The beauty of wine, Villa Sandi and Villa della Torre (Allegrini) at the top for “Wine Enthusiast”

Wine is a product of great charm, without a doubt. A charm linked to its goodness, its diversity, its ancient history and, at the same time, the ability to renew itself and look to the future. But also, or above all, the places where it is born. Intended as territories, of course, where the vineyard and the work of man have shaped nature by drawing landscapes that are true works of art. But also as wineries, from the most historical and ancient to the most modern, factories where “the practical”, the primary aspect of wine production, more and more often, meets “the beautiful”, fundamental in the construction of the image, the brand, but also in the reception. Wineries that talk about the history and philosophy of those who lead them, and that make the world talk. With many rankings, selections, travel suggestions. And Italy, and Veneto in particular, are the focus of a “mini travel guide” published in the U.S. magazine “Wine Enthusiast” by Lauren Mowery, who selected five “stunning”, or rather stunning for their architecture, between Italy, Georgia, Spain and Napa Valley. And for the Belpaese, as mentioned, both selected destinations come from Veneto. Like Villa Sandi, a splendid villa of the Palladian school dating back to 1622, which stands on the hills of the Marca Trevigiana, in Crocetta di Montello, an example of perfect harmony between man and the environment, now home to the winery headed by Giancarlo Moretti Polegato, one of the qualitative references of Prosecco, which over the years has hosted personalities of the caliber of Napoleon Bonaparte or the writer Antonio Canova, embellished by the avenue with statues of Horace Marinali, also the author of the neoclassical tympanum overlooking the entrance.
Another jewel reported by “Wine Enthusiast”, also in Veneto, but this time in Valpolicella, is Villa della Torre, an architectural masterpiece whose realization, completed in 1560 is largely due to Giulio Romano, also signed by Palazzo Te dei Gonzaga in Mantua, but also to Michele Sanmicheli, the architect of the small temple mentioned by Vasari in Vite, and the supreme decorator Giovanni Battista Scultori. A magical place, with its walled garden among the vineyards, the courtyard and the internal rooms adorned with the iconic “Mascheroni”, large chimneys in the shape of devil, angel, sea monster and lion.
In Spain, on the other hand, the most famous winery is Codorniù, the most historical reality of Penedès, founded in 1551, but which today owes its fame to the “Cathedral of the Quarry” designed between the late nineteenth and early twentieth century by Josep Puig i Cadafalch, one of the main exponents of Catalan Modernism.
Another icon of beauty, however, comes from Napa Valley, where The Rhine House is located, a famous example of Victorian architecture designed by architect Albert Schroepfer, completed in 1884 as the private residence of the co-founder of Beringer Vineyards, Frederick “Fritz” Beringer.
Last, but not least, of the pearls selected by the “Wine Enthusiast”, is the Monastery of Shavnabada, in Georgia, one of the oldest Orthodox churches in the world, built in the early Middle Ages (between 1000 and 1250 AD), whose cellar was renovated in 1992 and returned to production in 1998, all in the traditional “qvevri”, the Georgian amphorae fulcrum of an ancient wine practice, UNESCO World Heritage Site.