Saturday, February 16, 2013

Italy: Puglia Wine Tour

Do you enjoy wine, love Italy and travel?

Join a group of like minded travelers and experience a Robertson Tour of Excellence in Puglia

This is your opportunity to travel the Italy our friend Yle with Yltour has shared with us the past year. 

Yle will join Tim Robertson during the tour as you experience the wonderful wines and food of Puglia, visit extraordinary wine producers, enjoy regional foods and stay at lovely hotels and country estates.  

About your stay

Puglia, in the heel of Italy’s boot, is a region of knotted olive groves, vineyards and tourist-free coastlines. Slurp your way through it on a nine-day exploration with Robertson Wine Tours, experts in curating adventures for oenophiles. You’ll visit top wineries, taste fine wines, learn how to make regional dishes and tour the area’s best bits on this small group tour.

What we love

  • Rate includes eight nights accommodation; daily breakfast, four lunches and three dinners, drinks with meals included in the itinerary, all wine tastings, city tours, cooking classes and bicycle and helmet hire; round-trip airport transfers and the services of a tour leader
  • Daily activities are varied, including wine tastings, visits to towns, hands-on cooking lessons and cycling
  • An opportunity to gain a deeper knowledge of wines produced in Puglia

What to know

  • Minimum age of participation is 21
  • Not included: International airfare; insurance; any services not specified in the itinerary
  • The maximum number of participants is 22
  • In addition to the daily activities, you'll also have some free time to relax or explore on your own
  • You'll be traveling with like-minded wine enthusiasts
  • The tour is led by a bilingual tour director

Robertson Wine Tours
Cell     +39 328 6086319
Office  +39 0835 1971 596 


U.K.    +44 208 1448945
U.S.A  +
1 707  9274167
Skype: Robertson Wine Tours
Email: contact
@robertsonwinetours.com
Web: www.robertsonwinetours.com

The Itinerary

Puglia Wine & Food Experience with Robertson Wine Tours
Duration: Nine days/eight nights

Day One - Arrival
After touching down in Brindisi or Bari, you'll transfer to the Risorgimento Resort, a charming five-star property in the heart of Lecce. To kick-start the tour, you'll taste four wines from the Southern Salento region in the afternoon. Dinner isn't included this evening, but the tour leader will provide a list of recommended restaurants.
Overnight at Risorgimento Resort

Day Two - Lecce and Otranto
After breakfast you'll join a guided tour of Lecce. Often dubbed the Florence of southern Italy, this Baroque town is home to a Roman amphitheater, Duomo and bell tower. A welcome lunch is included at Alle Due Corti, a locavore eatery that serves traditional Salento cuisine. In the afternoon you'll head south and visit Otranto, a coastal walled town on the Adriatic. Dinner will be on your own back in Lecce.
Overnight at Risorgimento Resort; breakfast and lunch included

Day Three - Lecce
Today is a free day to explore Lecce at your leisure. Admire its theatrical architecture and stroll its maze of medieval alleys. There are plenty of lunch and dinner spots to uncover, but the tour leader is equipped with top-notch suggestions to make the most of eating your way through this foodie hot spot.
Overnight at Risorgimento Resort; breakfast included

Day Four - Wine Tasting, Coastal Lunch & Country Stay
After breakfast you'll check out and travel to the Schola Sarmenti Winery to taste four wines. The vineyard harvests grapes by hand and cultivates only native vines such as Primitivo (present on this land for over 500 years) and Negroamaro which dates back at least 2000 years. You'll then head to Gallipoli on the west coast of Puglia. This fishing village is located on an island connected by a bridge built hundreds of years ago. You'll lunch at Scoglio delle Sirene, a restaurant overlooking the Ionian sea and then take part in another wine tasting at Galatina, where you'll learn all about Pizzica music and dance. You'll spend the next three nights at Masseria Provenzani, a restored country estate just north of Lecce. Dinner at the property is included.
Overnight at Masseria Provenzani; breakfast, lunch and dinner included

Day Five - Cooking or Wine Tasting
Today you have a choice between taking part in a traditional cooking class at Masseria Provenzani or a twin-center wine tasting. Led by Mamma Giulia in the hotel's rustic kitchen, you'll learn the art of Apulian peasant cooking using herbs from the kitchen garden and olive oil and wine produced on the farm. Lunch will be whatever you prepare. Alternatively, head out to Candido Winery, where you'll taste wines that have been grown, pressed, blended and bottled in Puglia with knowledge and skills perfected in the same family since 1929. You'll also visit the Conti Zecca Winery. The cellar was built by Count Alcibiade Zecca and dates from the 16th century. The wines here are considered some of the best in Puglia. You'll lunch at Masseria Li Manchi or Azienda Agricola Taurino. After a tough day of eating and drinking you'll be taken to the Cantele Winery restaurant for a leisurely dinner, which will, of course, be accompanied by some fine wines. The winery produces 2 million bottles annually.
Overnight at Masseria Provenzani; breakfast, lunch and dinner included

Day Six - Cycling and Wine Tasting
After breakfast you'll head out on two wheels to explore the Salento region by bike. In the afternoon you'll visit Leone de Castris Winery which was founded in 1665 and is renowned for the production of Five Roses, a blend made with 90 percent Negroamaro and 10 percent Malvasia Nera grapes. Then it's on to Feudi di Guagnano winery, a collection of small vineyard holdings belonging to retired winemakers around the town of Guagnano. Lunch will be at Masseria Li Veli or Masseria Terra dei Padri, and you'll have the afternoon and evening to yourself.
Overnight at Masseria Provenzani; breakfast and lunch included

Day Seven - White Cities Tour
After breakfast you'll travel north to join a tour of the region's White Cities: the whitewashed, fortified hill town of Ostuni; Locorotondo, considered one of the most beautiful villages in Italy; and the whitewashed historic maze in the historic center of Martina Franca. Lunch will be at Piazzetta Garibaldi restaurant (not included in the rate). In the afternoon you'll be taken to Sant’Angelo Luxury Resort, in Matera to check in for the next two nights. This traditional cave hotel has a lobby set in a former 13th-century chapel and stylish rooms carved out of rock, complete with vast sunken tubs. You'll be greeted with a welcome wine tasting event. Dinner will be on your own, but you'll be given recommendations for dining out in Matera.
Overnight at Sant'Angelo Luxury Resort; breakfast included

Day Eight - Matera
After breakfast you'll join a guided tour of Matera, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that may be one of the most original in Italy. This extraordinary town is famous for its sassi (stone houses built into caves and carved out of cliffs) and has featured in a number of films, including The Passion of the Christ. Lunch will be on your own but you'll join a farewell dinner at the hotel's Regia Corte restaurant.
Overnight at Sant'Angelo Luxury Resort; breakfast and dinner included

Day Nine - Departure
After breakfast you'll be transferred to either Brindisi or Bari airport for your return flight home.
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