Overview of Val di Cembra in Autumn (photo by Paul Sandri)

A moment during the harvest in the Ferrari’s vineyards, in Trentino

The Vallagarina is one of the most interesting areas for the wine tourist. The town of Rovereto hosts the Mart, a major contemporary art museum. Passing through Calliano and Besenello, the town of Isera with its Postcard Museum, can be reached. The vineyards in the valley are planted in different grape varieties. In the Avio zone, cabernet, merlot and chardonnay are grown at the bottom of the valley and müller thurgau in the hilly areas. At Rovereto, pinot nero is grown, together with the famous marzemino, the vine variety giving its name to the wine which is the symbol of Vallagarina. Not far away, a valley reaching the Trentino shores of Lake Garda, is the Valle dei Laghi, with seven small lakes surrounded by the Brenta Dolomites and Monte Bondone. The special microclimate of the area favors the growth of olive trees, oaks and vineyards, with rows of vines creating perfect geometric patterns. The star wine of the area is the Vin Santo, obtained from nosiola grapes, dried on mats until the week before Easter. A breathtaking scenery can be admired in Trentino, in the Val di Cembra, where müller thurgau grapes are grown on terraced vineyards, reaching an altitude of 800 meters.

A view of Val di Cembra, in Trentino

Along the Wine Road near Caldaro Lake, in South Tyrol

In Alto Adige, in the province of Bolzano, an area of rare beauty is the one around Caldaro Lake, where a light red wine is produced from the slightly tannic schiava gentile grapes. Other wines are: Lagrein and Pinot Nero among the reds; Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay among the whites. The nearby little town of Egna is a medieval market town, with ancient arcades. At Salorno, on the Italian-German language border, there are important Renaissance and Baroque buildings. The Gothic church at Termeno has an 86-meter-tall belfry, the tallest masonry belfry in South Tyrol. Among the events taking place along the South Tyrolean Wine Trail (www.suedtiroler-weinstrasse.it), the ones not to be missed are: the “Vino in Festa” or “Wine Festival”, from mid May to June, and the “Vinosafari”, throughout the year, on the first Friday of every month. Other beautiful areas in the province of Bolzano are: the Val Venosta, a South Tyrolean Doc zone since 1995; the Isarco Valley, where semi sparkling white wines are produced; and the territory around Merano, where the Merano Wine Festival takes place at the beginning of November.

Futurism is the name of an artistic movement, which developed at the beginning of the twentieth century, with the first poetic manifesto by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti. It celebrated the "beauty of speed" and created the myth of machines, calling for a new art and claiming the destruction of museums, seen as "cemeteries" and "public dormitories“. One of the leading representatives of Futurism was Fortunato Depero (1892-1960). He was born in Trento and moved to Rovereto, when he was very young. In Rovereto, in January 2009, Depero's House of Futurist Art was opened. It is a museum-workshop, open to applied art, as Depero had "futuristically" imagined it, when he left a legacy to the town of Rovereto, laying the groundwork for the future museum. The museum is located on two floors: the first floor houses art works, objects, stage sets and posters by Depero; on the second floor a big loom will be used to create tapestries and other textile products. Open from Tuesday to Sunday, hours 10-18, green telephone line 800.397760, via Portici 38, Rovereto. Info www.mart.trento.it