local restaurant, Guercinoro, and then we will explore the town.
In the afternoon, we will have the opportunity to visit an oil mill to taste the dainty extra virgin olive oil of Brisighella, a niche product that comes from a very limited production, the first in Italy to boast the DOP.
We will walk through the olive groves, do some oil tasting, and then move on to the Vigne del Bosco winery, where we will find the bio-dynamic wines of Paolo Babini: Syrah, Sangiovese, Albana, and Riesling, all unfiltered, courageous, and marked by a heroic soul that reflect this rocky terroir.
Day 4
Today our Romagna wine tour will stop at the Terra del Sole—Sun City—a little gem hidden in the Apennines. Founded as an ideal city, it survived intact through the passage of centuries. The Medici family had it built in 1564 to defend the northern border of Tuscany. But the real treasure once again are the wines, which in these hills are austere and sharp with plenty of minerals and herbal suggestions due to a soil rich in marine fossils, clay, limestone, and chalk veins that give supple consistency to the wine.
In the afternoon, we will visit Pennita Winery, where we will find an excellent Sangiovese and a supple blend of Sangiovese, Merlot, and Sangiovese, not to mention a mind-blowing extra virgin olive oil that is literally sublime, pure golden liquid. Walk in the hills covered with olive trees, vineyards, and woods; after that, we can relax at Castrocaro’s spa.
Day 5
After breakfast, we will take a bicycle ride among the hills of Oriolo to visit the ancient tower, followed by a lunchtime visit at the Ancarani winery, with an intriguing selection of native Romagna grapes, from which emerges a mighty overripe Albana, Santa Lusa, and Uvappesa, the sweet Centesimino. We will be guests of the winery for lunch; expect typical dishes and a profusion of grilled meat to go with an amazing Cabernet Sauvignon.
In the afternoon visit to the Museum of Ceramics in Faenza, the city tour includes Milzetti Palace, the Cathedral, and the Square, all dating to the Renaissance. Free time before dinner at the Baita, the best restaurant in town with an incredible wine list.
Day 6
Bertinoro: first of all, we will take a tasting tour of the compelling wines of Giovanna Madonia, a rocky lady that grows only alberello (tiny tree) vines, an old training system used in Romagna for centuries, in one of the most suggestive corners of this region. Afterward, visit the castle and stroll through the medieval buildings; use your free time to explore this charming town with plenty of delicatessens and lovely shops. In the afternoon, visit the Hermitage of Camaldoli or go truffle hunting in the woods.
Day 7
Visit the Tre Monti winery first thing in the morning, and then have lunch at the Vicolo Nuovo restaurant, where tradition is just the first step toward new ideas. In the afternoon, walk to visit the historic buildings, like the church of San Domenico and the famous castle, which houses a museum with over 600 original weapons, then enjoy free time for golf or horseback riding.
Day8
Trip to Bologna to visit the old town with its two towers (Asinelli and Garisenda), Piazza del Nettuno, San Petronio, and Santo Stefano churches, and then you’ll be spoiled for choice: there are the art gallery, the medieval museum, not to mention the museum of the great painter Morandi. Lunch at Cesari, an iconic Bolognese restaurant.
End of our Romagna food and wine tour by bicycle.
For those who want to continue exploring, a couple of additional days in Bologna are enough to visit the old city and the wineries of the surrounding Colli Bolognesi, too.