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Between Venice and the Amarone wine zone lies Padua. After a pick-up in Venice, we stop in Padua for a visit to Giotto's Arena Chapel and the magnificent Basilica of St. Anthony of Padua (pictured). |
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Being a patron saint of doctors, St. Anthony attracted amulets of hearts and other body parts from worshipers hoping to cure their ills. Centuries' of such artifacts are on display in the basilica's Museum of Popular Devotion. |
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Zuppa del mare (seafood soup) and other fish dishes are common in the Veneto. |
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Italian gelato, mmmm ..... |
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Teresita Pieropan is our host at the Pieropan winery, which has led the way in Soave's renaissance in quality. In the background: the impressive Castle of Soave. |
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Checking the garganega grapes, which dry into a semi-raisin state to produce a "recioto" dessert wine. |
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Newly harvested garganega grapes are carefully placed on straw mats and dried for several months in a well-ventilated fruit loft. |
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Next stop: Verona, the wine capital of the Valpolicella region, where we enjoy a walking tour. |
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Juliet's balcony is one of Verona's most visited sites. And yes, the Capulets were an actual family who once lived in this palazzo (though the balcony is a later addition). |
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Love notes plaster the entranceway to Juliet's house. |
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Verona is known as "The Painted City" for its colorful exterior frescos, here visible behind "Madonna Verona" on the Piazza delle Erbe, the main outdoor market. |
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Verona has a 1st C. amphitheater to rival the one in Rome. Known as the Arena, it holds 30,000 people and today offers concerts and summer opera instead of gladiator fights. |
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This modest residence is both home and winery for one of the greatest names in Amarone: Quintarelli.
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Patrizia Quintarelli ushers in some of the corvina grapes that will become part of their cult wine.
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In contrast to traditionalist Quintarelli, there's modernist Stefano Accordini, whose Amarone has also won top awards. |
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Another modernist is Tenuta Sant' Antonio, located in the new, up-and-coming eastern region called Amarone Est. |
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Harvest at the Trabucchi winery. As with all top Amarone producers, the grapes are hand-picked. |
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The corvina grape variety is a loose cluster, allowing air to flow through the bunch - an important quality for drying without mold. |
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Harvest workers don't just hand-pick each bunch; they also painstakingly trim bad grapes from the cluster, like a perfectionist barber. |
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Next, grapes destined for Amarone wine are laid out to dry for four months -- a process called appassimento. |
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Traditionally, the grapes were laid on bamboo mats like these, placed in well-ventilated fruit lofts. |
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Increasingly, wineries are making use of small plastic boxes for the appassimento. |
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The result is luscious, velvety Amarone, considered a pinnacle of Italian winemaking. Tommasi's Amarone is a delectable example, which we taste on-site. |
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Santa Sofia is another classic on this tour. The winery is housed in a villa designed by Palladio himself, visible on the wine's label. |
