Museum visits · Bardolino · Italy
The Zeni winery and the Wine Museum in Bardolino
five generations of Verona wine, with a tasting counter and an olfactory gallery
The winery sits on the Via Costabella hillside above Bardolino, and you visit it on your own, with nothing to book. You walk into the Wine Museum, which is free, carry on into the shop and come out onto the terrace. At the counter a dozen wines are on automatic dispense and you taste them without paying and without buying anything; for the Amarone and the single vineyards you put in a few euros a glass. What does have to be booked and paid for is the Olfactory Gallery, down in the Sala Bottaia.
Getting there
- From the centre of Bardolino you climb Via Costabella, a steady rise through vineyards and olive trees
- On foot the gradient never lets up and tells on a hot day: almost everyone drives up
- The winery forecourt has free parking reserved for visitors, with free charging points for cars and bicycles
- The car park is described as for visitors without saying whether long vehicles are allowed: better to leave the motorhome at one of the Bardolino parking areas
- Bus route 483 links Bardolino with the surrounding villages
Practical information
Duration one hour to an hour and a half for the museum and the free tasting; two to two and a half hours if you add the guided tour with a tasting in the Sala Bottaia; about an hour for the Olfactory Gallery on its own
Price museum and counter tasting free, premium wines 2 to 6 euros a glass
When to go April to June and September to October
Suitable for anyone, including people with no interest in wine; the route is wheelchair accessible
Booking not needed for the museum and the counter tasting; required for groups of more than ten, guided tours, the Olfactory Gallery and events
Contacts
Where it is
Bardolino · Veneto
Notes
- The winery is open all year round: the hours until 31 March are the winter ones, and the recommended periods are April to June and September to October
- Hours given by the official site for 2026: until 31 March Monday to Saturday 8:30-12:30 and 14:30-18:30, closed on Sundays; from 1 April to 31 October Monday to Saturday 9:30-12:30 and 14:00-19:00, Sundays 9:00-13:00
- The Olfactory Gallery opens from 1 April, Tuesday to Saturday 13:00-19:00
- Olfactory Gallery: 28 euros a head with the tasting, 15 euros for minors on the olfactory route alone, 48 euros per person for the GO2 couples package with a cheese board; book by writing to bottaia@zeni.it
- Groups and guided tours are booked on +39 045 4500492; the price of the full guided tour with a tasting in the Sala Bottaia is to be checked on the official site
- The museum and the shop have their own contacts, +39 045 6228331 and museodelvino@zeni.it
- The museum grew out of Nino Zeni's collection in 1991: almost every object on show was actually used in the family
- The route is laid out by theme, from growing the vine to the harvest, the pressing, the bottling and the transport, with panels and multimedia
- Since 1870 the family has made Bardolino, Chiaretto, Valpolicella, Amarone, Lugana, Soave and Custoza, some thirty labels in all
- The premium wines by the glass are the Amarone Classico "Nino Zeni", the Valpolicella Ripasso Superiore "Marogne" and the "Vigne Alte" selection
- The Olfactory Gallery takes at most seven people at a time and includes a guided tasting
- The reception team, called "L'Ora", speaks Italian, English and German
- The shop also sells grappa, extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and ships within Italy and Europe
- The harvest falls between late September and early October
