Fig and Cypress Trees
To the West: The Upper City of Bergamo’s Towers
Quiet Stream on the Trail
Town of Gavarno-Tribulina
Scene of Valcalepio Vineyards
Rustic Bridge
Gallery September 2022
Monthly Archives: September 2022
Trail for the Ages
At my trailhead in a grass-covered valley, I bemoaned the fact that right at the start, I faced a somewhat steep incline. A toddler liberated from his stroller didn’t mind though, and seemed inclined to head into the woods and toddle up the trail behind me. Passing through deeply forested hillside, a couple of churches, then vineyards, I came to a narrow country road at the top of the hill. Up from an even steeper slope, came a man on a bicycle. He stopped at the top of the hill, as did I, to check the map. We got to chatting. He was a native of Bergamo, which I could see in the distance. He was an avid cyclist. He was 78. I was deeply impressed, and slightly shamed by my earlier whining about steep inclines. His hill was long and steep, coming up from the valley. I decided his great stamina must be due to a life-long exposure to the wines of Valcalepio.
Wine Notes: Bergamo
What I Learned
There isn’t a Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) named Bergamo, in honor of one of northern Italy’s large cities, rather the wines produced locally in and around the city are known as the Valcalepio Denomination. The Valcalepio DOC wines are produced from grapes grown mostly north of Bergamo, east of the Adda River (coming out of Lake Como), to west from the Oglio River (coming from Lake Iseo). (This last incidentally, is also the boundary which meets up with the Franciacorta DOC.) This denomination only has about 800 hectares of land under vine. The wines from these vineyards only gained appellation status in 1976, so in addition to being relatively small, this appellation is also relatively new.
Strade del Vino: Trail in a Nutshell
Trail Name: Strade del Vino; Full name: Escursione Lungo le Strade del Vino (Excursions along the Wine Routes)
Trail Type: mid-distance; maintained in most places, variable paved and unimproved surfaces, marking on the trail only occasional
Length:
Total – 11 kilometers/6.8 miles
Convenient to: Bergamo, Italy
Marking:
A red horizontal bar superimposed over a white one. See Comment below!!!
