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Small Group Private Tour Specialist

Plan your Italy adventure with the small group private tour specialist. Escape overtourism and discover the back roads and authentic small towns with us. Kathy and Vernon create your perfect trip, with off-the-beaten path destinations, activities from walks and bike rides to city tours and shopping, and expert-led culinary adventures.

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Food and Wine

Any tour of Italy is incomplete without indulging in the amazing food and wine. But to truly appreciate It requires an understanding of the regional history, culture and geography. All become part of your adventure with Kathy, chef, food blogger, and Certified Italian Wine Professional, and Vernon, mountain guide, MS in European Literature and avid history enthusiast.

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Your Unique Adventure

Not all private trips are custom. Most tour companies don't have the flexibility to deviate from their set itineraries, so there are always compromises. With Kathy and Vernon, your adventure will be as unique as you are, and your itinerary will be personally designed us to meet the desires and varied interests of your group.

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The ItaliaOutdoors Difference


Truly Personalized Service and a Custom Plan for Every Trip

Kathy and Vernon

NO MIDDLEMEN

You communicate directly with Vernon and Kathy. We know your dreams for an Italy adventure, we’ll have it ready for you when you arrive.

No Group Too Small

SMALL FOOTPRINT

Our small footprint allows us to travel like locals and enjoy spontaneous adventures as we explore the path less traveled.

 

Custom Plan

UNIQUE ITINERARY

Each tour itinerary is unique and serves as a framework for an exceptional journey, where a thoughtful plan adjusts to your pace.

 

Authenticity

KNOWLEDGE

We focus on just a few select tours to provide an exceptional level of regional knowledge and an unforgettable authentic experience.

Travel after COVID-19: How do you wish to travel in Italy when we are able to return? In a small private group of your family and friends? Plenty of outdoor explorations? Off the beaten track destinations far from tourist crowds? Private cooking classes, wine tours, small intimate hotels? That's how we've been traveling for ten years. Plan your adventure in Italy with Italiaoutdoors Food and Wine, the custom tour specialist.

Customize Your Adventure - Food - Wine - Walk - Hike - Bike

With Italy's "Best Local Guide 2013"

Read about our tours in Adventure Cyclist August 2015

Our passion is creating intimate, personalized active food and wine adventures that explore an authentic Italy
- its outdoor beauty, its hidden back roads, its small family producers, its traditional wines, at your preferred pace.
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The Bolla family first began producing wines back in 1883 in Soave. Abele Bolla was an inn keeper, renowned for the high quality wines he served at his inn, and decided to try his hand making them himself. In subsequent years, Abele’s sons took over, and expanded the family holdings to include vineyards in the Valpolicella and Bardolino zones. Today, the Bolla brand is owned by Gruppo Italiano Vini, and includes vineyards and wines from the Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Emilia-Romagna, Lombardia, and Tuscany.

vineyards amarone private bike tours italy
Vineyards on our Amarone tour

Bolla was the very first producer to introduce Amarone to the United States, with its 1950 vintage. Today, Amarone wines are highly prized, and usually command fairly high prices.

bolla amarone custom tours italy bike walk
Bolla Amarone

The Bolla Amarone della Valpolicello Classico wine is 70% Corvina, with 30% Rodinella and Molinara. These grapes are grown in the upper hillside zone of the Classico Valpolicella region, in vineyards with the ideal microclimate, sun exposure and soil type for these specific varietals. The grapes are hand-picked to select those with high sugar levels. They are spread on flat straw mats in drawers with good air circulation, where they dry naturally. They are turned and constantly inspected during the drying process. This drying process, referred to as “appassimento” (to dry or shrivel), results in a 40% reduction in juice, and a concentration of the sugars and varietal flavor compounds. A gentle pressing occurs in mid-February and then the grapes undergo a 20-day cold maceration period on the skins and stems. The skins and stems are removed, and the remaining juice is fermented for an additional 25 days, and then aged in oak for 2-3 years.

I tasted the Bolla 2006 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico. It was a deep red garnet color, with a distinct tobacco aroma. It also offered hints of black cherry, spice and chocolate to the nose. The flavors here were dark fruit, tobacco and chocolate, with a long, tannic finish. A full-bodied wine that can easily overwhelm a light dish, but is a wonderful accompaniment to aged cheeses such as Parmigiano-Reggiano or Asiago Stravecchio.

I would pair this with a hearty braised red meat dish, such as my Braised Beef with Amarone (duh ---)