Worldwide wine routesVerona holidaysItaly's Valpolicella wine route: top 10 guide
Verona's vineyards, once renowned for churning out basic pizzeria plonk, are now producing some of the country's finest reds. From tastings over home-cooked pasta to stays in an 'agriturismo', here are our key picks for a tasty tour of the regionThe vineyards of the Valpolicella region begin just outside the city of Verona, and stretch in two directions from the romantic home of Romeo and Juliet: west towards Lake Garda, at the historic heart of this very traditional wine, and to the east, where younger, more modern winemakers are making their mark. The region produces only red wines, and although its reputation suffered in the past as the kind of cheap vino you'd order in a pizzeria, today it is producing some of Italy's finest. Most winemakers are open for tastings, and many are opening B&Bs too. The hearty cuisine of the Veneto region goes perfectly with either a light valpolicella classico or a potent bottle of amarone, and there are plenty of rustic osterie and family-run agriturismi to choose from. Verona is also currently preparing for one of the world's most important annual wine expos, Vinitaly (7-10 April), where more than 4,000 producers will be trying to impress visitors through tastings, workshops and competitions.
WINEMAKERS TO VISIT
Le Bignele
The Aldrighetti family have been tending their vines in the hills high above the village of Marano since 1818 and this is the perfect place to begin understanding valpolicella. The key grape for creating the wine's character is the intense corvina, only grown in this region, which is combined with smaller quantities of other local varieties, such as molinara, rondinella and corvinone. The result is a wine that caters for every taste and budget. This is a small, nine-hectare vineyard, more rustic than sophisticated, but its vintages are exceptional value for money. The 2008 valpolicella classico is young, fresh, easy to drink and priced at €5; an elegant 2003 ripasso, whose grape pomace has been macerated to add body, offers excellent quality for €7-10, while a 2007 amarone costs €16, half of what you will pay in many wineries. Amarone is a unique wine – the grapes are firstly dried for three to four months (the passito process) before fermentation begins, and then aged mainly in oak for a minimum of three years. It ranks as one of the greatest Italian red wines, though the high alcohol content – it can rise to a heady 17% – can take a bit of getting used to. Every tasting here ends with recioto, a luscious sweet dessert wine that is the perfect pairing for sticky chocolate cake.
Via Bignele 4, Frazione Valgatara, Marano di Valpolicella, +39 045 7755061, lebignele.it
Tezza
The Tezza family's 25-hectare estate is just outside the historic heart of Valpolicella in the sheltered microclimate of the Valpantena valley. Their cantina is an intriguing mix of modern and traditional, with ancient cement cisterns alongside gleaming steel vats and giant oak casks. Some of the vines are planted in the classic pergola method, where the grapes hang high, protected from both sun and humidity, while the rest have been converted to the much lower French guyot system, which is tantamount to heresy for old-fashioned winemakers. The three Tezza brothers began their winery in 1965, and now it is run by their three sons, Flavio, Vanio and Federico. Vanio says: "We are against the present trend of a dolce valpolicella and amarone, which many winemakers seem to think the market wants, and we prefer to produce wines to our own principles, with plenty of tannin to age well, and drier." Don't miss their intense 2009 Valpolicella Superiore Ripasso at €9, and the 2003 amarone, at €30, is worth splashing out on.
Stradella Maioli, Valpantena, +39 045 550267, tezzawines.it
Massimago
It takes more than a satnav to find this rambling estate, surrounded by thick forest. A visit here is like a breath of fresh air, as the young viticoltore, Camilla Rossi Chauvenet, who took over in 2003 when she was 20, is determined to break out of the mould of traditional Valpolicella wines and offer something modern and innovative. She concentrates on a limited range – no ripasso or recioto – and even the amarone is fresh, not overpowering, and there are surprising experiments, including rosé and sparkling varieties. "This is not an old-fashioned winery: we're not trying to copy the wines of our nonno [grandfather]," says Camilla. Customers can create their own personalised label, and Massimago commissions a piece of classical music for each wine, with the idea that you listen to the music (downloadable from their website) as you drink. The on-site wine relais, a fabulously luxurious four-room B&B, is not a steal at €125 a night, but comes with a tempting pool overlooking the vineyard, plus spa, hammam and sauna.
