In this episode, Travel Advisor Jerrod Pickering interview the folks from the Musella Winery near Verona, Italy. A beautiful venue for small weddings or just a great bed & breakfast. From the Musella Winery website:
Musella is a historical reality within which the careful recovery of a Court of the ‘500
has transformed the old stable into a winery and the dwellings into accommodations of particular charm.
The Musella Farm offers the opportunity to book in addition to the room also a visit of the winery and taste its wines for small groups.
The visit to the winery, with explanation of the winemaking procedures, is followed by tasting of our wines accompanied by Monte Veronese cheese of different seasoning with bread and breadsticks and our other products.
**Key Takeaways:**
– Biodynamic Winemaking
– Country Bed & Breakfast
Resources Mentioned:
–
Musella Winery Website- https://www.musella.it/en/homepage/
–
Musella Winery Facebook Page-
https://www.facebook.com/MusellaRelais
Connect with Host, Jerrod Pickering:
Host: Travel Advisor
Jerrod Pickering
jerrod@teacherstotravelers.com
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Website-
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Episode Length:
[28:08]
welcome to the teachers to Travelers podcast powered by Forester travel we are your compass for Destination insights travel hacks and product recommendations let us Empower you with the knowledge you need to travel let the journey begin Hello everybody welcome to another episode of the teachers to Travelers podcast powered by Forester travel I’m your host Jared Pickering I am coming with to this week on location I am here in Verona Italy we are spending a couple weeks uh in Northern Italy and so excited to be able to come to you from uh and show you some of the places that we’re getting to see this episode um I’m I’m going to be talking to you about this place uh when you come to Italy you know you think about going to to Rome and Venice and Milan and uh Florence and seeing all the different sites like the Coliseum or the Roman Forum Trevy Fountain and we’ve got to see all that and if you’ve gone to my my Facebook page uh just search up teachers toot travelers.com or teachers to Travelers on Facebook you’ll be able to find we’ve done a lot of those uh did a lot of those trips we also wanted to kind of go out of the way and look at some other things as well so of course when we’re here in Verona uh we you know go and see the the U Juliet’s balcony that type of stuff but I wanted to show you where we were staying cuz it’s not just a uh your typical place we’re here at the musella winery so I’m going to kind of walk around and and show you a little bit about what’s here and we’re going to talk to Elena who I’ve been working with uh over the last week and let her talk to you about um a little bit about the history of this place place cuz it’s a it’s a great place and I want people to know about it so let me uh switch the camera around okay switched the camera around uh this is the entry gate to the winery uh a lot of uh Jasmine and everything just makes this area smell really good we’ll go in the entrance here again this place is really cool uh we’re going to go talk to Lena here in just a minute um and uh you can kind of look this is the kind of the open air Courtyard where you can just kind of sit and relax okay over here is the the breakfast area they have a a full of breakfast every morning um as far as what the kind of breakfast call it I mean they don’t necessarily cook to order but there’s enough food out here with meats and cheeses and Breads and things that uh uh it’s well done um and youie very satisfied so again we’ll look around uh a little bit more at some of the rest of the grounds here in just a minute for now let’s go into the reception office and we will talk to Lena okay so here we are in the reception office and where I’ve been getting to work with Lena who works here uh Lena are you the owner no no I’m not all right well I’m going to turn the camera around and we’ll talk to you here for just a bit all right this is this is Lena hello Hi how are you doing today good good good well we have really enjoyed our time I know we’ve only been here a day but this is a great property and y’all have been so welcoming and hospitable oh I’m glad I’m glad so can you tell me a little bit about this property because this is not something when you think about coming to Verona you think about seeing Juliet’s balcony you think about going out there and shopping yes yes but I this is a place we just happened to come across on the internet and we I want more people to know about it so can you tell me a little bit more about here well we are mus we are of course in in well in Verona just 10 minutes away way from the city center um we are in the area of the Bella so this place basically in the past it used to be an Old Farm and I’m talking about the building is from the 15th century and then well it was in the ’90s when the the actual owners did all the uh restructure of this place to convert it into the winery they were already wine makers from so many years but they saw the potential to come to this place to um do um biodynamic Agriculture and then convert or like bring back in life the old court and converted into the um bed and breakfast so this is where we are the the full um restruct was uh done in the ’90s um so we have 11 rooms four apartments and we combine what it is the um Countryside experience the wine H the wine makers our produce the of course the Italian environment in in a green place and everything is done uh from like the local you know local farmers local products in a more um like green environment yes ma’am yeah so that’s that’s where we are um so yeah the history of this place is bring back a lot a lot of what it is now so the owners want to actually um like to leave the part of the history here so they recover the old Stones like where there is the wi now used to be the stables for the house and the horses so everything was um converted yeah how big how big is it the well the full property we are inight of um natural reserve Park okay so the full property of musella is 400 hectar um 80% more or less is Forest so it’s actually a a reserve Park um our Vineyards are located at the top of the hill and this cour is like the the Old Farm yeah okay all right so um