This afternoon we will meet at the Venice airport for a private transfer to our first home base in beautiful Friuli hills at the beautiful La Subida. Upon arrival you’ll be able to check in and get ready for our welcome dinner and get to know your fellow travelers.

This morning you’ll wake up in the most scenic of settings from your very own country home. Today we’ll venture into the local terroir starting the day with a prover overview of the wine region and what makes it so special. After our lesson we’ll have lunch in the nearby town of Cormons before returning back to La Subida for our Aperitivo and a beautiful cooking lesson on the terrace. Pack up tonight, we leave for Trieste in the morning.

After breakfast we will check out and move to our new home in Trieste. Nestled in the this Venetian-influenced bay, we’ll take a historical walking tour with a local guide through the city itself, learning about the rich history and setting the story for the coming days. After our walk we’ll enjoy lunch at one of our favorite casual haunts known for its Austro-Hungarian influences (and also a favorite of the locals). The next afternoon, we’ll take a dive into the coffee and pastry culture of this area before heading to the hills for a beautiful meal showcasing some of the local wines along with an approachable introduction to the grape varieties and wine history of the region.

*Tomorrow we head to Slovenia!

After breakfast, we’ll travel to Slovenia. By now, you’ll have a good grasp on the local wine varieties of the region and some of the basics in the local culinary history. From here we’re going to introduce you to another world in wine: Orange Wine! Getting its reputation by leaving the grape skin in contact with the juice creating a beautiful orange-like liquid, this experience is sure to stick in your memory. During our visit we’ll meet a few of the locals producing some of our favorite wines and enjoy a lovely lunch in the vineyard before heading back to Trieste for an evening on your own. Shop, then pack up and grab your passports because tomorrow we head to Croatia!

After breakfast we say “ciao” to Italy and depart for Rovinj, Croatia. We’ll discover two of the biggest treasures of Istria: olive oil! We will visit one of Istria’s most well-known olive oil producers and their olive orchards (and see some of the traditional stone sheds, called kazun, that dot the landscape), learn about the soil and the trees, and find out how this first-class olive oil is produced. We’ll return to their estate for an olive oil tasting and lunch in their tasting room. In addition to olive oil, the producers will fill us in on the local history and politics.

This evening we’ll stroll into town for a beautiful sunset dinner overlooking the city of Rovinj while enjoying the fresh bounty of the sea.

Get ready for a big day! We’ll start the morning with breakfast on your own and perhaps even a dip in the Adriatic. Then we'll meet up for a private boat ride on the canal, followed by a lunch of local oysters and a visit to an oyster farm. From there we’ll take a short walk to enjoy a seafood lunch at a lively Viking restaurant. We’ll stop by a winery owned by two brothers who are making their mark with the local varieties that represent the local terroir. Next, we'll have dinner together at a family-run agriturismo establishment where they make everything from scratch, from bread to prsut and olive oil to pasta. Dinner will be a selection of local ham and cheese, carpaccio of boskarin (a local breed of cattle) with truffles, fuzi with truffles, and gnocchi with boskarin. Afterwards we’ll sip walnut and mistletoe liqueur made by the locals!

After breakfast we’ll start the day at the local market in Pula with our local chef and instructor for the day. We’ll explore the offerings of the market while picking out our ingredients for today’s cooking lesson. From there, we’ll head back into Pula for a tour of the local amphitheater. Pula lays claim to the 6th largest surviving Roman arenas in the world. After our history lesson, we’ll return to Goran’s home and spend the afternoon cooking and learning a few new Istrain tricks to take back to our home kitchens. We’ll have a hand at making some local pasta with truffles and learn to cook fish in a crupnija (a clay bell), a traditional method of cooking in Istria.

We’ll meet in the lobby this morning after breakfast and make our way to our favorite goat farmer in the region. Kumparicka Goat Farm is a beautiful farm tucked in the forested hills between Mutvora and Krnica. The farm itself is 200 hectares and is home to over 250 goats. We’ll spend the afternoon walking around the farm, learning about the herd, and meeting his dogs. From there we’ll head to the production facility to taste a variety of his cheeses and enjoy a beautiful home cooked meal with the owner. Afterwards, we make our way to a local winery focusing on Malvasia and the local Teran. Finally, we’ll return back to Rovinj for our farewell meal of fresh seafood and, of course, Malvasia.