We arrived at the Avenue rooms, scale B, 127 corso Porta Nuova in the early evening, and after a serious and useful briefing by our host Massimo (mainly concerning local, traditional ristoranti and enoteche) we unpacked in our comfortable room. It was not an apartment as we had thought, but part of a well-appointed set of rooms and with a little east-facing balcony. We then set off to examine these local recommendations, keen to identify possibilities and make bookings, aware that once Vinitaly has begun, eating well in Verona would be difficult.

It was a pleasant warm and dry evening; in fact the dry hot weather held the whole time, creating sartorial challenges not unlike Siena last weekend. Verona was busy but not too crowded, and we were pleased to find Enobocconi di Alberto Melini very close by, where Alberto single-handedly managed the business, who we were to visit frequently, and whose pre-prepared dishes were surprisingly good, as we discovered that evening.  

Friday 12 April 2024

We had a lazy start to the day, making breakfast with the fruit and vegetables bought from the superior small shop across the road, followed by a stroll down the main shopping street where David has never failed to find a purchase. Last year it was the soft cotton chalk coloured jacket (that was to work very well at the Albeisa presentation – see Piemonte 23) and this year the unexpectedly warm weather required a light weight pair of trousers from Boggi (and a smaller size due to the impact of glucose management on his shape!)

Lunch had been booked weeks before at the Antica Bottega del Vino. We sat in the very back rather gloomy room, wondering how long the fabric of the place will stand up to the intense use its fame attracts. The waiter really didn’t engage,  and despite David persisting in speaking Italian he really wasn’t interested in what to him must be yet more tourists. 

In the course of today we finally managed to get the attention of the organiser of the bus to the Summa tasting in Magreid and she added our names to the list and sent us some joining instructions. We spent part of the day buying food from the grocer’s shop opposite, Il Punto Frutta di Fazal Ahmed and  tracking down restaurants which could accommodate us during VinItaly and booking them, as well as looking for advice on D’s phone battery from an Apple shop quite close to our address. We had another light supper at our friendly local Enoteca: giardiniera e polenta e baccala

Saturday 13 April 2024 – Summa at Magreid 

The bus leaves from the west car park in front of the railway station and the journey north towards Trento and Bolsano is a real treat as the flat plain gives way to steep slopes of shining rock faces which catch the low bright sun both morning and evening on opposite sides of the Adige valley.

The highlight of the day was meeting the Sassotondo tribe once again, (Carla Benini, above) tasting, talking and eating lunch with them. The downside was the sheer volume of German-speaking men who tended to dominate the airways and seemed not to notice anyone else. 

Our host Alois Lageder was as courteous as ever, seamlessly moving between Italian, German, English and French. The sun shone and the village looked spectacular.

In the evening after the coach journey we ate in the Colala Sushi bar opposite, just as we had exactly a year ago. Our waitress was delighted that we had returned deliberately! 

Sunday 14 April 2024 : Vinitaly day one

We walked comfortably to the San Zeno entrance for foreign visitors and sailed through the barriers, and settled into a sunlit cafe just beyond the gate, for a sort of breakfast. The day was dominated by tasting traditionally made mature sparkling wines with Anna Krebielhl whose translator took the hump at the speed she required. Anna simply did it herself.  A second seminar organised in the afternoon by Civiltà del Bere : Beyond DOCs was more tedious. 

For lunch we found a canteen at the middle point of the padiglioni 5/4 which was such an improvement on previous years We fitted in other visits to producers known and unknown, and walked home in bright sunshine before supper at the traditional Osteria da Ugo, also recommended by our host Massimo. 

Monday 15 April:  Vinitaly day two

We walked once more to the fiera, keen to track down the very large and impressive Piemonte Land of Wine stands where we were to meet the Ampolos publisher Andrea Fattizzo,  Stefano Roccagno and Francesco Monchiero. It took a while (and an intervention by Lucrezia) for everyone to assemble, but a useful discussion ensued, with help from a legal colleague of Francesco’s on the availability of EU money for the project, and for cost of translation. It was a relief nonetheless that something might be possible. 

