Put on a weekend by enotourist in Franciacorta, among walks in the vineyards, visits to wine cellars, wine tastings and good food. It is the proposal of the agriturismo Al Rocol di Ome (alrocol.com), in the province of Brescia, a 34-hectare estate in which the vineyards grown on terraces well exposed to the sun alternate with olive grove and oak wood, chestnut trees, ancient robines, where are traced itineraries for walks and riding to mountain-bike, which lead up to the ancient hunting fortress that gives it the name.
Gianluigi Vimercati Castellini (president of the Agriturist Lombardy) with his sister Francesca, his father Giovanni who takes care of the winery and his mother Daniela, extraordinary cook to which the kitchen is entrusted. And they are the ones who welcome the guests and lead them, step by step (literally, from the vineyard to the winery) to the discovery of how the precious Italian wine fermented in bottle, the famous Franciacorta that bears the name of the territory from which it was born. The production of high quality wines is the main activity of Al Rocol, which uses its own, noble and traditional grapes, cultivated on spectacular terraces on the hill and produces Franciacorta, to which stand full-bodied Red Curtefranca and perfumed White Curtefanca. You can taste and buy only in the company because "by choice – says Gianluigi Vimercati Castellini – we decided not to sell in the commercial network but only directly to the final customer. We believe that important direct contact between us who produce and who chooses to taste our wines. And, equally important, the fact of giving our consumers the opportunity to see how the wines they buy and know in person the entire supply chain are born. "
The guided tours in the wine cellar are completed in the tasting room, where you can taste the various types of wines, accompanied by delicious products and typical products of the territory of France. For those who want to learn more, tasting and cooking courses, in which it is also taught how to best match food and wine.
In the wine cellar (open every day of the week) you can also buy other farm products, including Chardonnay Grappa distilled from Franciacorta Brut Ca del Luf.
"We want to rediscover the genuineness and authenticity of a forgotten rural world," says Gianluigi Vimercati. A rediscovery that leads from the vineyard to the cellar, from the garden to the table. Following the old family recipes, his mother Daniela flanked by chef Fabio Orizio, kitchen seasonal dishes of the tradition of Brescia and franciacortina, enhancing the products of the garden and the farm: I don't know. (ravioli) stuffed with meat or flavored with the Bagòss, fine cheese from the nearby mountains, hand-drawn tagliatelle with local mushrooms, potato dumplings or pumpkin, vegetable soups of the vegetable garden, oil beef with vegetables, red wine braised, fragrant crusted with homemade jams or fresh fruit.
And for those who have a little time to give themselves, nothing better than stopping to overnight stay in farmhouse, which also offers guests mountain bikes. In the central body of the estate and in an old rustic renovated in the middle of the vineyards have been obtained 15 rooms and various apartments, furnished in country style, harmoniously mixing furniture ancient with modern and linear pieces. Between vineyards and woods, a swimming pool was built, in the green of the lawn and, not far away, well-equipped parking pitches of all point welcome campers.
To make the authenticity of life in the countryside and the values of the millenary peasant tradition rediscover even the smallest, a educational farm: so they can caresss the donkeys and goats, collect the eggs in the poultry, collect the vegetables in the vegetable garden, explore the orchard and vineyard.
