IF YOU COULD ONLY BOTTLE THIS!
Chill the vino... Trentino’s lakeland has its own method
LIKE some sort of holiday dream, a woman floats by on her bike – completely at ease, her floral summer dress billowing lightly in the breeze.
Like us, she’s cycling an 18km path to the town of Borgo Valsugana to stock up on local produce and enjoy the weekly market bustle.
We’re doing this easy route the easy way – with e-bikes. As electric motors kick into action, we have enough oxygen in our lungs to chat and energy to enjoy the lush verdant landscape of Italy’s market garden. Pears, apples, kiwi and maize are typically grown in this region, which is also the most northerly place in Italy for olive oil production.
We sip an 11am Cappuccino, wander through the market and cycle back to hotel Al Sorriso at Lake Levico, the base for the second part of our Trentino road trip.
After a few days of hiking, barefoot walking and the Sounds of the Dolomites music festival in Val di Fassa, our plan now is for lots of active relaxation, the best kind.
The Al Sorriso offers a taste of what’s to come – its gardens are utterly relaxing and just a fiveminute walk from Lake Levico. This area may be less well known to Irish holidaymakers than Lake Garda but it’s a magnet for Italian families who want laid-back, low key holidays.
And that’s exactly how it feels to me – like a childhood family holiday. What could be better?
There are so many ways to see this region – by foot, bike, boat, car and train – and so much to learn about its history and culture. During the Belle Epoque era it was an important thermal spa town for wealthy families who had summer homes there. Until 1918 it was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire; as a result locals refer to themselves as ‘young Italians’.
Not surprisingly, we’ll be spending most of our time on the water, meeting many of the young people who are shaping the future of Trentino’s tourism industry.
Our first dip in the European Blue Flag water is for a stand-up paddle boarding (SUP) lesson. It’s appropriate that the words ‘stand up’ are in the name; there’s scope for comedy as shaky novices fall into the water and struggle to get back on boards.
SUP looks easy but proves to be a good all-body workout. Learning to stand up from a kneeling position is a test of balance but within half an hour we’re paddling to the far side of the lake and learning basic turn techniques. Our session is a stand-up success.
We’ve learned to paddle upright on nearby Lago di Caldonazzo. Afterwards we drive back to Lake Levico for a relaxing e-boat tour and a truly special Trentino experience.
Our host for the boat tour is Giorgio Romanese, a young wine producer whose Cantina Romanese company produces up to 50,000 bottles of Trento Doc wines annually. But what have a lake and wine production got to do with each other you might ask?
Each year, using a rare method traditionelle, Giorgio and his brother Andrea age up to 2,000 bottles of sparkling wine at the bottom of the lake. In a natural process which requires no energy, the wine is aged for 500 days, 20 metres below the surface.
As well as ageing the wine at a constant year-round temperature, the pressure of the water on the corks produces finer, creamier bubbles which we get to sample during an e-boat wine tasting session. The ageing process is completed at a World War One fort in the Lagorai Mountains and the result is a truly unique experience.
Our next Levico surprises take us off the water and into the car. We drive to Val di Sella to spend the morning at Arte Sella, an international exhibition of contemporary art that takes place entirely outdoors.
Each year, artists are invited to create works of art which use natural materials and reflect nature.
This year the theme is architecture with celebrated architects like Japan’s Kengo Kuma and Italy’s Michelangelo Pistoletto participating.
AMONGST the most impressive works are the Tree Cathedral and the Theatre in Nature but the real beauty of this 3km art-in-nature trail is the debate each piece stirs, the interpretations that each visitor has and the fact that each work is allowed to decay as nature dictates.
Spend an entire day here learning about these beguiling works of art, punctuating it with a lunchtime feast at Artesella’s Dall’Ersilia bistro. Take a guided tour to get the most from the experience. Not only will you discover the story behind each fascinating piece, you will learn that at some points, you are walking over WW1 trenches, a sad fact in this beautiful place.
With so much culture, history and relaxation on board, we decide the only way to top it all off is by becoming royalty for an evening so we put on our best garb and drive to Castel Pergine above Borgo Valsugana .
With the Dolomites in the distance, Pergine is a Trentino dream – romantic and unpretentious, a hidden gem for a special occasion.
Constructed over a thousand years ago and once owned by the Dukes of Austria, it has been a hotel since the early 1900s and is now run by a dynamic couple in their late twenties, Daniele Tomasi and his wife Elisa Bertoldi.
It’s inexpensive – you can stay here from €60 per night B&B or €90 half board – but you won’t find a focus on luxe. Instead, furnishings are traditional and simple so that the striking character of Pergine shines through.
As chef de cuisine, Daniele’s emphasis is on fine food. Castel
Pergine has its own fisherman at Lake Garda and local produce is firmly on the menu.
We enjoy a tasting menu with matched wines for €55 per person, a snip compared to gourmet experiences elsewhere. Tortelli with smoked aubergine, Talgliolini with wine sauce, braised beef cheek and roast veal loin are some of the delicacies we enjoy as we gaze at the pink glow of the Dolomiti.
From the depths of Lake Levico to a beautiful castle on a hill, this area has totally relaxed us.
But there’s still more to squeeze from the Trentino bottle. If you fancy a day trip to Venice during your holiday, hop on a train – it takes two hours and costs €19 return.
If you’re driving back to Treviso or Verona to fly home, sneak in one final treat. Stop off at Torbole on the north shore of Lake Garda which is also part of the Trentino region. Browse the boutiques, watch the windsurfers at play and devour a final seafood pasta dish at a lakeside restaurant – bliss from start to finish.