Le Volpi: Stay Among the Volcanic Vineyards Where Venetian Nobles Once Spent Their Summers
In the Euganean Hills, the largest private organic estate in the Veneto—250 hectares of volcanic land, 14 rooms and an infinity pool overlooking the vineyards.
Baone, Padova
The Euganean Hills are the remnants of ancient volcanoes. Their mineral-rich volcanic soils are the same ones on which Venetian nobles built their country villas to escape the summer heat of the lagoon. Today, Le Volpi is the largest private organic estate in the Euganean Hills, brought back to life in 2007 by a family from Padua who found the property abandoned.
The Euganean Hills bear little resemblance to the rest of the Venetian plain. Rising abruptly from the flatlands like islands of dark stone, they are covered with vineyards and woodland, dotted with medieval hilltop villages and thermal spas at their foot. These are ancient volcanoes—the last eruptions took place 35 million years ago—and their mineral-rich, well-drained volcanic soils are the reason wine has been made here since long before the Republic of Venice existed.
The Venetian nobility knew it well. When the summer heat in the lagoon became unbearable, they travelled up the Brenta Riviera and into the Euganean Hills, where they had built country villas, planted vineyards and embraced what we would now call slow travel. Petrarch spent the final years of his life in nearby Arquà Petrarca. Foscolo found inspiration here for one of his novels. Goethe passed through during his Italian Journey.
Le Volpi was once a working farm with decades of history before falling into neglect. In 2007, Paduan entrepreneur Luigi Rossi Luciani acquired the estate and began rebuilding it from the ground up—first the winery, vineyards and olive groves, then, a few years later, the farmhouse, transformed into a wine relais with 14 rooms and an infinity pool overlooking the vineyards. In 2017, he expanded the estate with the neighbouring Monte Fasolo property. Today, Le Volpi and Monte Fasolo together form the largest privately owned wine estate in the Euganean Hills, certified organic since 2013 and located within the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve designated in 2024.
Fior d'Arancio, the aromatic Yellow Muscat and the Euganean Hills' only DOCG wine, is the estate's signature label. Alongside it, Le Volpi produces reds from Merlot and Cabernet, as well as extra virgin olive oil from its 5,000 olive trees. Tastings begin at the Monte Fasolo Wine Shop, set within the historic tunnels carved into the winery.
This is an independent editorial feature.
Photo ©levolpiwinerelais.it
Practical Information
Location: Baone, Padova
Duration: Overnight Stay or Half-Day Wine Tasting
Estimated price: From €120 per night · Wine tastings from €25 per person
