It’s not officially summer yet, but it’s June and this heat has me daydreaming of Italy. 
My husband and I had the delightful experience of staying overnight at Villa Barberina, the 18th century Venetian Villa owned by Annalisa and Primo Franco in Valdobbiadene, the commune in Veneto where the highest quality prosecco’s are made, in October of 2024. It was a very last minute decision on our part to stay in the area due to the bad weather in the Dolomite mountains or we would have definitely stayed longer and also planned to visit the family’s historic winery, Nino Franco, just down the street.
I tried at first to book online, but it wouldn’t allow me to book just one night, so I sent and email to ask if it was possible. Annalisa responded quickly and said that we could and from that point forward handled everything herself.
The days before we spent in Barolo and the Dolomites and it was cold and had rained most of the time, but the morning that we were headed to Villa Barberina, the rain had stopped and the sun had come out. It looked like it was going to be a beautiful day. I received a message from Annalisa stating what a beautiful day it was and asked if we’d like her to make dinner reservations for us and she had suggested a few places which I thought was so sweet of her to offer.
When we arrived at the Villa she had already opened the gate for us. There was a long gravel road with gardens on both sides, so all you could see was the mansion in front of us. When we got almost to the front door, we took a left where there was a small place to park surrounded by more gardens. Annalisa greeted us as we walked to the front door into the entryway. She showed us around the downstairs and then upstairs to our suite for the night. 
There was a suite on each side of the entry room upstairs. She had some Nino Franco Rustico Valdobbiadene Prosecco DOCG on ice and some snacks waiting for us downstairs in the library room in front of the fire place. The room was full of historic books, but there were also board games sitting around and couches and chairs. The double doors were open to the front and we could here the birds singing, so after we sat for a bit, we walked around the grounds which I should mention has a stone wall surrounding the entire property cutting it off from the outside world and making it a quiet little slice of heaven.
The mansion is surrounded by gardens and their Grave di Stecca vineyards, one of the wineries three award winning single vineyard 
Prosecco’s. They also live on the property in another house on the grounds.
The swimming pool has two levels and looked so inviting, but was not open yet since it was October. There were persimmon trees, lime trees, and lots of other gorgeous bushes and flowers around the rows and 
rows of vines and behind the property were mountains. It was so peaceful and quiet. There was no traffic, no people talking, only an occasional church bell ringing. We did however hear a car pull up and paid no attention to it while we were walking around and when we finally came back inside, we found out that Annalisa had called her husband, Primo, and he come to introduce himself and welcome us. We had a wonderful conversation and then he said he had an appointment to get to, but that he wanted to meet us. I felt bad for walking around the property so long, had I known he was inside waiting for us, I would have come back instantly. 
Villa Baberina feels like a living museum. It’s filled with antiquities and Primo himself said that “it is the most beautiful house in Valdobbiadene.” in his book, The Prosecco Way of Life, that he wrote in 2019 to celebrate the wineries 100th anniversary. Annalisa and Primo purchased it in 2004, renovated it, and opened it up as a B&B to anyone that wants to come and experience it’s charm. It has six gorgeous rooms that all have the own bathrooms.
We stayed in the Blue room that has a view of the front of the Villa looking out towards the entrance and far beyond you can see the town. 
We somehow had the entire Villa to ourselves that night, except for the
one staff member that lived on the other side of the mansion. She said that it would be full of people for the weekend the next day. It was a little strange when we came back from dinner and it was dark.
Annalisa had given us the keys to the gate and the side kitchen door that was an old wooden double door with an old lock that she had to show us how to use, by turning the key three times until you here it click or something like that. 
She also said to make ourselves at home and if we wanted anything to drink or eat from the fridge to take it and just mark it down on a clipboard, but we went up to our suite and stayed there until morning. I will mention that they have their single vineyard wines chilled and ready for you to purchase and enjoy and these are not readily available in the US, so it’s a very generous offer. We had breakfast in the formal dining room.
She had given us a card the night before to check off what we’d like for breakfast. Annalisa said in the warmer months, they serve breakfast outside in a little covered area on the backside of the house. Before we finished our breakfast, Annalisa had arrived for the day and made sure we were happy with our stay and that our night had been fine. We checked out a little bit later and headed to Bardolino, leaving her and the Villa feeling like we weren’t ready to leave yet and already wishing to to return when we could get in that pool.
I adore Nino Franco Valdobbiadene Prosecco and have been a long time supporter of the winery, but after staying at Villa Baberina and meeting Annalisa and Primo and experiencing their genuine kindness I cannot tell you what a profound gratitude and respect I have for them for what they have spent their lifetime doing. Their daughter, Silvia, runs the winery with them, but we did not get to see her this time because she was out of the country.
If you are ever in Veneto area or close by, I highly recommend staying at Villa Baberina in Valdobbiadene. Click this link https://www.ninofranco.it/en/villa-barberina for more information or visit the wineries website, https://www.ninofranco.it/en/about for more information.
You can also listen to my interview with Primo Franco I did for the Italian Wine Podcast here, https://open.spotify.com/episode/70L4KeJVjBcCZBkoNSKDje or here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hV16RXzgqnk
Rebecca Severs
Italian Wine Ambassador
