North Eastern Italy really has it all - from the beautiful canals and magnificent palazzi in Venice, to the gently rolling hills of Collio, to the historic cellars of Valpolicella, to the jagged peaks of the majestic Dolomites.

“Food without wine is a corpse; wine without food is a ghost. United and well matched, they are as body and soul: living partners” André Simon, wine merchant and writer.

This notion of pairing wine with food is particularly fitting for the wines of the North East of Italy and neighbouring Slovenia where the red wines of Valpolicella and the Sud Tirol, the sparkling wines from Franciacorta, Trento and Prosecco, and the crisp and exciting whites from Friuli together make perfect matches for the regional specialities of pasta carbonara, risotto all’amarone, canederli and fricco Friulano

Payments Policy 

Each tour has a deposit of $750 per person which is payable at booking. The balance of payment is due 90 days prior to the start of the tour.

WeTravel Payments

We are thrilled to announce the launch of our brand-new booking system, powered by the WeTravel platform. Our primary goal is to enhance your booking experience, making it simpler and more convenient, especially when it comes to payment via credit card.WeTravel is a highly respected booking and payments platform for group travel businesses, trusted by over 5,000 companies worldwide. We couldn't be happier to partner with them, knowing that they provide instant payment acceptance, efficient booking management, and global fund transfers.
Booking your next adventure with us is now smoother than ever. Tours will continue to be listed on our website as before. When you click ‘book now’ on the tour page you will transition to the new WeTravel booking page for that tour where you can select the package and options that you wish to book.

We highly recommend creating an account during the signup process. This enables you to track the status of your bookings and make any necessary changes whenever you need to. Rest assured, WeTravel respects your privacy and won't inundate you with marketing emails.

Payment Methods  Once you've completed the familiar booking form, you can proceed to make secure online payments, currently available in 2 different ways:

1. credit card (which incurs a processing fee that varies according to the currency and location you are paying in, up to 2.9%) 
2. bank debit transfer. Bank debit transfers occur when an account holder authorises an outside party to “pull” funds from their bank account. The recipient’s bank initiates the transfer of funds, not the sender’s bank. When a customer sets up this type of bank transfer to make a payment, they provide their name and account details to the recipient, who will then use the account information to pull funds from the sender’s account into their own.This is different from bank/ wire transfer where instead of the recipient’s account “pulling” money from the sender’s account, credit transfers work by “pushing” money from the sender’s bank account to the recipient’s.

If you prefer alternative payment methods such as cheques or Wise wire transfer, we're happy to accommodate these arrangements on request.  

Non USA Payments  

Most of our tours are listed in US dollars but if you want to pay in your local currency by the bank debit method then it is as easy as selecting the flag of your country’s currency on the top right of the window when you are making payment. Alternatively, you can request our $US account details to make a wire transfer from outside the USA.  

2nd Participant Payments   

A booking will only show under the account of the person who made the booking, not the second participant. There are 2 options for payment in this case - 

1. You can pay together and handle the participant's payment outside of WeTravel. 
2. You can share the login and each make payments with your preferred payment method.

Timings 

The payment timing will stay the same, with a deposit of $750 pp payable at booking and the balance payable by 90 days before the tour starts. You will receive an automated reminder 30 days before the balance is due.We believe this new system will streamline your booking experience. If you have any questions or need assistance, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at info@iberianwinetours.com.

Cancellation Policy

If you wish to cancel your booking, you need to confirm the cancellation in writing by email or letter. If you contact Iberian Wine Tours prior to confirming your cancellation we can advise you of the cancellation charges applicable to your situation. The cancellation charge is based on the number of days prior to the starting day of the trip booked. The charges are per person cancelling, as follows:

90 days or more – loss of deposit

89-60 days or more – 25%

59-30 days – 50%

29 days or less – 100%

Refund Policy
From time to time, tours do not reach the minimum number of bookings necessary to make the trip viable. We reserve the right to cancel or alter a tour in these circumstances. If we cancel the tour or make substantial alterations, we will advise you at least 60 days before departure and will offer you alternative dates or a full refund. 

