Mazzorbo, drone view
For some time now, dozens of tourists have been piling up at the bus stop Fundly Nove waiting to catch the vaporetto number 12 . It is the one that leads first to murano (yes, the island famous for glass) and then continue to Burano (the one with the colorful houses).
Everyone prepares camera or mobile in hand to take a new snapshot of what is already the sixth most photographed city in the world . We are also there, but with a different objective. We want to go to Mazzorbo, a small island just before Burano where we have been told that there are no tourists and what is it full of vineyards through which you can walk.
Minutes before going down, we ask the person in charge of anchoring the barge and regulating the passage of people if the next stop is ours. He looks at us strangely (we had already been warned that hardly anyone gets down there) and we check it when we get off, Because we really are the only ones.
A day on the island where no one ever gets off
Going through it from end to end is only a matter of minutes, and it is not a kilometer long. Enjoying its tranquility and its possibilities gives much more. Just a few houses the bell tower of one of the oldest churches in Laguna, a little six bedroom resort , And till a Michelin star restaurant.
But his best kept secret is called Dorona , and it is the variety of grape that is grown there. Its history dates back to the year 1100, when its characteristic golden color filled the land now occupied by the Piazza San Marco.
The vineyards of Mazzorbo next to the church
In fact, although it is hard for us to imagine now, the entire island of Venice was full of vegetables, vegetables and vineyards , and it was in Mazzorbo – but also in neighboring Burano and Torcello – where people lived. Malaria and other diseases changed everything. And the locals decided to move to Venice and clear the crops to build their palazzi.
Another disaster – this time in 1966 and in the form of a flood that kept the famous acqua alta for more than 22 hours above 110 centimeters – definitively ended the plantations, and numerous families decided to abandon their farms forever. But fortunately, Gianluca Bisol came across this whole story a few years ago.
His family has been dedicated to the Prosecco production in Valdobbiadene and, in 2002, while visiting Torcello with some clients, he discovered a type of strain that he had never seen before. He went into a garden, he located the owner of it and asked her to send him a sample of the grapes as soon as they were ripe.
Bottle from the Venissa vineyards
He began to investigate and learned that it was the historical Dorona, now about to disappear. Y the machinery was activated : consultation in the archives of Venice, visits to different experts and oenologists to learn everything possible about this variety, studies to determine if it could be cultivated again, an insatiable search for more specimens in any corner and "many, many people", His son Matteo now tells us, "warning him that it was a risk to undertake such an adventure in an area that could flood again at any moment either. Despite this, we were determined to push forward."
he managed to collect 88 strains and the project was launched with the collaboration of the Comune di Venezia and the Bisol family under the name of Venissa . The objective was "to recover a grape with a flavor impossible to obtain anywhere else in the world, and an orchard that would be managed by local farmers."
Fishing in the Lagoon
The chosen place was Mazzorbo, where a walled estate had been abandoned since the flood. After many efforts, in September 2010 , harvested the first clusters of this grape that grows only a meter and a half from the salt water of the Lagoon and whose land is flooded every two or three years.
From that production came 4,800 bottles , although today they are around 3,000 per harvest. They are sought after not only for their particular flavor (it is a white wine that is reminiscent of a red wine due to its structure), but also for its traditional elaboration that ripens the grape with the skin , its original half-liter bottle and a gold leaf label made by the only remaining family of artisans in the area, Berta Battiloro.
Such a small island hides great secrets like Venissa and its dishes
Getting a bottle of Venissa, then, is not an easy thing, although you can taste it in some hotels in Italy, New York or Paris. For us, the best option is to do it without moving from Mazzorbo, in the restaurant that the family opened in 2010 at the foot of the vineyards and that in 2012 he got his first Michelin star.
They are in command now Francesco Brutt (awarded Best Young Chef in Italy) and Chiara Paván . At the table, a tasting menu of five, seven or nine dishes with all kinds of creations and always prepared with local products , some of them from the garden itself, where artichokes, tomatoes, aubergines, potatoes, pumpkins, herbs of all kinds and fruits such as plums or peaches grow throughout the year.
Boat trips around Mazzorbo
“We have always opted for young chefs who are not afraid to take risks” , explains Matteo Bisol, now director of this entire project. “We want to offer creative proposals with local products . And it is that the proximity of the ground with the salty water gives the vegetables a special flavor that is worth taking advantage of”.
In the glass, Venissa came of course. But also his new Rosso Venissa , and they let us know that soon some more surprises, because the project grows. He does it around the wine (which is reaping awards and recognition), but also with a small resort with only six rooms on the same estate . “It is a true luxury to be able to enjoy this peace a few minutes from Venice and visit the most touristic areas when people, precisely, decide to make excursions to the other islands”.
Without moving from here we also have options: cooking classes to learn traditional recipes from Laguna or prepare pasta, boat rides and gondola lessons, fishing, Photography and of course wine tasting . Mazzorbo remains for now a little undiscovered gem just two vaporetto stops away.
A day in Burano
LITTLE TRAVEL GUIDE
How to get
Iberia. Direct flights from Madrid to Venice from €148. To get to Mazzorbo and Burano, just take the vaporetto no 12 in Fondemente Nove . The ticket can be purchased at Unique Venice portal or in authorized offices. The one day ticket costs €20 and allows free use of transport in the area for 24 hours from the first validation.
Where to eat
**Venissa.** Fondamenta di Santa Caterina 3, Mazzorbo. Chef Francisco Brutto draws on the very interesting Venetian cuisine to prepare menus always based on seasonal produce , the farm's orchard and the fish from the Great Lagoon. There is also the Contemporary Osteria , more informal and overlooking the canal. Cellar with more than 200 references.
Trattoria alla Maddalena . Fondamenta di Santa Caterina 7b, Mazzorbo. Traditional Venetian cuisine since 1954, the year in which Giulio Simoncin and his wife, Giulia, started the business. now they carry it two families of Mazzorbo to which the marriage gave the management of the business. Good fish.
To do
Merletto Museum. Piazza Baldassarre Galuppi 187, Burano (closed on Mondays) . One of the area's traditions is merletto, or bobbin lace. Its history dates back to the s. XVI, and now it is collected in this museum that occupies the rooms of what was once a school for all those girls who wanted to learn the technique . Now, you can see some of the teachers at work live.
House of Bepi . Court of Pistor 275, Burano. All Burano houses are colorfully painted, but this one tops them. Bepi was a lover of painting, but also of cinema, and for this he often covered the facade with a white sheet to show films in the summer.
Shopping
Palmisano Carmelina . Piazza Galuppi 355, Burano. No one can leave here without trying the Bussolà biscuits from the Carmelina bakery , famous throughout the region.
Where to sleep
Burano house . Via Giudecca 139, Burano. Double room from €120. It belongs to the Bisol family, owner of the Venissa restaurant, in Mazzorbo.
*This report was published in number 111 of Condé Nast Traveler Magazine (November). Subscribe to the printed edition (**11 printed issues and a digital version for €24.75, by calling 902 53 55 57 or from our website**) and enjoy free access to the digital version of Condé Nast Traveler for iPad. The October issue of Condé Nast Traveler is available in its digital version to enjoy on your preferred device.
Contemporary Osteria