Via Giare 21, Mezzane di Sotto, +39 045 8880143, massimago.com
Valentina Cubi
Valentina Cubi is another of the innovative female winemakers who symbolise the new generation in Valpolicella, but on arriving for a tasting at her state-of-the-art winery, be prepared to meet a dynamic viticoltore who looks more like everyone's favourite auntie. Her eight-hectare vineyard is certified organic – still a rarity in Italy – and she is beginning to use biodynamic principles, producing Sin Cero, an excellent experimental "natural" valpolicella, which contains no sulphites at all. Valentina's first wines only came on the market in 2005, when she retired from teaching in a local school ("If only I were 30 years younger," she says), yet she has already gained critical acclaim for her uncomplicated, direct wines, reflecting her philosophy that "real valpolicella doesn't have to have pretensions, and should be light, easy to drink, even accompanied just by a plate of salami". Prices begin competitively at €7, and this is one of the few places where you can buy older vintages of amarone, all at the same price, whereas most winemakers hike up the price for each extra year. It's open to the public, but call ahead first.
Località Casterna 60, +39 045 7701806, valentinacubi.it
OSTERIE AND ENOTECHE
Osteria Numero Uno
This is one of those old-fashioned osterie that everyone dreams of discovering. Delicious aromas waft out of the kitchen as you walk in. The wooden bar is packed with winemakers having a drink, either dressed in work overalls or making a good impression on potential customers over lunch. You can try a €2 glass of the house wine, a rustic valpolicella classico from a local village, which the owner buys in demijohns rather than by the bottle, or a refined amarone for €5, made by either Allegrini or Bertani, two of Valpolicella's finest producers, whose wineries are both nearby. The food is traditional Veronese cuisine – simple, hearty portions, inexpensive and totally delicious – beef cheeks braised in amarone with creamy polenta, pumpkin gnocchi smothered in smoked ricotta and minced pork, and the famous pastissada de caval, a rich, slow-cooked stew of horsemeat, which is almost becoming fashionable now after the tainted-beef scandal.
Via Garibaldi Giuseppe, Sant'Ambrogio di Valpolicella, +39 045 7701375, osterianumero1.com
Antica Osteria Le Piere
The main street of the winemaking village of Mizzole is dominated by the severe stone mansion that since the 1700s has housed Osteria Le Piere. The owner, Maurizio Poerio, is a self-trained chef and totally passionate about wine. While the menu sticks faithfully to local dishes, he introduces seasonal specialities too – asparagus, pumpkin, wild game. The wine list stretches to an impressive 250 bottles and Mario vows, "I'll open any one of them to serve by the glass, and if the bottle isn't finished, we'll just serve it later at the bar". Start off with the affettati of smoky cured ham, salami and lardo (pretty much 100% pork fat and irresistible as long as you ignore cholesterol and calories). There are half a dozen different pastas, but also tasty homemade soups, such as chestnut and porcini mushrooms, then daily specials, such as maialino con miele, tender suckling pig roasted in honey. The three courses cost €15, and as you leave the cosy dining hall you'll see Maurizio has finished in the kitchen and is holding court, brandishing a bottle of valpolicella ripasso, with a bunch of grizzled regulars.
