Portogruaro Coastal Reserve and Winery Visit

Today is another unseasonally hot day, around 32. It appears that this weather is a month ahead of when it should be and crops are being affected since they have only recently been planted. This is not good for an area that is the cereal bowl of the country with huge areas of mainly maize but also barley and grapes.

Lindsay was driving on his own for the first time and managed very well on the other side of the road. We drove east out to the coast to a marine and coastal reserve although the reserve does have some farmland included. The beaches to the north and south of this area are the crowded tourist beaches of Caorle and Bibione, yet in between is this lovely isolated area cut off by lagoons from the others. The area recreation area has a lagoonal area with facilities for bird watching, a belt of meditteranean pine trees and then the beach. Since it was very hot we were happy to find a shady track through the trees and then wade in the sea to cool off. Stupidly, we didn't take our togs and the water was lovely. A worthwhile spot to return

to for a quiet time away from cars and people.

We stayed indoors out of the sun until later in the afternoon and then went to visit the 'le Carline' Winery ( http://www.lecarline.com/azienda.php?lang=eng ) to be given a tour by Daniele the owner manager and wine maker. He has a modern facility run by his family since 1958. It is an organic winery with a large variety of wines including a sparkling white, a desert wine, and several varieties of both white and red wines. We took away with us a very nice Merlot, a Chardonnay blend and the Desert Wine with the intention of drinking it rather than carting it around. The Winery has a large cool area for the cellar and storage and an attractive facility for events and wine tasting. It is not classified as being large, but is considerably larger than Woolaston Winery in Mahana. The host was most accomodating and generous with sharing his products. I guess this was helped by the fact that the Santaliana/Leder family are leasing growing grapes on their land for supply to this wine maker. He's an astute business man so they should do well from the contract.
Because the Winery was closeby to Guilia and Giovanni's house we called in to see them. They were sitting under the trees in the warmth having drinks and cake. Guilia was in a talkative mood and was narrating her story of sheltering English and New Zealand soldiers at their house and others in the district by the Partisans. I was annoyed that I didn't having writing tools or a facility to record her story. Between Diego and myself we should be able to put the story together in written form before it's too late and this old couple are no longer around. Guilia is a remarkable woman and despite being very old has an astute brain and good hearing.
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