We went to Gabriele Gorelli’s presentation: Cool Under Pressure which was impressively done

and chased Marina of Punset in the Biotent who is also the president of Albeisa, with whom David hopes to organise a presentation in Alba. Too busy to talk, an appointment was made to speak in the following week. We already had an appointment at La Tenuta Luce, and had just begun a tasting upstairs in a very grand pavilion when we were suddenly tipped out by frenzied personnel in oder for none other than Prime Minister Meloni. She was casually dressed while surrounded by dozens of be-suited men. It was extraordinary to be so close !

We bumped into lots of more familiar faces in the course of the day, and I was really pleased that all David’s work in the book is beginning to be appreciated. 

We walked home for a rest before a dinner at the Yard on Corso Cavour, organised by Michele Shah and her Sicilian clients from Tenute Navarra.  It  was touch and go whether I would make it after a bizarre and unpleasant bout of stomach pains which lasted half an hour. We went, albeit cautiously, and left at the dessert, to our friendly and generous hosts’ disappointment. This was a 16,000 steps day. It felt like more…

Tuesday 16 April (Vinitaly day three – for David) 

I stayed in bed while David attended a series of pre-booked sessions, and instead, after a slow start I wandered around the city avoiding tourists

by taking my coffee break behind the Arena at the Bar Galleria, and then walking by back streets to the piazza San Fermo, across the ponte Nuovo, then walking north past Santa Chiara and to Teatro Romano,

And then back across the Adige by the ponte Pietro, to the Duomo. 

My last church crawl in Verona (see Summa – and Verona’s churches – April 2018)  had ended at the Duomo, somewhat overwhelmed. It is remarkable, with some of its spaces pre-dating Dante, who gave an address in the chapel of Sant’Elena in 1320. The cloisters are breath-taking and the actual Duomo interior extraordinary. While I was inside there was a sudden rainless storm outside, creating strange noises and air movements within. 

Lunch for me was parmigiana in an ordinary cafe opposite the Duomo and then a lovely walk over the ponte Garibaldi, along the very quiet lungadige to the ponte Castelvecchio

and into the Castello garden to see the wonderful statue of Cangrande della Scala, of the Scaligeri dynasty, friend, patron and protector of Dante.

The Scaligeri dynasty, sometime patrons of the Arts and of Dante, sometime murderous tyrants, made a huge impact on medieval Verona, creating the fortress like Castello and enlarging and extending the already massive walls which had encircled the city since the Roman era. These sort-of maps, seen on the way to the loo in one of Verona’s many ristoranti, register the expansion, and demonstrate the importance of the Adige. Notice the position of the Arena, once outside the Roman walls.

Of course I couldn’t resist revisiting the basilica of San Zeno, outside the city walls, reaching it from the civilised pedestrian route along the river bank on the Rigaste San Zeno.  San Zeno, of African origin was the eighth bishop of Verona, in 362 – 380 CE. 

The small building marking the site of his grave was replaced by a basilica in 805 CE and also housed a Benedictine community. The current structure dates from 1138, after a previous new build in the 1090s was destroyed in the 1117 earthquake. Finally I headed back to the enoteca for an aperitivo before being joined by David after another hard day at the fiera, and then eating well at the local rough and ready Camillo with its hearty waiter.  

Wednesday 17 April 

We had an appointment with Fabio of Comm GB Burlotto who was very civil and welcoming, as were  Marina Coppi and Chiara Abona at Marziano Abona, whose bottles still carry the beautiful labels created by Gianni Gallo

After another cantine lunch shortly before it closed at 14.00 we visited Alessia and Cinthia Travaglini

and the day ended with a hour-long podcast interview and a few moments with Stevie Kim, managing director of Vinitaly International, in the main Palaexpo building  

We had booked supper at La Greppia – which followed Massimo’s taste once again. Business-like, very friendly, very busy, big and not surprisingly,  slow service. Here we were neighbours of an pretty far gone Orange wine loving off-duty sommelier creating much noise and hilarity with two tolerant friends, and sharing his wines with us. In the end, you have like them for their friendliness! 

Thursday 18 April 

Catching the airport bus (every twenty minutes) from the station was easy; the flight was prompt at 11.30; there was a reasonable train from Gatwick and we were home by mid afternoon. Hurray!