Bergamo is about 1 hour from Milan and our Milanese cousin Roberto was known to favor the food and wines from this region. He would fish along the river Adda (Fiume Adda) in the countryside that is said to have inspired Leonardo da Vinci to use its landscape as background for his painting Virgin of the Rocks. The village of Crespi d’Adda, built on the Bergamask bank of the River Adda, is one of the most interesting and best preserved late 19th century industrial towns in Italy and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The town was constructed by the owner of the factory for his employees and their families and remains an example of 19th and early 20th century ‘company towns’ built to mutually benefit the economic and social interests of the worker and factory owner.
An interesting and idyllic landscape of medieval castles, churches and abbeys follow the river and the surrounding countryside renowned for its dairy production, including the famous Taleggio cheese and the definitive dish of the region polenta.
Wine and Food Roads
The region may best be travelled in the Spring when the undisputed star of the region shines. Valcalepio Rosso wine, a DOC of Lombardy in northern Italy, is a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. Always the rules for the production of Vino Rosso Valcalepio remain the same and require that in the spring following the vintage the union of the two wines is to be made as indicated – 40 to 75% Merlot, 25 to 60% Cabernet to create an Italian Bordeaux-style blend. Little known in the United States, Valcalepio is a wonderful wine with a ruby-red color and soft yet spicy flavor that goes well with the butter-based dishes and the polenta specialities of the region.
Must have dishes when traveling in Bergamo include Polenta e Osai originally a dish from the Veneto, made of roasted wild birds with polenta that dates back to a time when food was scarce.
Today the tradition is replicated as tiny sponge cakes gilded a yellow marzipan gold to imitate polenta and stuffed with almond paste and chocolate mousse decorated with little black marzipan birds. Delicious!
Another dish to be enjoyed is coniglio alla bergamasca (braised rabbit with polenta) in the style of Bergamo seasoned with cloves and rosemary. Our cousin Roberto especially liked this dish served with polenta taragna, an earthier, darker polenta made with a mix of yellow cornmeal and buckwheat and ample amounts of butter and cheese.
The taragna comes from the word tarai or tarel, referring to the wooden tool traditionally used to stir the polenta in a copper pot hung inside the fireplace.
Three Springtime Itineraries in and Around Bergamo
The first itinerary is known as The Road of the Convents (I Conventi). It begins at the Capriate S. Gervasio exit on the A4 and ends in Bergamo. Along the way, you can visit the ancient Abbey of Santa Egidio at Sotto il Monte Giovanni XXIII (the birthplace of Pope John XXIII), the Abbey of Pontida and the Church of San Tomè at Almenno San Salvatore.
The second itinerary starts in Bergamo and finishes in Grumello del Monte. This itinerary includes visits to the city of Bergamo, the Renaissance cloister of the Abbey of San Paolo d’ Argon, the Oratory of Santa Barbara (inside Villa Suardi, at Trescore Balneatico), frescoed by Lorenzo Lotto, and several castles.
The third itinerary is named The Lake Itinerary (Il Lago) and stretches from the Grumello del Monte exit on the A4 motorway towards Sarnico on Lake Iseo, returning via a different route and taking in the 15th century castle, Castello dei Conti di Calepio.
Along the route, you will have the chance to taste these typical dishes accompanied by the well-known regional wine while soaking in the evocative history and beauty of the region. The Botanical Gardens in the Upper Bergamo are flowering in April with over 100 varieties of tulips in bloom. Mountain trails, lakefront bike rides and boat rides along the Adda are but a start to discovering one of Italy’s best outdoor cities. Città Alta (upper Bergamo) and Città Bassa (lower Bergamo ) with breathtaking views along the Venetian Walls, make this region one of the best Springtime itineraries in northern Italy and only about an hour away from Milan.
Seeing and Savoring Italy 