Terrazze di Montevecchia

Hairpin turn after hairpin turn and curve after curve, you go up without breaks, needing breath-taking views and fresh air, until the GPS tells you to stop and park your car. You will look around yourselves: there is only an old farmstead built at the beginning of the XX century and made with stones, while behind you there are just many hairpin turns. Do not worry, you cannot be wrong! You just have to follow the arrow-shaped sign indicating the entrance, turn around the farmstead corner, go down some insignificant steps (ladies, feel free to wear 12cm heels!) and step in the terrace, or better, in the Terrazze di Montevecchia.

And this is the moment you will find yourselves in front of a day dreaming scenery: look at the Lombard Pre-Alps, where Grigna, Grignetta, Grignone and Resegone stand out fierce and proud against the horizon, while a 360° view on the Parco di Montevecchia and on the Valle del Curone, with its gold and green shades, among vineyards, olive trees, forests and wheat fields, will cuddle your gaze and will make you feel as much relax as it is needed to fully enjoy the taste. You are at the civic 12 bis in via Alta Collina, in Montevecchia, in the winery and farm of the Mario Ghezzi’s family, Terrazze di Montevecchia. They welcome you with warmth and invite you to sit in the Mario’s wine cellar, where he in person will offer a glass of his white Pincianell, if you prefer still wine, or a glass of his Terrazze Brut, to start and celebrate your trip with a toast.

The wife Matilde and the sons, Anna and Luca, help Mario both in the winey and in the evening service. Their cuisine is strongly connected with the territory: strictly bonded to seasons and to local products. The menu changes every day (reservation is needed if you want to have a meal between Thursdays night and Sunday morning) and includes a starter with cured meat, cheeses, local specialities and vegetables from the garden. A seasonal first course, which during summer will probably be a creamy Carnaroli with fresh tomato and aromatic herbs, will anticipate the main dish, which has to be chose among two meat based dishes: coppa, beef or other typical dishes, undeniably tied to the tradition. During the winter time you will easily chance upon the cassoeula, made as the ancient tradition in the Brianza requires! To follow, guided taste of both goat and cow cheeses with their homemade jams and honey: pay serious attention to the aging and piquancy if you do want to fully enjoy the taste. And to end? Obviously you can choose among two desserts, rigorously homemade, and then mocha coffee.

Taste of hills, forest, field and fallow lands: this is what your senses will feel, from the smell to the taste, when you will visit the Mario’s family. But do you know the origins of the winery’s name, Terrazze di Montevecchia? Clearly by the hills, called Terrazze, morphologically curious, even in the taste that they gift to their fruits, from the glass to the dish. An ancient legend in the Brianza, says that, right under the Montevecchia hills, are hidden three Egyptian pyramids and that they are the secret for the unique and unmistakable taste of the cheeses, the wine and all the local products.

So, you just have to try to believe and daydream!