Nina Caplan plans out the perfect day in King Valley, Australia, exploring the Prosecco Road.
24 hours in King Valley
The King Valley is a straight line. In theory you could cycle from beginning to end of the Prosecco Road, but I prefer to avoid the long, straight stretch in the middle – especially in hot weather. My perfect day would need to be a Friday, as that’s the only day that Dal Zotto opens for dinner, although it serves lunch Thursday to Sunday.
Morning
Start with fresh juice and excellent coffee at Snow Road Produce, then a pleasant half-hour cycle to Sam Miranda Winery for a tasting. Cycle back to Brown Brothers.
Lunch
Return your bike and take lunch at The Epicurean Centre, the excellent Brown Brothers restaurant, with perhaps a post-prandial game of chess, followed by a wander five minutes down the road to the Milawa Cheese factory for a few samples.
Afternoon
Drive to Pizzini for a tasting and a stroll past the rose beds to the river – you can hire fishing rods, as well as bikes (more my line). Cycle around, seeing a bit of the area, which is spectacularly scenic, but make sure to make it to Dal Zotto while it’s still light, for a game of bocce (Italian bowls) – and, of course, a tasting.
Evening and overnight
A lazy dinner in Dal Zotto’s Trattoria – formerly the kiln for drying tobacco – is followed by the six-minute cycle back to Pizzini, and a bed in its Lana Trento guest house (A$130 for a single, A$175 a couple), which sleeps four. The price includes a breakfast hamper, although after this day of tasting, eating and minimal exercise, I may not be all that hungry!
