Here is a quick update about the excavations at the Roman Villa in Negrar di Valpolicella (in this post we covered the news).

We were invited to a preview of the excavated archeological area, few hundred meters to the North-east of the Negrar village. A large Roman Villa is placed there, part of a residential and part of a farm with a possible area dedicated to a farm market. Some evidences suggest an established grape growing activity and a crushing and pressing place to produce wine.

Every wine lover who appreciates Amarone della Valpolicella, Ripasso, and Recioto della Valpolicella knows it: the secret behind all those successful wines is the technique of withering the grapes. This technique isn’t exclusive to Valpolicella: other Italian regions such as Sicily (Pantelleria mainly) or Lombardy, or even other countries (Spain, France) have been adopting it for centuries. However, the withering - appassimento - in Valpolicella is somehow different.

It’s not time - yet - to show off the new vintage of Amarone della Valpolicella ready to be sold. Thus Anteprima Amarone (Amarone Preview), the traditional wine event reserved for the iconic red wine from dried grapes, has been postponed to June.

Valpolicella is one of the most important wine-producing areas in Italy; now we can claim is also among the oldest ones. Maybe the oldest one. The oldest grape in Valpolicella is 6,300 years old and comes from the prehistoric site of Colombare di Villa, Negrar di Valpolicella (VR), which was inhabited between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age.

Negrar di Valpolicella, 1885: some precious mosaics dating from the end of the 3rd-4th centuries AD are discovered in a vineyard called “Cortesele” and removed to being brought to a museum.
In 1922, excavations by the Superintendence of Verona brought to light part of a Roman villa with mosaic floors of considerable value. Unfortunately, the land’s owner buried the excavation, and the work was interrupted for many years…

…A new breeze has risen and, as usually occurs in human affairs, it’s blowing from the youth.

I have been writing about Valpolicella wines since 1993, and since then I keep on finding in the web misunderstands and errors about Valpolicella wines. On the other hand, I continuously see many unanswered questions on the same topic. So, 18 months ago I had the idea to try to reply to all those “question marks” shared online.