Castello di Buttrio Relais

Castello di Buttrio Relais is a working wine estate and country house hotel set on a low hill above the village of Buttrio, 18 kilometres east of Udine in the heart of the Friuli Colli Orientali DOC wine zone. The castle's origins are medieval but the current manor structure dates largely to the eighteenth century, when the estate was developed under Venetian-influenced Friulian landownership. The property has produced wine continuously for over a century and the cellars and vineyards spread across the slopes directly below the guest accommodation. The surrounding landscape — vine-covered hills, old friulane farmhouses, and the distant backdrop of the Julian Pre-Alps — gives Buttrio a genuinely agricultural and unhurried character.

Room categories include Standard, Superior with Vineyard View, and Suite. All are furnished in a sober country-house style with antique or antique-reproduction pieces, heavy linen drapes, and terracotta or stone floors. The Superior category adds a direct view over the estate's vineyards, particularly appealing during harvest in September and October. A secluded outdoor pool is set in the formal garden below the castle terrace and opens from June through September. The estate restaurant serves Friulian dishes — frico, San Daniele prosciutto, house-made pasta — matched to wines from the estate's own cellar; tasting menus and wine-pairing dinner evenings can be arranged for groups. Guided cellar tours with the estate's own sommelier are available on request.

Bicycle hire enables independent exploration of the surrounding Collio and Colli Orientali cycling routes; the Slovenian border is less than ten kilometres away and many cyclists cross for lunch in Slovenian villages. The hotel is particularly suited to couples celebrating occasions, wine enthusiasts, and guests seeking a rural Friulian alternative to urban hotels. A car is effectively required; public transport connections to Buttrio are infrequent.