Among other things, Italy is well known for its excellent wines. Since we were staying in Verona in the heart of the Valpolicella region, we felt obliged to visit a winery and enjoy a wine tasting!
Massimago
A search for vineyards in the area turned up a fair number which we could visit. However, we were drawn to Massimago, a smaller producer in the area with a unique story. The owner, Camilla Rossi Chauvenet, took over the family property at age 20 and converted it to a winery, along with a luxurious B&B offering a variety of hospitality services. The philosophy at the winery is different than most traditional wineries…they do not want to simply produce the traditional wines, but also experiment with different combinations and processes. On average they produce approximately 40000 bottles per year.
We went on a brief tour of the winery, and learned a bit about the wine making process. The wine ages in casks of different sizes and types. Each barrel serves for about 5 years before ‘retirement’.
At the tasting we tried 4 different bottles: a rosé, the Garganega (white), the Valpolicella, and the Valpolicella Superiore. You can see which wines are currently available here.
While the girls didn’t sample the wines, they had the opportunity to learn about the different scents, flavours, and the wine’s “legs”. We also met some more interesting people.
Eric and Stacey are a military couple stationed in Naples who have developed a love for Italian wines. They travel around to different wineries to sample wines, and then purchase and ship them home for when they return to the US. Johnothan is beginning his wine-tasting career, traveling around Europe and trying different wines. He is from Korea, and is following in his father’s footsteps as he begins his journey to become a sommelier.
After a couple of lovely hours in Verona’s wine country it was time to head back to the city and prepare for our next adventure…
Comments
4 responses to “Vino near Verona”
Oliver, OK, this is one of those times when I was hoping for MORE! Love reading about all of your adventures, but your girls give ‘lessons’ sometimes! Was hoping for a wee ‘lesson’ on what you learned! Did you sample too much? ( teehee)
Great photos, as usual and love your anecdotes on the folks that you meet.And LOVE how you guys have generally found more ‘off the beaten track’ places.
Herta
Hi Herta,
I was driving, so certainly not too much sampling of the different wines for me! The tour turned out to be focused more on the tasting than the process etc., so I couldn’t give a huge ‘lesson’ in the blog. However, knowing that you’re reading our posts with interest, I’ll do my best to build more lessons into the posts in the future! 🙂
Hi Oliver,
That looks like it was a lot of fun! I’m sure Dad would have enjoyed this very much! What a smart idea to have a B&B on the property! Mom P.
Hi Mom,
It was beautiful countryside and the wines were lovely. The winery is looking to modernize and be a bit different than their competition, so the B&B aspect is certainly a good way to go. They also have other services like spa treatments available as well.
Imagine going to an Italian winery spa….