|
 |
|
Search WineBlogs
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Amare l’amaro Amarone
|
|
|
Location: Blogs Antonio MaurielloVinitaly 2006 |
 |
| Posted by: Antonio |
4/5/2006 5:37 AM |
Three Days in Valpolicella
The Italian title literally means ‘To love the bitter Amarone’. To be precise, I would personally say ‘Amare il Dolce Amarone’ meaning ‘To love the sweet Amarone’ not because Amarone has any sugar content but because it is a very ‘romantic drink’!
Let's start at the beginning:
my flight to Milano Malpensa was a smooth ride over the majestic white capped Alps. I arrived at 10am, then I rented a car and drove towards the Garda Lake (2 hour drive from Milano). I have to say, having skipped the night, I was not totally comfortable during the drive....some times I wanted to close my eyes, but driving in Italian highways, remember, is something not to be missed....! So, I stayed awake... I was driving at 130 km/h (highway speed limit) and I had trucks passing me! Well, I also had Mercedes passing me but for those I just had time to see the color of the car....
The Garda Lake region is a wonderful place to visit. The calm of the lake, the nice breeze, the view of the white Alps all around and the sexy mist of the early mornings are a nice treat far from the busy city life. I am in Peschiera del Garda: a place to rest, a place to meditate, a place to love.
Though... I have to say that my resting time only consists of a few hours. I am busy getting the maximum out of my visit to the wine regions. After the busy day of ‘wine touring’ I come back to my room in a nice small locanda, open the window and breathe the freshness while looking at the lake. And right away I get busy organizing notes, downloading photographs to my computer, sorting them, preparing the tour for next day and writing small articles.
This West corner of Veneto features many wine regions and three ‘classics’ among them. With the term ‘classic’ the Italian wine labels refer to a historic area where that type of wine was first made. (Think of Chianti Classico in Tuscany, for example).
Here they are from West to East:
Bardolino Classico
Valpolicella Classico
Soave Classico
Bardolino is a small area on the East coast of Garda Lake a few km north of Peschiera where I am staying. It is a lovely fresh wine with a light ruby (sometimes almost rose) colour to be enjoyed young, accompanying the local cuisine of fresh lake fish. The wine is made with local grapes that we find all over this region: Corvina, Rondinella, Molinara.
Continuing East, Valpolicella is north of Verona including 4 main townships and many villages. Same grapes: Corvina, Rondinella, Molinara. Sometimes another native, Corvinone is also used.
Then further East around the town of Soave, we find the Soave Classico area.
I toured Bardolino and more extensively the Valpolicella. It is always educating and entertaining at the same time to chat with the producers especially when the topic is a difficult one: the many forms of vinification of the Valpolicella. We have many different types of wine produced here: a Superiore, a Ripasso, a Recioto, and the Amarone, so I wanted to understand fully all the ins and outs according to the winemakers’ view.
From the 6th to the 10th I will be fully immersed in the Vinitaly, one of the world’s biggest wine shows held right here in Verona. Stay tuned!
Look at my pictures here.
   |
| Copyright ©2007 Antonio Mauriello |
| Permalink |
Trackback |
|
|
|
|
|
Members
|
|
|
 |
Membership: |
 |
Latest:
xmo33 |
 |
New Today:
0 |
 |
New Yesterday:
0 |
 |
Overall:
103 |
 |
People Online: |
 |
Visitors:
5 |
 |
Members:
0 |
 |
Total:
5 |
|
|
|
|
|
WineBlog Archive
|
|
|
|
|
|