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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.
Tell Me More!

The wines of Alto Adige are recently beginning to receive international attention and accolades. However, this region has been producing quality wines for centuries, with evidence of production here dating back to Roman times. The regions unique location, lying on the southern slopes of the Alps, where the central valleys and south-facing slopes enjoy long sunny days and cool nights, with plenty of breezes to keep the grapes dry during the ripening season.

cantina elena walch wine tours sudtirol bike walk
A visit to Elena Walch on our private tours

 

elena walch pinot grigio wine custom tours sudtirol
Elena Walch Pinot Grigio

In 1985, a young architect named Elena Walch married into one of the leading producers of this region, and took over management of her new family's business. The family owned two prestigious estates; Castel Ringberg, overlooking Lago di Caldaro, and Kastelaz, a south-facing, steep hillside above the village of Tramin. Elena dedicated herself to improving the quality of the vineyards, drastically decreasing the yield. The result are premium wines with superb aromatics and a concentrated fruit character. Their whites, including Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Riesling and Gewurztraminer, are classic, ‘old-world’ style, elegant and with a firm acidity. Reds are concentrated and intense, with more fruit and less tannins. Walch’s philosophy is that the fruit should provide the flavor, “The complexity and the quality has to be in the fruit itself, oak is only used to complement the fruit.” Elena's husband Wilhelm produces wines as well, under his own name.

Castel Ringberg is the estate’s most important vineyards, located just north of Lago di Caldaro on a hillside about 300 m. The limestone soil that surrounds the estate is quite poor, but this stimulates deep root growth, resulting in better quality wines. The castle was originally built as a hunting lodge for the Austrian monarchs, the Habsburgs, in 1620. Three reserve wines are cultivated here, including a Chardonnay, Lagrein, and a Cabernet Sauvignon. In addition, single estate wines these vineyards will bear the Castel Ringberg name on the label.

Her other estate, Kastelaz, has been producing renowned wines since the Bronze age, as evidenced by the discovery of artifacts on the property. Located just outside the town of Tramin, the birthplace of the Gewürztraminer varietal, this estate continues to produce outstanding wines. Wines produced here include Gewürztraminer, Pinot Bianco, and Merlot.

I have tasted two of Elena Walch wines, the Pinot Grigio and the Sauvignon Blanc Castel Ringberg.

elena walch sauvignon wine custom walking tours italy
Elena Walch Sauvignon

The Elena Walch 2010 Pinot Grigio is pale yellow in color, with a very subtle, but fruity nose. It is 100% Pinot Grigio, matured in stainless steel tanks. It is full bodied and flavorful; much more so than your ‘typical’ Pinot Grigio. Elegant fruit flavors of apples, pears and some citrus notes, with a nice acidity. It is a very versatile wine, and would be wonderful as an apertif, with mild cheese, with light pasta dishes and fish.

The Elena Walch 2010 Sauvignon Castel Ringberg is a treat. A rich golden yellow with hints of green. It has a lively, fruity nose with herbal notes. Its’ flavor is crisp and elegant, with fresh citrus and tropical fruits, full bodied and firm acidity. 100% Sauvignon Blanc. A very sophisticated, well-balanced wine. A great pairing with light pasta dishes, fish and other seafood.