My friends have mixed up their flight and are arriving Saturday instead of Friday, but so what? Verona is among my favorite cities in the world and a day to myself without worry or care sounds quite groovalicious. I leave Monforte Friday morning around 11, and am in Verona by 2, and enjoying a glass of spritz in the Piazza Erbe by 2.30. I have the day to visit the incredible Romanesque churches – Verona is a UNESCO World Heritage site on account of those churches. And the Roman ruins are fabulous – Verona has one of only three Roman amphitheaters still in use today. The old Roman theater is built into a hillside and still hosts a summer theater festival while the amphiteater has an opera season all summer, and rock concerts are regularly scheduled there as well. (A few years ago I missed seeing Lenny Kravitz here by a few days.)
Most of the old town is limited to pedestrians, and it is possible to amble across the entire old city in less than 25 minutes at its widest part. It is a beautiful town, built into a loop of the Adige river, where the water could form a defensive ring on three sides. The women (and men) are beautiful and know how to dress both provocatively and elegantly – Verona is a wealthy town and the streets are flanked by designer shops – which makes people-watching a favorite activity here.
One of the best reasons to spend time in Verona is La Bottega del Vino, a simply fabulous restaurant just off the main pedestrian street. The old wooden beams are carved with wine sayings, and my favorite is “Dio mi guarda da chi non beve vino” (God protect me from those who don’t drink wine) which, I think, would make the basis for a really lovely prayer. I’ve been coming here for over 10 years and know some of the folks who work here: for example, Mario, the head sommelier, gets me in trouble every time: I just ask him to choose a wine for me from the region. Every time it’s something amazing that I’ve never heard of before. Every time he answers questions in my garbled Italian patiently and gives me a ton of info on the wine. And every time I leave the Bottega, I am glad that Verona is a pedestrian city, and I only have a few blocks to walk. I have my usual meal: antipasto della bottega, then the amazing handmade tortellini, then the grilled lamb chops with an arugula pesto. Between courses I read, chat with the staff and catch up with Mario. When I try to get up to leave at the end of the meal, he brings me a Bas-Armagnac from 1954 with a plate of roughly broken dark chocolate. Now that’s a perfect combination.
2001 Caterina Zardini, Amarone Classico
Flowers and frutta del bosco, vivid, intense color. Loads of dried plums, berries and hints of meat and cinnamon. Long finish, with good acid and structure, nice tannins – very ripe. Not too sweet at all. Fine balance. 4.0-, drink 2009-2014
2003 Tenuta Sant’Antonio, Amarone Classico “Campo del Gigli”
Loads of sweet fruit, sweet plums, tobacco and cinnamon. There is a meatiness and structure that is very firm – the acid is really pronounced and seem a bit disequilibrated. Nice, but with a hole in the middle … give it 3-5 years. 3.0
1954 Baron de Signognac Bas-Armagnac
Caramel, honey, walnuts and lychee. Very smooth and slightly sweet at the nose, but burns a tad in the mouth. Lovely, though. Long finish. 3.5-
The next day is spent enjoying the sun and wandering. H & E arrive at 1.30, and by 2 we are enjoying pizzas on the Piazza Erbe. The sun is delightfully warm. The afternoon is spent wandering the old city, visiting Juliet’s house (holding the breast of the statue is supposed to bring luck in love) (see series of pics of H), enjoying the sights and finishing up with the inevitable Veronese Spritz at the Osteria Verona on the Piazza Erbe. Spritz is a concoction of Aperol (a campari-like bitter, but a bit sweeter), mixed with white wine, sparkling mineral water and served over ice with a slice of orange. Deee-lish. The Osteria Verona has a multitude of tables outside its tiny interior bar area. The top of the bar is covered with bowls of chips, crackers, olives, gherkins, marinated onions … we make an early evening snack of it. 
By the time we leave, the whole end of the piazza is crowded with people holding glasses of spritz – empty wineglasses are all over the base of a monumental column, on tables, along the fountain. This little place must sell thousands of these glasses of spritz on nights when people can enjoy being outside.
I like the idea of a life lived publicly in community – and in Verona, the streets form part of an extended living room where much of life is lived outside, among one’s neighbors. The city has not been taken over by tourists (thought there are plenty of them) and the city’s piazzas and streets have the feel of an elegant living room, slightly ragged at the edges from centuries of loving use. Around 5, the population comes out for the passegiata – the afternoon walk. On this day, a just-wed couple is making their first passegiata as husband and wife. Via Mazzini, the main pedestrian thoroughfare between the Piazza Bra and the Piazza Erbe, is thronged with well-dressed locals out to see and be seen. This is where you catch up with neighbors, see friends, have drinks, exchange gossip, ignore ex-lovers, coo over small children, completely ignore your current extramarital lover, grab a snack, and so on. It is a lovely thing to watch, and be part of, if only tangentially.
Dinner at La Bottega del Vino (not AGAIN!) and I note a slight shift in the staff’s attitude toward me – usually I come in alone or with guy friends, but tonight, I am escorting not one, but two tall, intelligent, gorgeous women. “Emilio, how do you do this? How is this possible? This cannot be possible.” The fact that neither of these two tall, gorgeous, intelligent women has any interest in me is entirely beside the point …
Wines:
2006 Pieropan Soave “Calvarino”
All Soave should have breeding like this. Crisp, with apples, pears and minerals, this exudes smoothness and balance. Lovely. 3.5+ Drink now.
1990 Bertani Amarone
Dried plums, cranberries, hints of dried flowers and spices. Balanced and smooth after nearly 18 years, but with a hint of a mid-palate hole. The finish is really nice, full of dried fruits, with good balance overall. Just that hole in the middle … 3.5-
2003 Dal Forno, Rosso Passito Vino Dolce “Vigna Seré” Veneto IGT
Apparently, a new cuvee of young vine fruit for Dal Forno. This exhibits his trademark deep fresh fruit aromas and flavors, mostly red and black raspberries, blueberries and cranberries. This is deep and intense – loads of color. The flavors are balanced on the tongue and the only complaint I have is a touch of heat at the finish. But the finish is long and very sweet – this is an amazing wine. 4.0-
1955 Baron de Signognac Bas-Armagnac
Let hot than the 1954 I tried yesterday, this one shows loads of nutty caramel, earthy tones and vanilla. Really nice finish, very smooth. 3.5+
The next day, we enjoy more sights, grab a quick lunch, and I drive H & E to Alessandria, where they catch a train for the Cinque Terre. I keep on going toward Barolo … gorgeous sunset along the way.
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