
Meneghetti Wine Hotel & Winery
Veni vidi vino
Istrian idyll
The clue’s in the name at Meneghetti Wine Hotel & Winery, a traditional village-style resort where creamy Istrian stone buildings with red pantile roofs and painted wooden shutters huddle around tranquil outdoor pools and tree-lined walkways. Indeed, it’s all about the grape here, where 12 acres of vineyards produce 14 varieties of robust reds and zingy whites, available to try at tasting sessions or over dinner in the farm-to-fork restaurant. Heck, after exhausting yourself with a day’s tasting you can even undergo vinotherapy treatments in the spa.
Planes
Pula airport is 30 kilometres from the hotel, a half-hour drive away. Transfers can be arranged at a cost of €70 one way. Trieste airport is a two-hour drive, Zagreb and Ljubljana airports are over three hours' drive; contact the hotel directly for transfer prices.
Automobiles
Meneghetti Wine Hotel & Winery’s remote countryside location means you’ll need wheels if you plan to explore more of the region. And, trust us, you should: think long, lazy lunches in charming hilltop villages, fairytale mediaeval fortresses and secluded coves with gin-clear waters. There’s free private parking at the hotel, with charging points for electric vehicles.
Worth Getting Out of Bed For
We know, we know: dragging yourself away from the pool with its hypnotic vineyard views is a wrench but, boy, is it worth the effort. And, on the plus side, you don’t have to stumble very far from your lounger to take part in free morning stretching sessions by the vines. Or to forage for truffles for lunch in the nearby woods. If you’re feeling particularly energetic, you can even borrow a bike and head out to explore the shaded trails and hilltop vistas along the route to Rovinj, a pretty seaside town just a few kilometres up the coast.
Star of the show at the estate is of course the winery, where you can opt for a bells-and-whistles tasting experience in the wine cellars, or tour the whole estate and partake of a glass of wine at six different locations, including the barrique room where the wine is aged, the winery rooftop (mind your step!) and – safely back on terra firma, though by this point it may not feel like it – the vineyard itself. If the vino doesn’t get you well-oiled, the estate’s award-winning extra virgin will: oil-tasting can be arranged on site, too.
If you’re feeling the need for a few hours of self-imposed sobriety by, say, day four or five, strike out for the ancient city of Pula, home to Roman buildings including one of the best-preserved amphitheatres on the planet. Or head for the distinctive red-tiled roofs and fairytale mediaeval churches of Rovinj where you can order lobster for lunch by the harbour and wave to the fishermen who caught it as you sip your chilled chardonnay aperitif. From the Meneghetti Winery, natch.




































