Liquid Love Letter: Fair Verona
Photo by Matthew Kaner
You cannot escape the romanticism of Verona. William Shakespeare knew it. Generations of people since have been obsessed with the storyline of the Montagues and the Capulets, with teenage love that ends in tragedy. But the backdrop of this cannot be overstated: Verona is a magical place where magic happens.
Within minutes outside the city you’re seeing vineyards that go between modern vine training and the old-way of Veronese pergola training, a lot of times farmers would grow their vegetables under the vines to make extra use of the land. The juxtaposition of new and old here is quite a special detail.
If you’ve enjoyed Soave, Valpolicella, or Amarone della Valpolicella in the recent past…well then, you’re drinking a part of Verona.
Dante wrote the De Monarchia and a good chunk of Paradiso whilst in Verona. The freedom to spread his ideas and his works, to study from the Capitolare library, and admire the Roman ruins. Dante found a magical place to breathe the air, all the while hoping for news of a bright and peaceful future. Those things seem possible while spending time in Verona.
I recently spent time in Verona, while on a press trip with Pasqua (just named “Innovator of the Year” by Wine Enthusiast Magazine) - the key to this visit was being shown the way art and wine flow together to inspire the future. Verona has a way of making these unions feel natural and clandestine. You can do no wrong in Verona.
One of my most special discoveries this visit to Verona was while at the Palazzo Maffei Casa Museo they had on display their recent acquisition of an original woodcut of The Great Wave Off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai. Signed by the artist and 1/200 ever created. This sort of magic happens in Verona. Couple that with sipping Hey French You Could Have Made This but You Didn't, a multi-vintage Italian white wine made by Pasqua…that is what dreams are all about.
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Courtesy of Unsplash | Photo by Alessandro Visentin
The first time I studied Shakespeare, I was in college and contrarian. If someone said I should like something — a universally acknowledged master of language and literature, for example — I was determined not only to dislike it but I was also ready with at least five reasons why I didn’t.
My college class read both “Romeo and Juliet” and “Two Gentlemen of Verona” that semester, which gave me plenty of opportunity back then to become familiar with the city in Italy’s Veneto region that is the subject of Matthew’s affection this week. Yes, I was ready with five reasons why I wasn’t on board with the universal opinion of William Shakespeare and to this day I am not on board with the kitsch of Juliet’s balcony and other local commercializations of “romance.” Pleh.
But Verona itself? And its position within the landscape of Italian wine? That is another story.
Here are five reasons why Verona matters, and why it’s earned its place as the subject of this week’s Liquid Love Letter of wine.
1. Vinitaly. My friend Steve says that, “In Italy, nothing works. But it all works out.” Nowhere is that more true than at the annual Vinitaly trade fair, arguably the largest wine exhibition in the world, which descends upon Verona every spring. It is chaotic. Maddening. Illogical. Also adrenaline-charged and a veritable theme park for serious lovers (both trade and consumers) of Italian wine.
2. Lake Garda. Lake Como gets all the hype. I see why. But Lake Garda, for my money, wins for its rusticity and quietude. It is also within easy reach of the city of Verona.
3. Gin Bars. Yes, go to Verona for the wine. But be sure to also make a stop at one (or at a cluster) of its excellent gin bars. I can’t explain either the proliferation or the concentration of gin bars in Verona, but I do know that I’m very glad they’re there. Top pick: The Soda Jerk, very close to the Adige river on Vicolo Quadrelli.
4. Osteria. Think of them as the Veronese version of tapas bars. They’re wine bars that have evolved to serve simple meals, whose dishes are very reflective of local ingredients and sensibility.
5. People Watching at the Piazze. It’s Italy. You’d be disappointed if there wasn’t people watching at the piazze. But the piazze of Verona, particularly Piazza Erbe and Piazza Bra with its Roman amphitheater in the background, offer exceptionally entertaining, contextualized people watching, classic aperol spritz in hand.
