Valpolicella – Northern Italy's Best-kept Secret

Discover Fine Wines, Venetian Villas and Prehistoric Cave Dwellings

Sep 6, 2009

Europe's biggest natural arch and a church from the 700s are only the beginning of the attractions in the little-explored villages between Verona and Lake Garda.

To most people, Valpolicella means wine, but to travelers, it means one of northern Italy’s best-kept secrets. Northwest of Verona, the Fumane, Negrar and Marano rivers flow south from the Lessini mountains, carving steep valley slopes that provide the perfect terroir for vineyards.

But in addition to vineyards and wine estates, the region offers some surprisingly rugged terrain where extraordinary natural attractions have formed. Amid these are tiny little-explored villages, outstanding architecture, several fine villas and other sights well worth touring.

Valpolicella Wineries to Visit

Dotting the landscape are wineries where wine enthusiasts can sample some of the most respected names in Italian wine, and a few almost totally unknown outside the region. Some of these estates are highlighted by grand villas or gardens to visit. Expect to pay for tastings at larger estates, especially those that include food and tours. Most are not mass-market tourist attractions, so it’s best to call ahead so they can be prepared with food to accompany a tasting.

This is especially important at the Bertrani winery in Novare, where visitors should ask ahead to see the interior of the villa. The central hall is decorated in beautiful frescoes in almost perfect original condition. (Villa Mosconi-Bertani, Novare (Negrar) tel 045.601.1211 Open Mon – Fri 09:00 – noon, 2.:00 – 6:00, Sat 09:00 – noon.)

Gardens Near Verona

Also in Negrar, the 18th-century Villa Rizzardi is best known for the beautiful Italianate and English Gardens of Pojega, which surround it. Created at the end of the Venetian era in the late 1700s, they feature fountains, an amphitheater and waterfalls (tel 045.721.0028, Open Apr – Oct, Thur – Sun 3:00 – 7:00 pm).

Nearby is Casa Vinicola Sartori, with smaller gardens and wine tastings (Via Casette 2, Negrar tel 0456.028.001). Look for signs to other wineries that offer tours and tastings.

The hilltop village of San Giorgio, north of San Ambrogio, has a Longobard Romanesque church, Pieve San Giorgio, which dates from the 700s. The church was built from stone that was removed to flatten the hilltop for the town, and from the ruins of Roman and other earlier buildings in the area. An exquisite cloister is beside the church and a little museum displays Roman and earlier artifacts, along with some of the fossils for which this area is so famous.

Italy's Natural Bridge Prehistoric Site

Almost unknown in this little-touristed region is Europe’s largest natural bridge, Ponte di Veja. It formed the opening of a cave where 100,000-year-old artifacts of prehistoric cave dwellers have been found. The arch is 90 feet high, 20 feet wide and 170 feet across the top. In the nearby town of Sant'Anna d'Alfaedo, the Museo Preistorico e Paleontologico has collections of the prehistoric finds and fossils that the Valpolicalla region is famous for. Among these is a 20-foot shark more than 70 million years old (Open mid-May--mid-Sept).

North of Fumane, the large nature reserve of Molina Parco delle Cascate (Molina Falls Park), has trails along gorges and leading to a number of waterfalls and caves (Open April – Sept daily, Oct and March Sunday only).

Stay at a Farm or a Venetian Renaissance Villa

Several agritourism farms have self-catering accommodations, and one of the elegant Renaissance villas, Villa del Quar, has been restoredas a luxury hotel. Its former family chapel is now the Michelin-starred Arquade restaurant.

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