This was the day I looked forward to most on the trip. 

We traveled about 30 miles outside of Verona to Valpolicella where my favorite wine is produced – Amarone.

We booked a tour through a company called VeronAround.  Our guides, Daniel and Sabrina, were fantastic and very knowledgeable about the wines.  I definitely recommend using them if you are in the region.  They also do tours of Verona!  Click here for their website.

Our first winery was Giuseppe Lonardi.  All across Italy the harvests were early this year due to the unseasonably warm weather.  This winery was on the last day of the harvest, so we did get to go out to the vineyards and see it in action.

Winemakers determine whether the grapes are ready to be picked by testing their sugar level.  When it reaches the ideal point, its “go” time!  Most winemakers have 5-8 hectares (12.5-20 acres) of land and the harvest takes about 3 days.

After being picked, the grapes are dried on racks for a 3-4 months.  This concentrates both the alcohol  and the taste, making Amarone a richer (and more alcoholic) wine.

What makes it my favorite wine is that it is fruity without being too sweet.  It’s heavy raisin on the nose with notes of cherries.  There is often some spice on the end.  It pairs well with bigger dishes (like grilled meats) and dark chocolate.

After this, the grapes have 3 stages to go through:

1. The juice is kept in stainless steel tanks to ferment for about 3 months
2. It is then transferred to oak barrels to age for 2 years
3. Finally it is bottled and aged about a year before it is ready to be sold

Other wines are also produced here:  Valpolicella Classico, Valpolicella Classico Superiore Ripasso, Recioto Classico della Valpolicella, and Giuseppe’s own creation – Privilegia.

They each have their own processes as well.  Winemaking is definitely an art!

The Lonardi’s were just beginning the production of the Ripasso.  Above is a picture of Giuseppe himself dumping the first of the freshly picked grapes into the de-stemming machine.  I was beyond excited to witness the start of the 2011 winemaking!

Giuseppe’s daughter, Silvia, conducted most of the tour (Giuseppe doesn’t speak English).  We loved her instantly.  She was so sweet.  We are all about the same age… I may go back and just hang out with her.  And the French oak casks.

The tasting was fantastic!  We were able to taste the most recent bottles – 2008 Classico Superiore Ripasso (it doesn’t need to be aged as long as the Amarone), 2007 Privilegia, and 2007 Amarone.

The Privilegia is Giuseppe’s own creation.  It is not made from the tradition grape blend, and therefore you won’t see the Valpolicella name on the bottle (they are very strict about wine rules!).  This did not affect it’s deliciousness. 

The family has recently opened an inn and restaurant where Silvia’s mom cooks.  If you have the opportunity to go to Valpolicalla, please stop by for a stay and tell them I said hello!  Click here for their website.

I could have stayed there all day, but we did need to get on to the next tasting with the 3 brothers of Fratelli Vogadori.

Vogadori was fantastic as well.  We tasted their Classico, Ripasso, Amarone, and Recioto.

Recioto is basically a sweet version of Amarone.  The grapes are dried; however, the fermentation process is stopped earlier before all of the sugar turns to alcohol.  It feels heaver and more velvety on the palate and pairs perfectly with dark chocolate or cantucci.

Here we also tasted olive oil.  Many families have a small production of olive oil.  We learned that it takes quite a lot of olives to make oil, so the smaller family winemakers only produce it in limited quantities.  My mom now has a bottle in her kitchen. 🙂

Most places (here included) offer prosciutto and/or salami and bread sticks during tastings.   The brothers brought out a blue cheese snack to go with the bigger wines at the end of the tasting.  It was SO good – and that’s not just because we were 2 tastings in!  

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I mentioned before that one of the odd things about Italy is that it was so hard to find fresh veggies and fruit.  After 2 weeks of  carbs,  cured meat, steaks, and more wine that I’ll ever admit to drinking, I’ve decided to do a modified version of the Standard Process Cleanse I did last November.

My rules:

• 10 days of all the veggies and fruits I can eat (more veggies than fruit, as much raw as possible)
• 4-5 tsp of oil a day (flax, olive, coconut)
• 1 C lentils or wild rice a day
• 2-3 protein shakes a day
• 1 serving of tofu, chicken, or fish a day on last 11 days
• No alcohol
• No diary
• No processed food

The strict program doesn’t allow beans or nuts… but I’m allowing a small amount.  I love nuts.  (Yes, you can quote me on that.)  I may also allow coconut milk after the first few days.

I was going to ban coffee… but I’m in my 3rd city this week and am averaging 4 hours of sleep per night.  It’s about survival.

I love Italy, but the return of the (green) Sweet Potato Smoothie (and football!) was a welcome one.

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I’m already on day 6 of the cleanse and feeling good!

Did I put you all to sleep by geeking out on wine?  What is your favorite wine?  

Do you do anything to cleanse a certain points in the year or after a period of overindulgence?