Discovering the wines of Verona
Up until a few years ago, I was not a wine person, but... 🍷. Since I moved to Italy and started dating Italians, I slowly transformed myself into a lover of this drink full of history and variety.
I admit that I'm still not an expert, but ever since I fell in love with the city of Verona, I've been curious to better understand its wines.
In this city, wine is almost a religion. Not only is it drunk a lot, but it also has a wine tradition of the highest quality, unique in the world.
🍷 My journey in the world of wine
To delve deeper into the subject, I was lucky enough to meet a winemaker who helped me understand the particularity of Verona wines.
This article was born from that little research.
But before talking about the wines themselves, it is important to know the region: The main production areas around Verona are several and each has its specialty.
🌿 Valpolicella: The jewel of red wines.
We start with the most famous area and with some of the best red wines in Italy: Valpolicella.
📌 Location:.
Valpolicella is an extensive hilly area north of Verona.
Within it, there are subzones that experts know in detail.
The most important distinction is between:
✔ "Valpolicella Classica " 🍷 → The historical production zone.
✔ "Valpolicella " 🍷 → A wider area, where also high quality wines are produced.
📌 Interesting fact:. Valpolicella wines are made exclusively with native grapes, in particular with three varieties unique in the world: 🍇 Corvina 🍇 Corvinone 🍇 Rondinella 🍇 Rondinella.
Each winery follows its own recipe in terms of proportions, but the use of these three grapes demonstrates the antiquity and exclusivity of the Valpolicella winemaking tradition.
🍷 The four great wines of Valpolicella.
What makes this area special is that, from the same three grapes, four completely different types of wine are produced:
🔹 1. Valpolicella Classico
A DOC red wine, intense and dark ruby in color, with a fruity and decidedly expressive aroma.
🔹 2. Amarone della Valpolicella 🏅
The king of Venetian red wines, one of the most prestigious DOCG in Italy.
📌 Difference between Valpolicella Classico and Amarone:. The key is in the production process:
✔ After harvest (September-October), the grapes for Amarone are left dried for 120 days in controlled conditions.
✔ This process, called "appassimento ", dehydrates the grapes, reducing their weight by 40% and concentrating the sugars and aromas.
What makes it unique? Unlike most passito wines (which are sweet), Amarone is a dry red passito.
💡 Features:.
- Powerful fruity and spicy aromas (ripe fruits, chocolate, cinnamon).
- High alcohol content**, rarely below 16º.
- Minimum aging time of 2 years**, which gives it an exceptional aromatic richness.
Given its method of production, it is produced in smaller quantities and at a higher price. 📌 If you are a wine lover and visit Verona, try a glass of Amarone, it's an experience not to be missed!
🔹 3. Recioto della Valpolicella
A sweet passito wine, made with the same grapes as Amarone, but with a different process.
📌 While Amarone is dry, Recioto is sweet, making it ideal for desserts or to drink on its own.
This type of wine is more common in Italy with white grapes, so a passito tinto is something quite special.
🔹 4. Valpolicella Ripasso
This wine is born from a unique recipe in the wine world.
🔹 How it is made.
After making Amarone, the remains of the grapes (skins) still contain a lot of flavor, color and sugar.
To take advantage of this, winemakers blend these remains with normal Valpolicella wine and ferment it once again.
📌 **The result?
✔ A wine with more body and complexity than traditional Valpolicella.
✔ Less structured and alcoholic than Amarone, but softer and rounder.
🍷 What about white wine lovers?
Don't worry, Verona also has excellent DOC white wines.
🔹 Soave DOC.
🍇 Made with Garganega and Trebbiano di Soave.
✔ Color Straw yellow with greenish reflections.
✔ Elegant aromas, with a balance between delicacy and intensity.
📌 There is also a sweet version called Recioto di Soave.
🔹 Lugana DOC
📌 Zone: It is produced between Verona and Brescia, in the Lake Garda region.
✔ Made with Trebbiano di Soave (also called Turbiana in Lombardy).
✔ Great variety of styles, from young wines to **high quality crianzas.
✔ There are sparkling and classic method versions.
📌 Personally, Lugana is my favorite Whenever I have tasted it, it has always left a great impression on me.
🍷 Conclusion: Choose your wine and enjoy Verona!
Much of this article is the fruit of the knowledge of a wine professional I have had the pleasure of knowing.
I am not yet an expert, but I hope this guide will help you discover the wines of Verona.
🔹 **If you try any of these wines, tell us about your experience. 🔹 **And if you find a surprising wine that's not on the list, we'd love to hear about it.
📌 Remember: A trip to Italy is not complete without a good glass of wine.
So enjoy, explore and, above all, healthy! 🍷🇮🇹
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