A Luxurious Journey Celebrating Wine and Cuisine from Venice, Valpolicella, Franciacorta, the Dolomites and Slovenia

North Eastern Italy really has it all - from the beautiful canals and magnificent palazzi in Venice, to the gently rolling hills of Collio, to the historic cellars of Valpolicella, to the jagged peaks of the majestic Dolomites.

“Food without wine is a corpse; wine without food is a ghost. United and well matched, they are as body and soul: living partners"…….. André Simon, wine merchant and writer. 

This notion of pairing wine with food is particularly fitting for the wines of the North East of Italy and neighbouring Slovenia where the red wines of Valpolicella and the Sud Tirol, the sparkling wines from Franciacorta, Trento and Prosecco, and the crisp and exciting whites from Friuli together make perfect matches for the regional specialities of pasta carbonara, risotto all’amarone, canederli and fricco Friulano.

Day 1 - Sunday 4th Oct - Venice

At 5pm depart for an evening exploring Venice on foot for a street food and wine experience. Follow the same path that locals do to spend some time together with friends to drink and relax. It’s a dive into the secret social life of the Venetians! We’ll discover wine bars where we’ll enjoy the best local drinks and taste a variety of local cicchetti (similar to tapas). Overnight in Hotel Splendid, Venice (D)

Day 2 - Monday 5th October - Valpolicella

We leave Venice by boat and then bus to travel towards Valpolicella. "Vallis-polis-cellae," meaning valley of many cellars, is a celebrated red wine producing area famous for its rich Amarone, Ripasso and Recioto wines. We enjoy a visit, tasting and lunch at Possessioni Serego Alighieri. This renowned estate was bought by Pietro Alighieri, son of the poet Dante, in 1353 and has remained in the family of the great poet for twenty-one generations since. It is truly emblematic of the viticulture of the Valpolicella region.

After lunch we travel to Tommasi to visit the historic cellars and fruttai lofts stacked from floor to ceiling with the arele (grape drying racks) for the appassimento process. The winery was founded in 1902 by Giacomo Tommasi and is now managed by his nine great-grandchildren. The Tommasi family produces wines from 242 hectares of vineyards in the most prestigious and historic denominations in the province of Verona. After the tasting we will make our way to Villa Quaranta, our base for the next two nights, a spa hotel owned by the Tommasi family in the heart of Valpolicella.

We meet for a light dinner at the Hotel’s Bottega del Gusto with wines from the Tommasi estates. (B,L,D)

Day 3 - Tuesday 6th October - Franciacorta & Lake Garda

After breakfast we leave for Lombardy to explore Franciacorta, the premium region for traditional method sparkling wines. The Franciacorta designation only came into being in 1957 when Guido Berlucchi released a white wine named Pinot di Franciacorta made by an ambitious young wine maker called Franco Ziliani. We visit the cellars at Berlucchi and enjoy lunch in the sumptuously frescoed 17th century Palazzo Lana. After lunch we head to Desenzano on Lake Garda and sail our way across the Lake to Lasize with stunning views of Sirmione. Return to the Hotel where the evening is free.(B,L)

Day 4 - Wednesday 7th October - Trento DOC

Please be checked out and ready to board the bus for our departure to Trento. Our first destination is Ferrari, a famous producer of sparkling Trento DOC wines. In the 1900s Chardonnay grapes were first brought to the region from France by Giulio Ferrari when Trento was still part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After graduating from the Geisenheim Grape Breeding Institute, Germany, Ferrari gained winemaking experience in the Champagne-producing town of Épernay. Now run by the third generation, Ferrari's successor, Bruno Lunelli, produces top quality sparkling wines. We enjoy a wine paired lunch in the centre of Trento before we carry on our journey north to the towering mountains of the Dolomites of the South Tyrol. Our hotel for the next two nights is the Hotel Grief in the charming city of Bolzano, which enjoys views of the peaks to the North. Although we are in Italy the prevailing language in Bolzano is German which reflects its historic past prior to the founding of modern Italy. Free evening to enjoy an aperitivo around Piazza Walther and explore the many restaurants in Bolzano. (B,L)

