Southern Visions Active & Cultural Vacations

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Much like our small ship cruise, this type of food and wine journey is built to be less hands-on, but more luxurious. More luxurious accommodations, shuttles each day to wineries, fabulous working masserias, extensive wine tastings with the best wines in Southern Italy. Nightly wine tastings, and intimate multi-course multi-wine dinners. Imagine, the French Laundry of food and wine, almost daily in the unspoiled natural beauty of Puglia. Our winery contacts will open older vintages of wine from all over Italy. (This could be taken even a step further and I could lead nightly multi-vintage, multi-wine comparisons with guest speakers from some of the best wineries in all of Puglia) This trip could even be operated in conjunction with something like our small ship cruise to add to the luxury and intimacy of the experience.

Food and Wine Intimate and Luxurious

This is our most serious foray into the food and wine education of Puglia. We will house everyone in a fantastically restored Masseria (large plantation like farmhouse) where each day there will be forays to local markets with the chef of the day to pick ingredients for the evening class. Lunches may be at a local winery with a winery and vineyard tour. Late afternoons left to relax then a pre-dinner prep and cooking class, or a wine seminar, followed by the evening meal made from all the days’ efforts. Of course this could be reversed for lunch and dinner. Each day presents the chance for new ingredients and new wines building each day from the core of ingredients introduced as the week goes on. In essence, this Active Mind travel basically will present the traveler with a diploma in the essential arts of Pugliese cuisine and winemaking.

Puglia: cycling under a winter sun