On Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 September the Franciacorta in Cantina Festival is back.
“Looking for a full-blown traditional flavours experience? Interested in the technical side of winemaking? Looking for a child-friendly weekend or an animal lovers programme? Are you sporty?” Answer these simple questions for a made-to-measure Franciacorta discovery experience, with the third week in September being the fourteenth edition of a festival focusing on wine know-how and its places of origin.
Wine lovers can chat with over sixty producers and discuss biodynamics and organic agriculture while tasting prestigious selections of rare historic vintages accompanied by a wide range of delicacies. And there will also be vertical tastings of the various types of Franciacorta, guided historic winery visits and vineyard tours complete with aperitifs and vineyard picnics. Two days devoted to finding out more about wine, local products and much more. Because the versatility of this Brescia DOCG lends itself to interesting fusions with ‘foreign’ dishes from Roman pinsa to Mexican tacos by way of Romagna’s street food.
In the year which celebrated Bergamo and Brescia as exponents of Italian culture, Franciacorta, too, is getting the message of its centuries’ long heritage across in events telling of the area beyond its food and wine. The castles, churches and museums in Brescia’s nineteen towns are ready to welcome international visitors interested in having a closer look at the artistic and lesser known attractions of a wine growing region with an expert art history guide.
And there’s something for the more adventurous, too: footpaths, bike trails and horse riding routes through historic vineyards, living testimony to a long history which lives on in the vineyards and its products. Lake-lovers can also enjoy evocative Franciacorta landscapes from a different perspective, navigating through the waters of the Sebino on attractive mahogany boats made available thanks to an exclusive rental boats with driver service. If it is a family outing you have in mind, a treasure hunt through the vineyards will certainly win over the little ones just as much as a wine tasting will wine over the adults once the games are over.
Don’t have the time or energy to put the stages together and plan your own personalised trip? The innovative format deigned for this edition will free you of the burden. The Tour in Bus leaving from Rovato, Brescia, Bergamo and Milan is the best way to get to know the many facets of Franciacorta without logistics problems: all activities – from tastings at the wineries to visits to places of cultural interest – are organised and booked. All you need to do is turn up!
If you prefer to plan your weekend away on your own with a minimum of details, start browsing the site in search of the best experiences for you, choosing between over one hundred and sixty events. Let yourself be guided by the orientation test designed specially to get you enjoying special days out exploring enchanting corners of Lombardy: its name is synonymous with the prestigious wine made in these lands but also of culture, and not just food and wine.
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