do yall do y all host a lot of groups or tasting or doing things like that yeah exactly so well for for our guest or who wants to stay here um then um we have different activities depends on the on the season yeah so wine tasting or can be um going around in with the bicycles we have a canoe as well there is a little river by the by the garden where is the swimming pool or just of course relaxing by the pool then when it comes to the um outside activities it can be um it can be booked like uh or can be organized like the Truffle hunting during the season of truffles or when is that when is truffle hunting season more like um AUM or beginning of the spring time as well um or if you want to have like a Italian cooking experience you can also do it here so we have a private Chef she comes and you made your own fresh pasta so we combine wine with your like you cook your own dinner so those are the activities that’s cool so do y’all have I mean the place is so beautiful do you all have weddings or anything like that out here um we on the request yes on the request for a small groups we are always you know open to uh to request um of course we to guarantee like um a good um like the event and everything needs to be um um higher for the full event so the whole place okay so and then of course we for private parties as well so yeah it’s not something that we do it as much yeah but h on the request it can be done awesome well is there anything else that you think we should know before I go yeah well I think it’s important um the fact that well as as you just say we not far from Verona it’s not even 10 minutes and then you just like in a nice and relaxing place and we where we also try to um to leave the like the the person that come here they will leave the experience of what it is all all the local products what we do as um biodynamic Winery so we try to create a Val diversity where um you know all the wines are done in this way with a natural Agriculture and the same we try to do as for like um the products that we offer so we have our own honey and we produce olive oil and we work with a local farmers so like uh you know a proper local experience so the Honey at breakfast this morning that was from here from our be oh man that was some of the best honey we had yeah yeah well yes you know for the agriculture agriculture uh be are so important and we need to preserve them um and that’s how the biodiversity creates um yeah so our aim of course is to also that the persons come here and have an experience but also a nice relaxing State awesome well thank you so much for your time you’re welcome so now I’m going to we’re walking around with Lena she’s going to show us the the winery itself and talk to us a little bit about the the biod dnamic bodam biod dnamic uh um so this is um this is the building of the winery which what is now the winery that used to be the O stable so as you can see at before in the past at the top was the room to keep the hay oh hoft exactly and inside there were the cows and the horses so this was like the old stable so everything is the original Stone the original ceilings and that was from the 1500s yes 15 Century so or 15 oh 1400 wow oh this is the original Stone the 1400s very cool so every single step that is is done to produce the wine is done here so as you can see here we have the like the wine be ready to be shipped um so this is are son of our containers this is the containers in concrete for the poell the one drinking um then here we have the room the cell this [Music] the oh wow this is neat so the biodynamic is there we go okay so here we have the um the wood cast the containers what is the wood what are the cuz I know you talked about the concrete containers what do you use the wooden cast The Wooden C for amaron to do amaron which is the older age wine and also to do repaso repaso is um um medium aged the one between Bella and amaron so the repaso the war repaso in Italian rep is that rest it’s like doing it to repeat to doing it twice so after theing in concrete it comes to the barels to do a second aing so that’s the repo um with the dryest skins of the grapes that we leave to dry out as well okay um so that’s the aimo so all our wines are made into the bodam um agriculture so that means without pesticides without fertilizers in a natural environment and with natural compost so in the vineyard in the in the grounds is a they are some riched ground and is um uh we plant hers um different kind of like plants as well that those are the natural um it will create the natural conditions into the into the vard for the plants yeah and and the same here so every single process so even the sulfites in the wine are their own natural sulfites okay um so biodynamic is is sad is like to create a biodiversity um that’s why we use the bees and we use the plants and the herbs uh so it creates a natural environment with a wine that is not um that it doesn’t have any influence like that is not natural uh this is a uh non industrial kind of one okay um so here we have some also containers in this is also and marble this is marble a marble container what is a what is a marble container for our wine Gara Gara is a white [Music] wine so because our grounds are really mineral that minity we actually comes out um doing this kind of um technique yeah so aging the wine is white line aging the wine marble he allows the wine to open up and bring out that Min that okay that makes sense yeah okay it’s like the the same kind of elements that find in in the ground while it’s planted right in the in the vineyard kind of it’s like their home yeah so the if the Wine Juice kind of fin the same conditions that finds in the grounds mhm the minity then he actually comes out as a mineral very cool yeah so this is like the old part and then we have like the new part okay we we just went from the 1400s to the 2000s so here where we have a stock bottling labeling um a fermenting the fermenting Vats yes okay so it’s a building attached to the original that’s cool so I was reading a little bit again cuz I’m a whiskey Drinker um that there’s a few like distilleries around here that make a whiskey out of the old grapes yeah what do yall do with your old grapes um there is a well I actually don’t have the the actual name I know there is a like um contact partner in in Scotland oh they um they buy from