The food and wine of Vicenza: what to eat and drink near Montecchio

The food of the Vicenza area is hearty country cooking: polenta instead of bread, rich sauces, cured meats and cheese from the mountains. The hills around Montecchio Maggiore produce good wines too, and some of Italy’s best-known wine regions are less than an hour away.

Dishes to try

• Baccalà alla vicentina: dried stockfish slow-cooked with milk, onions and anchovies, served with polenta. Vicenza’s signature dish.
• Bigoli: thick pasta, traditionally served with duck sauce (bigoli all’anatra).
• Risi e bisi: a soupy risotto with fresh peas, in spring.
• Sopressa vicentina: a soft, fragrant salami, often with polenta.
• Asiago cheese: from the Asiago plateau in the mountains north of Vicenza, fresh or aged.
• White asparagus: from Bassano del Grappa, in April and May.

Wines from the hills

• Gambellara: crisp white wines from the Garganega grape, made in the hills just west of Montecchio.
• Lessini Durello: a fresh sparkling wine from the volcanic Lessini hills.
• Colli Berici: reds and whites from the hills south of Vicenza, including Tai Rosso.
• Soave: the famous white wine from the hills around Soave castle, half an hour west.
• Valpolicella and Amarone: rich reds from the hills north of Verona.
• Prosecco: from the UNESCO-listed hills of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene, further east.
• Grappa: the spirit made from grape skins, from Bassano del Grappa.

Where to eat

Look for a trattoria or osteria with a short handwritten menu. In the countryside, an agriturismo serves dinner made from its own produce. For a special evening, dine in Juliet’s Castle.

Tips

• An aperitivo, often a spritz, is served with snacks before dinner.
• Baccalà is traditionally a Friday dish, though many places serve it all week.
• Book a wine tasting tour if you want to try several wineries without driving.