May is the best time to visit Italy for “Cantine Aperte”
Wine lovers can rejoice with a visit to Italy in May. Not only will you experience less crowds, you can take part in Cantine Aperte. It’s Italy’s largest wine festival where wineries open their cellars to the public.
Cantine Aperte sweeps across the nation every year during the last weekend of May. This makes May the best time of the year to visit Italy to check out wineries that aren’t usually open to the public. By visiting Italy during this wine soaked weekend you’ll:
- Taste wine from small family-run producers that you can’t find outside of Italy
- Enjoy true Italian hospitality and mingling with the locals by the vineyard
- Sample a variety of fantastic Italian wine paired with local charcuterie
And if you’re well-versed in some Italiano you might even get to know some local Italian winemakers.
Pro Tip: Most of the small boutique wineries are not accessible without the use of a vehicle. We recommend renting a car and making a list of the cellars that are open in the region you’re travelling to. Not comfortable navigating Italy’s country roads and those crazy Italian drivers? Click here to sit back, relax, and leave the travel planning up to us.
The Best time to visit Italy is late September for the Wine Harvest
Pull out your shears and get on picking! Late September marks the beginning of the Italian wine harvest (Vendemmia). It’s the best time to visit Italy if you want to learn about the Italian wine production first-hand. Visit Italy during the wine harvest and you’ll get to see:
- The stringent process of how to select grapes
- Quality control processes used for insuring top quality wines
- How the process of fermentation and bottling differs for different types of wine
Plus, if you’re lucky, you’ll have the chance to taste a ripe sangiovese grape straight off the vine! A once-in-a-lifetime tasting experience that makes September an excellent time of year to plan a trip to Italy.
Pro Tip: The dates of Vendemmia (wine harvest) are not a perfect science. As a general rule, the best time to visit Italy for the wine harvest is late September. But, if the summer has been a scorcher, you can expect the wine harvest to start a lot sooner.
The Largest Exhibition in the World for Italian Wine
Want to experience every Italian wine region under one roof? Then head to Italy in April for VinItaly, the largest exhibition in the world for Italian wine.
VinItaly takes place the 3rd weekend of April every year in Verona. Well known for the balcony of Shakespeare’s Juliette, a trip to Verona during VinItaly is the perfect start to a romantic Italian getaway.
Want to extend your Romantic wine vacay? Then hop on the Frecciarossa and head down Italy’s Adriatic coast to Le Marche. You can continue your romantic wine vacay with a stay steps away from one of Italy’s most beautiful squares. Click here to discover a Romantic epicurean journey for food and wine lovers that want to escape the crowds.