Via Nicolini 43, Mizzole, +39 045 8841030
VINEYARD AGRITURISMI
Agriturismo San Mattia
High above the city of Verona, with stunning views, San Mattia is like no other agriturismo in the Valpolicella region. It is not just a vineyard, but a working farm with chickens, ducks and horses, olive groves, vegetables and fruit trees. The enthusiastic 26-year-old owner, Giovanni Ederle, took over his family's vast greenhouse and radically transformed it into a 14-room B&B, with an open-plan dining room, lounge and games area, and quiet salon for tasting his wines. Whenever possible, everything is prepared here, including the freshly laid eggs at breakfast, and the creative chef proposes a €25, five-course menu showcasing his slow-cooked, vacuum-sealed cuisine, which even includes vegetarian dishes. But Giovanni's great passion is valpolicella, which started with a first vintage in 2008 of what he admits was a "garage wine" and is now overseen by talented young oenologist Silvia Baratella. The wines are fresh and uncomplicated, starting at €8.50 a bottle, up to his showcase 2009 amarone at €40.
Via Santa Giuliana 2, Verona, +39 045 913797, agriturismosanmattia.it, doubles from €85, B&B
Relais Antica Corte Al Molino
Despite its rather grand name, this six-room agriturismo is actually a rustic farmhouse, surrounded by vineyards and olive groves. The rooms are comfortable, but it is worth paying €100 a night for their much more spacious apartments, which come with a fully equipped kitchen. Guests also have use of a shady gazebo looking out over the Valpolicella hills, which is perfect for picnics or tasting the Mazzi brothers' wines. But the agriturismo is only part of what the two owners, Stefano and Antonio, offer guests. Ten minutes' walk away is their cantina and family trattoria, open by reservation from Thursday to Sunday, and housed in a rambling mansion complete with a 16th-century watermill. The food is delicious, with an enormous four-course meal priced at €26, including a traditional risotto all'amarone, cooked in this intense red, while for €45 you can taste a different wine from the brothers' production with each course. Try their luscious sweet recioto, dark as squid ink, and you'll surely end up buying a bottle.
Sanperetto di Negar, +39 045 7502072, robertomazzi.it, doubles from €85, B&B
REGIONAL SPECIALITIES
Corrado Benedetti
Corrado Benedetti's delicatessen is a one-stop emporium for every regional product imaginable – the highest quality salumi, prosciutti and formaggi, but also pickled vegetables, fruity mostarda (an Italian condiment), and locally grown rice and lentils. Corrado passionately tracks down the best cheese, sausage makers and farmers in the region, and his talent is as a creative affineur – take his coppa ham, marinated in a valpolicella ripasso wine, and smoky pancetta wrapped in fragrant mountain herbs. The place is not easy to find, at the end of a road that zigzags past vineyards, high up into thick forests towards the border between the Veneto and Trentino regions. The shop is half showroom, half bar/tasting room, where for €12 you are served a tempting selection of his best products along with a glass of valpolicella. Corrado also runs Bosco Allegro, a great picnic initiative from April to October, selling marinated spare ribs, ready for grilling on the public barbecues behind the deli on the edge of the woods.
Via Croce dello Schioppo, Sant'Anna d'Alfredo, +39 045 7545186, corradobenedetti.it
Frantoio Salvagno
The Frantoio Salvagno is just 10km outside Verona, at the foot of vine-clad hills, but it is olive oil they sell here and not wine. Olives are as a much a part of the Valpolicella culture as grapes, but although every winemaker has groves, few actually make their own oil, preferring to come to professionals such as the Salvagno family, whose mill has been pressing olives since 1923. Walk into the frantoio (olive mill) and the original 90-year-old machinery still stands at the entrance. It's not just for show, as it is still used by local cultivators who have only a few olive trees and so book an hour's slot to make their own oil. Out the back, though, is futuristic modern machinery, which produces 250,000 litres a year. Giovanni Salvagno, the third generation to run the business, still supervises everything, ably assisted by his daughters, Francesca and Cristina, and their frisky labrador, aptly named Oliva.
Contrada Gazzego 1, Nesente Valpantena, +39 045 526046, oliosalvagno.it
Essentials
For more information, see consorziovalpolicella.it and valpolicellaweb.it. Verona airport is served by easyJet, Monarch and British Airways. Car hire was provided by carrentals.co.uk and costs approx £123 for one week in Verona.
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