Day 5 - Thursday 8th October - South Tyrol

We drive to Lake Caldaro where many of South Tyrol's vineyards are located amongst the apple orchards on the gently rolling hills. Typically white grape varieties such as Pinot Blanc and Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Golden Muscat are grown there. The red grape varieties are generally less well known. Vernatsch (Schiava) ranks first, followed by Lagrein, and then Pinot Noir, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. We visit the beautiful Manincor estate built by Hieronymus Manincor in 1608 on the shore of Lake Caldaro.

Hieronymus adapted his family’s coat-of-arms to symbolize “Man-in-cor” (meaning “Hand on the heart”) which can still be seen on the facade of the winery building today. In 1662 his granddaughter married an ancestor of the Counts Enzenberg and the estate to this day belongs to the Counts Enzenberg. We taste their wines followed by lunch at Panholzer restaurant with lake views. We return to Bolzano after lunch and enjoy some free time to explore the town.  

We board the Ritten cable car up to Soprabolzano (1,200m asl / 4,000 feet) in time to view the sunset over the Rosengarten, also known as the Catinaccio. This mountain massif is very typical of the jagged peaks which so characterise the Dolomites. We dine at 1 Green Michelin Star restaurant 1908. The Chef, Stephan Zippl, sums up 1908's approach to cooking in one word: Revier. It's derived from the German word "revier", meaning “territory”, which gives us the clue that practically all the raw materials used here come from the local area. Even the Wagyu, Sichuan pepper, kumquat, llama and some extravagant herbs are cultivated in South Tyrol. Return to Bolzano by cable car. (B,L,D)

Day 6 - Friday 9th October - Prosecco Conegliano-Valdobbiadene

Please be checked out and ready to board the bus for our departure to the province of Treviso. Conegliano-Valdobbiadene is renowned for its Prosecco Superiore DOCG production, particularly the "Rive" and "Cartizze" subzones. They produce the highest quality Prosecco which is made from the Glera grape. We enjoy a tasting and lunch at Canevel, meaning the “little cellar” in dialect. This estate is tucked away amongst the steep slopes. After lunch we continue our journey on to Friuli to the Collio Brda region, close to the Italian border with Slovenia. Our hotel for the next two nights is the Hotel Castello di Spessa, a 13th century castle. In the past this hotel accommodated the infamous Giacomo Cassanova! In the evening enjoy a wine tour of the Castle’s own cellar and a tasting accompanied with a light dinner. (B,L,D)

Day 7 - Saturday 10th October - Collio Brda

We drive the short distance to Corno di Rosazzo to discover some hidden Friulian gems of wines made from white Ribolla Gialla, Friulano, Picolit and red Refosco, Schiopettino and Pignolo at family run Specogna winery. In 1963 Leonardo Specogna, returned to Friuli after residing in Switzerland as an emigrant for some years and bought a small plot of land on the hills of Rocca Bernarda in Corno di Rosazzo, in the heart of the vineyards in Friuli. These lands have always been devoted to wine making since Roman times. After a tasting we then travel over the border to Slovenia to visit Movia where we can compare wines made on the Italian side of the border with Slovenian ones. We enjoy lunch here accompanied by wines and afterwards make our way back to the Castello. Our final night’s dinner will be held at The Tavernetta Al Castello, the Castle’s own restaurant. (B,L,D)

Day 8 - Sunday 11th October - Departures

9.30am Depart Hotel Castello di Spessa to Venice Airport. (B)

Included

• 1 night Splendid Hotel, Venice

• 2 nights at Hotel Villa Quaranta, Valpolicella

• 2 nights Hotel Grief, Bolzano

• 2 nights Hotel Castello di Spessa, Capriva del Friuli

• Private transport by luxury coach

• English speaking guides

• Breakfast daily; 6 lunches / 5 dinners

• Activities as specified

• 9 winery visits

Not included

Airfare and flights; meals not mentioned above;

travel insurance, gratuities for guides