We slept in late and enjoyed coffee and brunch made by Tim and Doug.

We could hear the kids practicing a show that they were preparing to show us.

Mid-afternoon we drove an hour away to the town of Roncade, found between Treviso and Venice. We were looking for Castello di Roncade, a working vineyard/country villa/winery, that has been in continual operation for over 500 years.

We recognized the winery from pictures we saw; two tall towers, a moat and wall surrounding the property. When we entered we saw huge trees, hundreds of years old. Magnolia, spruce and another I didn't recognize. A long walkway to the villa with statues ran down the center, and behind the villa acres of vineyards. Both sides of the villa had buildings running the length of the property. We enquired about taking a tour. The tour leaving was in a different language so another worker, Diego, took us, and a couple from Holland, on our own private tour. He was personable and easy to listen to. Tim said he was red neckish, definitely not a wine snob. It was obvious that he has a strong connection to the winery and it's history by the way he talked.

The Castello actually sits on the ruins of a tenth century castle. The moat, towers and walls went up in 1490, and the enclosed villa was built 20 years later. The original owners of the Castello were the Giustinian family. This family was prominent in Venice. Out of their family came two doges, many senators, some saints, and the first Patriarch of Venice. Something else he mentioned is that the architect who built the clock tower in San Marco in Venice, also designed this villa. The Giustinian family line survived and prospered until 1881. By 1915 the direct heirs to the family died making the family extinct. The new owners, The Bassetti family, bought the villa before the Second World War, restoring the buildings and planting new vineyards. For a period of time during the war it was occupied by the Germans and used as a hospital. A baron, baroness and their son (of the Bassetti family) live there today.

We saw the reception area of the house but the rest is closed because it's in use by the owners . The reception area was once functional as an open air market place, but over time a travertine floor was installed, and it was closed in to be used as part of the house. The timbered ceilings were impressive. Diego explained that the timbers were soaked in salt water for 30 years before use. He said "people had more time back then" lol
The soaking of the timbers was a way to preserve them, and ensure they wouldn't rot when used for construction. It must work because they still look great! Simple lanterns and candelabras, decorated in dried ferns the color of wheat, decorate the ceiling. Historical paintings and maps are hanging on the walls, having significance to the property.

Walking out of the reception area we could see down the length of the front yard, and the statues lining the walkway. Diego mentioned a legend that one of the owners long ago left for a trip, leaving his wife in the care of his staff. When he returned and found out she had an affair with one of the staff he turned them all to stone, and those are the statues we see today.

We toured through the private chapel and saw busts of the patriarchs of the family.

Next we saw the technical side of the vineyard. The de-stemer, center fuse that extracts juice from the grapes, and fermenting tanks made of stainless steel. We walked through the room with aging barrels, and into the small bottling factory where we watched the workers bottle wine in an assembly line.

The process we saw was for house wine, but for select wines the grapes are hand selected and go through a finer process.

We walked behind the villa into the vineyards where Diego explained how they care for the plants. Because they make premium wines they choose to do more pruning and bring in a lower yield. The vines live longer and the grapes harvested are a better quality.

Our last stop was back where we started, in the wine tasting room. We were given cheese and meat to eat with various glasses of wine. We enjoyed the wine so much that we are hoping to ship some home. But for the mean time we brought some bottles back to our place to share over the next few days.

We had ordered meat shish-kabobs from the grocer. Tim, Brennin and Doug barbecued them, and with potatoes and salad we had a very nice supper. The kids swam and then practiced their songs for a show they were putting on for us.

We met in the main floor living area and watched the kids sing a selection of all the songs they practiced. They even dressed up for the occasion. We enjoyed the performance - they sounded awesome.

We were looking forward to St.Marks Cathedral the next day.