Enjoy More Wine, Enjoy Wine More.

It’s late afternoon. You’ve had an exciting day, exploring and absorbing the city, and you’re ready to relax and recount your experiences with your companions over a nice glass of vino. You ease into an enoteca and review the list scrawled on the chalkboard.

Vernaccia Nera? Ribolla Gialla? Greco di Tufo? Schiop…schioppe…? You turn to the barista and sheepishly order red wine; they, sensing your anxiety, suggest a Chianti, knowing this is one you’ll know. *Whew* Crisis averted.

The only problem is, you’ve traveled hundreds and/or thousands of miles to drink the very same wines you’d find back home – which also means you’ll miss out on some of the best and most exciting wines Italy has to offer, many of which never leave the region, let alone the country.

Drink Different.

The Venetian Vine  is a different sort of wine tasting: informative, practical, entertaining — without a trace of uppity, it’s designed to introduce you to the taste of regions, varieties, and terriors that combine to produce some of the most varied, delightful wines around.

The focus is on distinctive wines from small producers, some to introduce you to the Tri-Veneto and others from across the country, chosen specifically for their quality and diversity. In fact, you’ll experience a much wider variety of wines during this tasting than you ever would criss-crossing the countryside in a one-day wine tour.

A varietal is not a grape. Really.

As you taste, you’ll learn lots of whys-and-wherefores that will help you choose the best Italian wines once you’ve left us, both as you travel, and once you’re back home — whether you’ve ever heard of them or not.

The Best Wine Tasting Experience in Venice…

…we guarantee it. In fact, after experiencing the Venetian Vine, you’ll be the one talking up that great Malvasia Istriana…

 ~ Book online at venetianvine.com ~

INCLUDES:

• Semi-private, small group tasting – maximum six people
• Tuesdays & Friday at 5pm (other days available on request for two or more people)
• Tasting of 6 wines, chosen according to season and theme, concentrating on quality wines produced from lesser known varieties and regions
• Paired, gourmet antipasti to enjoy with our chosen wines
• Lively, informative explanations in English by a professional sommelier
• Includes materials for remembering the wines you experienced during the tasting

COST & DETAILS:

• €70 per person
• two person minimum for tasting to take place (singles reservations gladly accepted if minimum has been met)
• 50% non-refundable deposit required via Paypal or with credit card details to reserve. Walk-ins are accepted if there is space remaining.

Larger group tasting arrangements on request.

 

So much of Venice’s popularity rests on its past laurels, but these two enterprising women have divined to take the city’s most treasured gastronomic and social elements to have you experience them in a contemporary and most delectable way.

La Mela (the Apple), as their endeavor is known, offers menus of primi, secondi and desserts that change with the season, and range from bio-natural to Venetian to typically Italian, all created with the freshest ingredients with the utmost skill and care. You can enjoy them in Manu’s luminous, contemporary mansarda (attic) home: a stone’s throw from the Teatro Fenice, with the San Marco Campanile peering in the window. Or, if you’d prefer, enjoy your repast and their company in your own apartment: they will bring the meal to you. Socialize with your hosts in Italian if you’d like to practice, or in your native English.

La Mela is available to reserve for lunch, apertivo, or dinner, any day of the week. Just write with your preferences and reserve your private Venetian meal, as you like it.

PRICES START at €35 per person for aperitivo, €55 per person for lunch, and €75 per person for dinner. Meals are an abundant, gourmet, four-course (antipasto, primo, secondo and contorno, dessert) repasts and include wine. Please write for a quote, include number in your party, and note any allergies or other dietary restrictions with your request.

Buon appetito!

One of our most popular offerings, and a must for foodies of all sorts. An up-close, behind the scenes introduction to not only what, but who makes up consumable Venice, guaranteed to afford you one of the most authentic, informative, and sensual (literally) Venetian experiences of your visit.

Too many landlubbers miss some of the best meals available in the city because “they don’t care for fish.” Often this is because they’ve never tasted fish that, as we say, “was swimming with his brothers just a few hours ago.” “It’s alive!” shrieks a visitor, recoiling from the claws of an indigo-blue astice. Says Loris (bettern known as Lolo) Manna, the Rialto Fish Market President: “If it’s not alive…it’s no good!”

Let Lolo give you the insider’s perspective on one of the most famous fish markets in the world. He’ll introduce you to its proud members, just arrived from the lagoon inlets and the high Adriatic, and beyond. They come in every form and fashion, depending on the season: shrimp to scampi (do you know the difference?), scallops to razor clams, eels to rays, tuna to swordfish. You’ll hear about Venetian fishing and cooking traditions and how they’ve evolved, even get tips on how to choose and prepare some simple dis hes yourself.

After leaving the market we’ll take the traghetto across the Grande Canal and head for the recently-revamped Fontego dei Pescatore, an elegant restaurant at night and lively bàcaro at lunchtime. Lolo is the proud proprietor, a guarantee of the quality of the fish in the tasty cichetti we’ll sample — some traditional, some contemporary creations — all Venetian to the core. We’ll also sample a flight of wines from the Tre Venezie (Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Trentino Alto Adige), paired to accompany this ichthyic lunch that will combine all the elements of the morning. Whether you opt for a generous sampling of classic cichetti and a hearty seafood risotto, or a four course gourmet meal, it’s all created with quello del’megliore che c’è, the best ingredients available, guaranteed to please everyone from the most adventurous to the pickiest of diners.

INCLUDES:

Rialto Fish Market tour with Loris Manna, President of the Rialto Fishmongers Association

• Private Rialto Fish Market tour with Loris Manna, President of the Rialto Fishmongers Association
• Olive oil sampling
• Tre-Venezia wine tasting
• Lunch comprising all the elements of the tour, either a variety of fish and vegetable cichetti including piping hot seafood risotto all’onde, or a four-course gourmet meal

COST:

Prices are for generous cichetti and risotto lunch, second are for the four course meal:

• 2pp €260 / €360
• 4pp €350 / €520
• 6pp €440 / €660

Please note: when booking this tour, do let us know of any allergies or dietary concerns you may have.

NOTE:

This tour is available from Wednesday – Saturday.

This tour may not be available in August, when the fishing is at its leanest.