Our tours are unique
travels that ignite in each person a journey, both inward
and outward, through delectable food, savory wines and
intimate visits to the regions we explore. You will be
immersed in each area so that your palate and other senses
are stirred, opened and delighted. Your intellectual
curiosities will be piqued by distinctive locales that are
full of history, natural beauty and old world traditions.
We have extensive connections and relationships in Italy and
have done all the work for you; all you have to do is sit
back and enjoy our anything but ordinary trips.
Our goal is stir the
passion in your palate, to facilitate and deepen your
experience of Italy through the sights, sounds, smells,
tastes and sensations that come when moments are lived fully
and we allow our palates to blossom. We believe that
food and beverage has been a uniting force since the
beginning of humankind and in every culture. We
believe that this tradition of coming together over food and
wine is one that can facilitate relationships and gives us
comfort, knowledge, relaxation, impressions, memories and
sustenance for the body, mind and soul.
Our guides are experts
who have long standing relationships with wineries and
winemakers in Italy as well as in-depth knowledge of the
areas we visit (see About Us
for more information.) We have designed our visits to
Italy in order for you to have the most in depth,
informative, comfortable and fun experience that is not
available to you on other tours. With our
experienced guides, you will not feel
“herded” from place to place nor will you be going to the
most obvious attractions. We use our connections to
guide you to authentic, historical, and family vineyards
and wineries as well as high profile and well known estates,
most of which are not open to the public. You will get
intimate,
behind-the-scenes, and in-depth tours of vineyards and
winemaking facilities with winemakers or winery owners.
You will get to taste the best wines of each area we visit.
You could not get tours like these unless you are in the wine
industry. With our guides you will feel like you
are traveling with friends - friends who are from Italy
and/or have spent decades working in the wine business and
traveling throughout Italy. Our knowledge of
restaurants, hotels and food producers makes traveling with
us unique and enriching. You will experience the
unspoiled side of this spectacular country and will return
enamored and enchanted with the “bella vita” of Italy.
Cuisine
We will experience dining
in restaurants that showcase each region’s culinary
traditions as well as local agricultural offerings.
The restaurants we choose will be elegant, modern,
traditional, family style or casual – but what they will
have in common is that they will always exquisitely showcase
the region’s culinary traditions or agricultural offerings.
We will expertly
pair local wines with your cuisine, stimulating your palate
in the most extraordinary ways. Additionally, we may
visit specialty food producers to round out your culinary
discoveries of Italy.
Accommodations
We choose elegant and
unique hotels, bed and breakfasts, wine estates or
“agriturismos” (country inns that also produce a protected,
typical food or agricultural product) that are charming,
luxurious, comfortable and never run of the mill. Your
peace and comfort at these carefully chosen accommodations
are assured.
No Need to Bring
Bottles of That Great Wine Home in Your Luggage!
Have you had a wine in
another country that was delicious and when you return home,
upon trying to buy the wine in a store, you find out that
the wine isn’t even imported? Or, you buy the wine
while you are in the other country and carefully pack a few
bottles in your luggage, try to make them last at home,
wishing you had more. This is a very common problem.
Passionate Palate Tours presents a unique solution. We
make sure that the wines that you will taste on the tour are
available in the U.S. We will even help you find a
retailer near you that carries those wines, or that will
order them for you.
Our Groups
Our groups, in general,
are small and intimate. We restrict the total number
of people traveling in order to maximize the intimacy of the
experience for all. You will probably come away from
our wine and food adventures with not only wonderful
memories, but with new friends for life. The people who come on our
journeys all have one thing in common – a love of food and
wine. Most of our clients already have a passion for
Italy and wine travel, although we also cater to those who
are novices, wanting to be accompanied by an expert to start
them off with a familiar, educated and passionate Italian
experience. All of our clients, however, are curious
and share the same enthusiasm for making new discoveries and
a desire to go deeper into the Italian culture. What
better company could you ask for?
Sights & Cultural
Experiences
We offer itineraries that
allow you some free time to explore places on your own, like
taking in a museum, visiting attractions of your interest or
simply walking around an historical city. Along with
delighting your palate, our hope is that you absorb the
plentiful and resplendent beauty that is scattered
throughout the country in the museums, on street corners,
churches, building facades and countryside. There will be
plenty of places for great photo opportunities.
“In our lives there are moments of great beauty that are so
fragile, so transitory that to experience them is pure joy.
To share them is to know the essence of living.” -
Gwen James, “Reconnecting”
We also have
links for those of you who are passionate about
travel to other places in the world. Please explore
our site and contact us with questions, or if you would like
to secure your spot with any of our passion-loving groups on
any of these palate-pleasing journeys.
Personalized Trips to Italy
In addition to
the planned tours that we offer here, the Passionate
Palate Tours team is also set up to help you plan
your custom Italy wine and food vacation. We can arrange all aspects of
your trip related to winery visits, restaurant
reservations, chauffeured cars, tour guides,
translators and hotels. By using our service,
you will get a personalized, exclusive itinerary
without having to do all the research and work
yourself. Let us use our wine industry
connections to secure appointments at wineries, our
knowledge of local restaurants to plan your gourmet
meals and our expertise of the country to advise you
on where to go. Please contact Jeni Moretti at
562-354-6664 or at
passionatepalate@gmail.com
for more information.
Corporate
Retreats, Incentive Travel, and Team Building
Would you like to plan
your next Corporate Retreat, Incentive
Travel or Team Building Trip in Itlay?
Our staff can arrange a well-organized event in an
original venue involving winery trips, cooking
classes, culinary excursions and great restaurants.
Please contact Jeni Moretti at 562-354-6664 or at passionatepalate@gmail.com.
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