Itinerary : From Verona to Valpolicella
Veneto  north Italy

Description of the itinerary

The Valpolicella area takes in huge swathe of territory to the north-west of Verona. The countryside is completely hill-based, with gentle slopes and streams, planted with vineyards almost everywhere, trained either in pergolas or on high wires.
The discovery route for the great wines of this region begins right in the city of Verona and branches out in two directions. The first route goes directly north following the course of the river Pantena. Valpantena, in fact, is the name of a specific type of wine. The second route leaves Verona for Valpolicella following the course of the Adige
river before going up into the hills.

Wines: Valpolicella, Valpolicella Recioto
Specialities: Gnocchi di San Zeno, Pearà ,Pandoro

Itinerary in detail
Arbizzano-Santa Maria | Negrar | Pedemonte | San Floriano | Gargagnago di Valpolicella | Fumane | Verona

Verona

There are many good reasons to visit Verona: think only of Arena, the theatre programmes, and the romantic pilgrimage to be made to Juliet’s house. Verona is one of Italy’s most beautiful cities and one of its richest in terms of sights, works of art and tourist possibilities. Don’t miss the Arena, the ancient Roman amphitheatre, third biggest in the world; don’t miss Castelvecchio either, the castle on the Adige that contains a museum of fine art and Roman remains. Just next to the Arena is the quarter based on Piazza Bra and Via Mazzini, one of Verona’s elegant haunts for the dedicated shopper. Lastly, there is one of the city’s most archetypal buildings, the magnificent church of San Zeno, Romanesque masterpiece and custodian on the high altar of Mantegna’s celebrated triptych 

Negrar, villas and wineries

Leaving the built-up area of Verona on the SS12 towards Valpolicella, just after Parona there is a right-hand fork up into the hills. The road winds between manicured vineyards dotted with elegant aristocratic villas. First comes the attractive 18th-century Villa Zorzi, with its impressive loggia and the estate church of San Crescenziano with its fine Romanesque campanile. A little further on comes the fascinating Villa Alessandri, a most original mixture of Renaissance architecture and Mediaeval battlements. Yet more villas lie further on, towards Arbizzano-Santa Maria. It is worth stopping a while to see the Le Ragose winery, the 16th -century Villa Zamboni, and the elegant 13th -century parish church doorway. Just after there is another worthwhile stop at the 18th -century Villa Rizzardi, with its fascinating seventeenth-century garden. Further on, ignoring the turning to Pedemonte on the left, the route leads to Negrar. But first, look out for the tall cypress tree beside the road and turn right down to the magnificent complex of the Nòvare estate with its superb vineyards and majestic 18th -century villa, once called Fattori-Mosconi, now Villa Bertani since the middle of the nineteenth century. In the villa outbuildings and its cellars is the headquarters of one of Verona’s most famous wine producers. 

Pedemonte and San Floriano, the heart of Valpolicella

On the way back from Negrar a right-hand turn to Pedemonte passes in front of a spectacular amphitheatre of vines before arriving at the town itself, home to an important wine festival, the Festa dei Vini Classici, every 1st May. Don’t miss Villa Santa Sofia, built by Andrea Palladio in 1565 for Marcantonio Serègo, the man who married Dante’s descendant, Ginevra Alighieri. Past Pedemonte, comes San Floriano with its classic Romanesque church just by the road that leads to San Pietro in Cariano and Sant’Ambrogio di Valpolicella, where an organic wine fair takes place every November at Saint-Martin-tide. Don’t miss the fabulous XI-century church of San Giorgio, overlooking Sant’Ambrogio, with its splendid panoramic views over Lake Garda. If you manage to go as far as the most northern part of the valley, above the settlement of Sant’Anna d’Alfaedo, you reach the Romanesque church of San Giovanni in Loffa, with its three magnificent marble altars in contrasting styles and with its elegant limestone bell-tower adorned with four two-light windows.

Gargagnago: Dante’s wine

The great poet Dante Alighieri, the Father of the Italian Language, found his first refuge in exile in Verona, where he put down his roots. As well as finding traces of his descendants at Villa Santa Sofia in Pedemonte, they can also be found at Villa Serègo Alighieri in Gargagnago. Today the villa complex includes a famous winery producing Amarone, Recioto, and Valpolicella Classico Superiore, but it is also the location for the Masi winery prize, Premio Masi Civiltà Veneta. The award is given in the form of barrels of Amarone for individuals who are outstanding and have shown dedication in their own particular fields of achievement.

Fumane: a church that protects the vineyards

Fumane is one of the centres of Valpolicella wine production with two of the most famous producers located there. Visit the area on a wine tour, but stay and see its two architectural wonders, too. Firstly, the beautiful Villa della Torre (1562), thought to have been designed by either Sanmicheli or Giulio Romano, with its unusual architectural feature of window openings on the ground floor around the peristyle, just as in an ancient Roman villa. Then, perched on the rocky outcrop overlooking the town in such a precarious manner that it looks improbably upright, there is the sanctuary church of Madonna di La Salette. In fact, the church has been there since the middle of the 19th century and was built as a copy of a similar edifice near Grenoble, thanks to a passing capuchin friar who was returning to Grenoble by way of Fumane when worried vignerons told him of the dangers of peronospera and asked his advice. The answer was to build a church dedicated to the Madonna di La Salette, whose protection is still valued by local grape growers today. Fumane also has an interesting annual Mostra dell’uva e del vino (Grape and Wine Fair) on the second Sunday of October.