Lake Garda Wine Country Private Wine Tour

This morning you will arrive at Venice or Milan airport. Your private chauffeur will be waiting for you with your luxurious Mercedes. First, you will head for the Lake Garda wine hills. Lake Garda is home to some of Italy’s best wines: Amarone, Bardolino, Chiaretto, Lugana, and more. You will visit the fabulous small boutique estate Zenato. Taste their wines in a private room on the estate, enjoy their Lugana sparkling wines, Valpolicella Ripasso and Recioto, Chiaretto, and Bardolino, Amarone Riserva Sergio Zenato, and Lugana Riserva Sergio Zenato.

Lunch is in a brick-vaulted trattoria in wine country, one of our favorites, known for its superb local cooking. Specialties could include Risotto al Franciacorta in cialda di Grana (risotto in Franciacorta wine).

After a lingering lovely lunch, completed with excellent local grappa to wash the meal down, head to your villa hotel on Lake Garda.

Your hotel is the subject of many local legends and anecdotes. It was initially a mansion belonging to an eccentric businessman and acted as a hideaway later for Mussolini! It has been an ultra-luxury hotel for the last decade, with all the creature comforts you may require. The setting is just gorgeous. Enjoy a free night tonight to get settled in and dinner at their 2 Michelin starred restaurant on site.

Wake up in a spectacular setting, with views of the lake, the lemon grove, and a massive magnolia tree. After breakfast, hit the lake for a full day private cruise. From the comfort of your boat, take in the views of this beautiful lake. You will see Rocca di Manerba, Garda island’s natural reserve, and the magnificent neo-Gothic style Villa Borghese (we can organize a tour of gardens and villa if you wish), quaint hamlets of Malcesine, Limone, and Bardolino. You will arrive at Sirmione, where you can admire the Scaligero castle, the villa that once belonged to Maria Callas, and the Catullo Caves.

Lunch will be at spectacular La Speranzina, where Stefano and his team of 14 chefs will pamper you. You will enjoy dishes like Crispy scampi and sea bass, lemon, chive, salad of fruit and vegetables, Octopus “devil-style,” turnip greens, clementine; Tortelli with gorgonzola and mascarpone, lobster, walnuts; Morone fish, grilled potato, king trumpet mushroom, black truffle.

Enjoy some free time in lovely Sirmione, after lunch. On the way back to the hotel, stop for a late afternoon aperitif in the Taverna San Vigilio with its million-dollar views. Free evening tonight.

This morning, enjoy a late start! Take time to enjoy your surroundings, perhaps take in a morning walk along the Caribbean clear lakeside, or get some extra sleep. Around 10:30 AM, your chauffeured Mercedes will arrive to take you to the Valtenesi in the pretty green hills between Desenzano and Salò on Lake Garda’s western side. You will visit and have a tasting at a top winery Costaripa. Their wine Molmenti received the Tre Bicchieri award (“Three Glasses,” the highest honor in Italy) and the “best rosé wine in Italy.” Enjoy a private tour of the estate followed by a VIP tasting of Chiaretto rosé wines and Groppello grape-based Valtenesi wines! Before you leave, your hosts will give you a small gift.

Next is Conti Thun estate, where you will tour the vineyards and taste wines paired with traditional local products: cold cuts and cheeses like Bagòss and Tremosine, locally-sourced vegetables and fruit, bread, and focaccia.

These genuine flavors are the result of craftsmanship, inspired by respect and love for nature.

After lunch, your next port of call is an Extra Virgin Olive Oil producer. Learn about Italian Olive Oil, traditional and contemporary production methods, and finish your visit with a fantastic tasting of extra virgin olive oils.

You will visit the beautiful town of Salò next for some free time to relax at a wine bar, go gourmet shopping, visit an art museum housed in an old church, or soak up the atmosphere.

On the way back to the hotel, stop for a visit to a traditional “limonaia.” Lemons and citrus have been cultivated on the western shore of Lake Garda since the 14th century. Enterprising Franciscan monks exported the fruits and citrus to northern Europe. This business started to decline at the beginning of the 20th century. However, today you can still see how lemon orchards work and taste lemon-infused products like exquisite Limoncello, with beautiful views across Lake Garda.

Tonight you have a real gourmet highlight: dinner at Michelin starred Lido 84, who were included in “the 50 Best One to Watch Award”. Chef Riccardo Camanini previously worked with chefs Raymond Blanc and Gualtiero Marchesi and now uses creative cooking techniques to capture the surrounding area’s flavors perfectly.

Today a charming, intimate, and private cooking class is on the agenda. Anna and her husband Jacques are your delicious hosts, and you will start the day with a refreshing cappuccino and brioche. Anna will present the menu for the day chosen from her nonna’s (grandmother’s) secret recipe book. Sharpen your knives! Learn the basics of pasta, risotto, antipasti, and more. After your cooking lesson, sit down to the fruit of your labors in an elegant dining room. You will taste various wines that are carefully selected to pair with your dishes. Enjoy!

Next, a real one of a kind experience: a caviar tour and tasting at a top producer. Since 1977 over 150 acres of freshwater ponds are dedicated to the farming of different species of sturgeons, generating more than 15% of the world’s production of top farmed caviar. You will learn what caviar is, the malossol technique, how to taste these precious eggs, and how to assess the quality.

If you are a history, literature, or architecture buff, we recommend a visit to the Vittoriale degli Italiani in Gardone Riviera on the way back to the hotel. Once the private estate of Italian poet and military adventurer Gabriele D’Annunzio, this villa is famous for its Italian Art Deco interior. In the summer, an exciting music festival takes place in the panoramic amphitheater. Do not miss the botanical garden Heller: within 10,000 square meters, there are herbaceous species from all over the world.

Transfer back to the hotel and free evening.

Today you will depart. Drop off at your preferred time at the airport. This concludes your gourmet tour in Lake Garda. We can arrange extra days in Veneto, Lombardy and Trentino Alto Adige; please contact us for details.