us the wood cast mhm so there is a whiskey made out of the wood cast of the amaron really yeah very cool it’s a like a scotch whiskey and if you need to answer that that’s fine I think so yeah not too sure of that and if you need to answer that that’s F very cool so this is their bottling and labeling operation Lena had to step away for a minute she’s also Manning the front desk so she’s just stepping away for a minute is quite interesting to watch and see going from the old section to the new very neat and the Ameron is what what which kind of what kind of wine is the amoni it’s a red wine it’s um long long aged wine so with a good tanning good structure full body well the amarones is like a family so we have like the younger age the middle age and a b more like the Vintage okay so we have for example here Anon amaron Reserva Harvest of 2017 so this one is been aged four years four years in Barrel wow in wooden barrels in wooden barrels yes exactly is that a long time that’s a long time for wine isn’t it yes exactly so it’s a long age the minimum the minimum time for an amaron is three years okay and that’s that’s by Italy standards yes okay exactly to be an amaroni and actually when we Harvest The Grapes The Grapes doesn’t go immediately to be pressed before before we press the the the quantity of the grapes that we need for Tom make am Maron they need to do a dry out process so that’s called aiment aimo is um uh the process of air dry air dry The Grapes so they concentrate uh it’s a natural way to concentrate the juice um so they will lose um any kind of like quantity of water kind of of course there is a still juice inside the grape but it’s a concentrate juice so that allow us to also um reach the higher percentage of alcohol that then it will convert into course the wine the tanning um um it concentrate a lot more flavors on the Skins at the moment that you dry out the grapes they they concentrate flavors so are these considered dry wines then uh yes exactly and and Fuller body but um with uh with a lot flavors going on so like you have kind of like the wood the smokiness and the sweetness in the younger one you get more like a kind of like a a bit that chocolate flavor uh is is really aromatic really fruity no not sweet just like full of flavors and T interesting I might have to try that one too yeah how long have you worked here been here now8 years eight years I love this room I really love this room well the original yeah aure yes huh all right all right thank you once again you’re welc okay I’m going to I’m kind of back here on my own now I’m going to show you some of the rest of the ground again all this Jasmine all over the place I that’s this bio um biodynamic uh atmosphere that they set up here it’s not just not using pesticides but it’s also planting all these other plants and flowers and um the whole the whole uh uh she talked about biodiversity that really brings out the different flavors in the wine and fertilizes um The Vineyards you can see this beautiful little peaceful River going through here again you can see all the different flowers and this is just a a portion of the of the grounds here again I’ll show you a little bit more um River’s moving a bit too swiftly to to take the canoes uh as you can you can see there it’s not designed to be some heavy rap doing Rapids or anything like that it’s more designed just to uh just kind of float leisurely down the river you can see how beautiful the this place is how how great this would be for you know a family or for a a wedding lots of pretty uh places to have uh a wedding you know I know a lot of times you think about destination weddings and stuff being on a beach somewhere and those are fantastic uh and for the right people that’s great there may be somebody who wants a little more Greenery and everything so uh look how clear that water is uh just just beautiful area and then as you step back out here into the clearing you can see the forest she was talking about that’s that that’s not really owned by anybody we don’t really have a whole lot of time here I’m only here today and then tomorrow we go on to Venice uh I’d love to come back here sometime and actually walk the property uh um kind of go on the tour of the whole thing and say The Vineyards um but again just just a great location it’s a different part of Italy uh again as a started off talking about Rome is fantastic um as we go to Venice as we go to uh Florence and some of those places I know it’s going to be wonderful we’re going to enjoy it and get to see lots of the cool major sites but if you’re coming to Italy this would be a great place um today’s been nice and relaxing while we were in Rome we were trying to see everything we were going to the churches and St Peter square and the Coliseum and Travy Fountain and uh arches and all sorts of stuff and it just it’s awesome to see but you wind up so exhausted since today is H Friday and since Sunday my phone has told me that I’ve walked 39 miles up through last night up through Thursday night that’s a lot of walking and so today we’ve just kind of taking it easy I went into you’ll see if you go to my Facebook page you’ll see some of the other pictures of things that I saw today going up to a castle and just kind of looking out over the countryside nothing crazy uh we’ll go see Juliet’s balcony you know since this being Verona uh anyway just some great great place to relax you’re one of those that my wife she likes to listen to the sounds of a river running just coming down here and sitting by the river reading a book you’re in Italy it doesn’t mean you have to go crazy constantly looking for things look at that boy what a picture thanks for joining me on this episode this was a really special treat again when you come to Italy you think about all the big monuments and the the big places to see and there’s lots of great little son excursions you can take and side places you can go to to really enjoy yourself and the Mella Winery was no different um really got to to know the folks there uh enjoyed working with them if this is a place you’d like to stay give give me a a shout out call me email me love to be able to set you up there uh as a part of your Italian experience and I appreciate you turn tuning into this special episode of a review of the musella winery and as always we will see you on down the road