Mazzorbo Island

The lesser known Mazzorbo is one of the quieter inhabited islands of the Venetian lagoon, located next door to its more famous neighbour, Burano

Often neglected by tourists, the tranquil and relatively little-known island of Mazzorbo is the vaporetto stop just before the more famous island of Burano, where hardly anyone ever gets off – we were the only ones!

The view from our room which Rupert did a drawing of – see bottom of page!

The vaporetto drops you off on what is more or less the island’s only street, which is actually the quayside, where it was just a couple of minutes’ walk  to the small hotel called Venissa where we were staying.

Partly located on the waterfront and hidden away within an historic walled vineyard, Venissa is owned by a family of winemakers and set within, what looks like an old Venetian manor house.

Owned by the Bisol family, who produce some of Italy’s most famous Prosecco, the elegantly restored hotel is surrounded by 2 hectares of vineyard and gardens, and has just a handful of guest rooms, all beautifully decorated.

With most of the family tending their centuries-old Prosecco estate about an hour’s drive from Venice, Venissa is overseen by Matteo Bisol, whose father is responsible for planting the new vineyard here, growing the rare native Dorona grape.

Housed in a modern annex to the hotel, Venissa’s Michelin-starred restaurant is run by Francesco Brutto, named Italy’s best young Italian chef in 2016 and 2017. There’s also a more affordable Osteria restaurant, overlooking the canal, which is where we ate.

Making the most of ingredients which come directly from the lagoon, the menu focuses on local fare and vegetables mostly grown in Venissa’s own organic garden, as well as updated traditional Italian favourites. Using the best seasonal offerings available, the chef tries to find ingredients sourced as close to home as possible, with the resulting gourmet meal artistically arranged on the plate.

Matteo’s father, Gianluca Bisol, planted Venissa’s vineyard in 2006, after discovering a long-forgotten local grape variety, Dorona di Venezia, on the neighbouring island of Torcello. He then set about reviving wine production on the island.

The Dorona grape was all but wiped out in Venice’s great flood back in 1966, but Gianluca and his team managed to resuscitate the last surviving remains of this indigenous grape variety.

Today, the wine is packaged in glass bottles made on Murano, with labels made from squares of hand-beaten gold leaf from a workshop located in the heart of Venice, all of which is intended to reflect the ‘golden grape of Venice’ which is contained inside.

Overlooking the lagoon or the vineyard, Venissa has just six rooms, all elegantly styled with exposed beams and in neutral hues. Our room faced onto the canal with a lovely view of an old Venetian manor house opposite, which Rupert drew – see below!

A real bonus was the complimentary gourmet breakfast which was included.

Another bonus if you are staying at Venissa for more than a day or two is the excellent range of agri-tourism type activities and tours that are available. We would have both loved to have taken part in a couple of these, such as a trip with the local lagoon fisherman or a traditional bragozzo boat trip with a lagoon-side picnic dinner.

Venissa have also converted a handful of the colourful houses on neighbouring Burano into guest apartments, which is a great way to experience the island after the tourist boats have departed, but we didn’t actually get to see these.

Having withstood the salt and flood waters for centuries, the ancient walled vineyard is home to the ‘Dorona’ grape, which is used to produce one of the lagoon’s finest white wines. There is a lovely path which meanders through it towards the wooden bridge which connects the neighbouring island of Burano, so you can easily walk from one island to the other.

Staying on either Burano or Mazzorbo means you can explore the islands in peace once all the day trippers have caught the last boat back to Venice, and the piazza is reclaimed by the locals. Bliss!

Getting There

From Fondamente Nove: Vaporetto line 12
From San Marco: Vaporetto line 14

View from Venissa on Mazzorbo Island by Rupert