Thursday morning after breakfast, we gathered in Piazza Maggiore at 10 a.m. to take the hour and a half "Red Bus" tour of Bologna. It is a great way to get an overview of the city, as well as see some monuments, churches, piazze and the train station. The open-air bus makes 14 stops where you can get on or off, returning to your starting point.
After the bus tour, our guests split up and wandered to lunch, gelato, a museum, or to shop. We gathered again at 4:00 and boarded our comfortable air-conditioned 13-seat coach for an afternoon wine tasting.
We arrived at a beautiful villa in the countryside near the tiny village of Maggio, site of the Palazzona di Maggio winery.
We were greeted by the gracious Antonella, who walked us back to where the wine is made. First we saw the small winery, with state-of-the-art computerized equipment, and Antonella's son, Federico explained how the Sangiovese is produced. from the family's vineyard.
Next we were given a tour of the beautifully restored villa, that has been in Antonella's husband, Alberto's family for over 50 years. Construction of the villa as we see it today began in 1750, and went on for 10 years. The interior is as beautiful as the outside.
height="500" />
What a glorious view from the front veranda!
We tasted three wonderful wines: a Sangiovese, Dracone and Dracone Riserva.
Antonella offered us some lovely antipasti of the region:
Antonella and Federico were wonderful hosts, and it was the perfect spot to relax and enjoy good wine!
