Flavors of Northern Italy: Day 4

Tuesday 10/5: Return to Verona + Amarone Wine Dinner

Today’s adventure began with a return trip to Verona, where we met up with guide Marta, who took us on a narrated tour through the historic center, including a brief foray into the Arena. The "whispers" were especially useful for this experience due to the construction noise in many parts of the city! Mr. E and I agreed that (once again) we were glad to have already spent time in Verona so that we didn’t have to concentrate on getting oriented or too closely following a map to find our way around. 

Once we left the group outside the Casa Giuleta, I stopped for some bulk sweets at Captain Candy while Mr. E enjoyed a pistachio gelato. Then we headed for the Torre dei Lamberti, which was much less busy than it had been on Sunday, so we were able to successfully enter and climb to the top. Quite a workout! Especially since we skipped the elevator and just took the stairs all the way up to enjoy the amazing panoramic view.

We did a little browsing at the market, and I saw an adorable kitty straw hat that was very tempting but looked a bit too small (and too fragile to bring home safely!).

We tried to eat lunch at a sushi restaurant but had an epic fail with the QR code menu since we’re not paying for cell service while abroad and the local wifi wasn’t being cooperative. So instead, we went back to Pizzeria Du De Cope, where Mr. E ordered the Insalata Della Casa this time and I instead opted for the Insalata de Pere with greens, pears, walnuts, and a light dressing of olive oil, lemon, and mustard. So nice to have some greenery for part of the meal!

After we rejoined the group, we headed to the Valpolicella wine region to visit the Giuseppe Lonardi Winery, a renowned maker of the famous Amarone varietal. We were given a tour and tasting by the winery owner, Silvia, who took over the operations from her father, and also met Giuseppe himself as we learned about their wine-making process and enjoyed a sampling of their range of wines.

The Amarone grapes have to be dried for at least three months before they begin the vinification process, and all of the harvest is completed by hand. The rainy and chilly weather that had arrived suddenly was causing some delays, but that’s just all part of the experience, especially for a relatively small family-run winery. The Lonardi Winery produces 40,000 bottles per year, with about 7,000 of that in the highest quality Amarone.

Our next stop was the adjacent restaurant, which is also run by the family. There we met Chef Vittorio, who welcomed us into his kitchen to demonstrate how to make traditional polenta over a wooden fire, Amarone-infused risotto, braised lamb, and a berry crostata. Several in our group took turns helping to mix the polenta, including Mr. E, and received shots of grappa as a reward!

Then we moved into the restaurant itself to enjoy all of these items for dinner. We had the polenta served in two ways, first as an appetizer topped with mushrooms while it was still soft, and then later with the main course once it became hard and could be grilled. Vittorio came out to show us the hardened polenta prior to cooking it.

Our coach ride back to our lodging was very tranquil, as I think most of us dozed off a bit due to the combination of lingering jet lag, full stomachs, and several glasses of wine with dinner!