I participated in the preview run of the Wine Bus, a service that will be available to tourists and enthusiasts of Friulian wine and food from mid-December: the routes are designed to guide the participants to the discovery of the territory, around the wineries and agricultural and food businesses and help them explore the typical products of this region.

I got on the bus in Udine in the early afternoon. The first stop was in Corno di Rosazzo at Villa Nachini Cabassi. The atmosphere in this villa is special, because after only a few steps in the interior garden one seems to be catapulted back into eighteenth-century Friuli. We sipped a glass of Bontaj Friulano from the Cadibon winery, a wine with intense aromas and an aromatic taste, well accompanied by some local Montasio cheese.

Back on the Wine Bus, we took the road to Capriva. The road winds through the vineyards, the autumn landscape catching your eye with the rays of the afternoon sun colouring the walls of the Abbazia di Rosazzo yellow and orange. After about half an hour we arrived at the Castello di Spessa. This stop offered us some surprises: the sunset over the rows of vines seen from the top of the garden is a unique spectacle.

Inside the Castle, owned by the Pali family, we enjoyed a presentation of the site, which is ancient, going back to Roman times. Many noble families have had the honour of living there, not to mention the fact that the Castle has boasted famous guests such as Lorenzo Da Ponte, Emanuele Filiberto d'Aosta and Giacomo Casanova.

A visit to the ageing cellar located at a depth of 18 metres, where a military bunker was built during the Second World War, was really fascinating. It was exciting behind the railings to see bottles of special vintages kept at a natural temperature of 14°, ideal for the maintenance and refinement of prestigious wines such as the red Cru del Castello and the famous Grappa Riserva Conte Ludovico. The latter remains forgotten by time for over 20 years.