Prosecco wine road
Our trip starts in Conegliano, a city offering you the chance to stroll under the porticos of Contrada Grande and admire the facades of noble palaces, the splendid frescos on the facade of the cathedral and the castle in the background.
It is precisely at the foot of the castle, in the historic "Cerletti" Enological Institute, that the wine route begins. We recommend a visit to the 19th-century frescoed Bottega del Vino at the Enology School.
We continue on towards Rua di San Pietro di Feletto and its 17th-century Camaldolese hermitage, which is now the town hall. In San Pietro di Feletto we will also encounter a splendid 12th-century parish church, in exquisite and elegant Romanesque style.
The next stretch of road leads us to Refrontolo, winding through scenic hills, while a short detour takes you to the enchanting Molinetto della Croda, (an ancient mill) embedded in rocks.
Solighetto features the 18th-century villa Aldobrandini d'Adda, now home to the Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco DOC Consortium, and a museum devoted to the opera singer Toti Dal Monte. Soligo hosts the little church of Santa Maria Nova, dating, like its frescos, from the 14th century. A brief excursion leads to the small temple of San Gallo from which you can enjoy an extraordinary vista of the Piave valley.
After Farra di Soligo you reach Col San Martino with its medieval Torri del Credazzo, towers testifying to a Longobard settlement and the little church of San Virgilio, an architectural and artistic gem reached after a few minutes' walk.
On the way to Colbertaldo you can enjoy a largely still intact landscape, patterned with little rounded hills, poetically called "snails", often dotted with old dairy sheds and still used to store hay and tools. A few kilometres away, in Vidor, you come to the abbey of Santa Bona, standing on the Piave River in a wonderful park. This historic and artistic complex, dating from the 12th century, is definitely worth seeing.
From Colbertaldo, the wine road heads north through the vineyards to reach the "cru" par excellence in this region, the Cartizze area, which produces the Cartizze sparkling wine. Heading for Folio and then climbing back towards S. Stefano, you can admire some of the loveliest views of the Prosecco DOC hills, where vineyards leave room - but only on the hilltops – for the famous chestnut forests.
Going past S. Pietro di Barbozza (home to the Prosecco Confraternity), you come to Valdobbiadene and Villa del Cedri, housing the Forum Spumanti d'Italia e di Altamarca, where the outbound trip ends. A must, is a look at the main piazza, surrounded by buildings in neoclassic style, and at the nearby, delightful little church of S. Gregorio, dating from the 1400s. From Valdobbiadene, driving towards Guia, you begin the return trip over roads featuring some of the most beautiful and imposing panoramas of this area.
Taking the provincial road SP 123 towards Campea you will travel through well preserved rural landscapes. Crossing the Soligo River and SP 4, at Pedeguarda you quickly climb towards Farro, in a landscape where the vineyards are often steep and jagged - don't miss the view of the village of Rolle - which alternates between vineyards and thick woods.
Leaving Arfanta behind, you go first towards Tarzo and Corbanese, then towards Cozzuolo, Carpesica and Ogliano along roads with old towns and their bell towers standing out against the horizon. Finally, our trip ends back in Conegliano.