Castello di Roncade, what a great surprise in Veneto

Here is one experience I definitely must share. I was searching on the internet for a hotel or B&B that was near a place I needed to go, in the small town of Roncade, Veneto (Italy). How surprised I was when I spoted a castle (yes, the Castello di Roncade) with a vacant room, and with a very reasonable price.

And there I went...it took near 06 hours driving from Florence, avoiding the main highway, but it was really worthy. When you arrive at Roncade, you first of all see a small town like many others, but then in the middle of everything there is this medieval fortification, with stone walls all around, a ditch and a gate to get inside. Just like that, something I was NOT expecting to see...and yet turned out to be a great surprise...

The castle seemed more like a Villa to me, with its Palazzo inside (where the owner still lives), and was founded by the Giustinian family many centuries ago. If you want more informations about the history and the castle you can go to their website http://www.castellodironcade.com/

It is also true that they make wines in there, since ancient times. Nowadays, they make spumanti, white wines, and red wines. The staff is very nice, and you can ask them to make a quick tour around and know more about the place, but you can also try their products. To be honest, I tried just the red wines, and I did like very much them all....but there are two that I'd like to highlight with the pictures below:


They're both intense, dense and full of flavour red wines, and although the Castle's wine production is considered "small" (with aprox. 150.000 bottles/year), the wine is much much better than many widely known famous wines I've tried in Italy...although it is really difficult to find bad wines in this country, I admit.
The only thing that could be better is the breakfast, which is really simple and to be honest the atmosphere makes you expect more. But then again,  who goes to a castle thinking about breakfast?!?! If you want great food you can always cook it yourself (or not!), but if you want great place and a castle that's a unique place to go and enjoy the experience! Arrivederci!