On our trip to the festival Tutti matti per Colorno we had some “wet” camping experiences due to the crazy storms (maybe in later times we would call them “normal”) in Bavaria and the Alps in general. We tried to outrun the storms with our T5 Bulli and went to Marano in the heart of the Valpolicella, north of Verona. Our host Susana (via AgriCamper) was an organic wine producer, and we bought their olive oil (as a little compensation for the ability to stay without charge on their propriety overnight. She also told us that we were lucky, because their local festival was just happening, with local food, wine (of course), sports (volleyball, dance performance), and live music on stage.
The food was inexpensive and great. I love that area for the simplicity and quality of their meals, e.g. Risotto Amarone (with their dark red wine) or Polenta with mushrooms (funghi porcini).
The outrunning was not really successful, and later in the night, we had quite the storm, with hale, which makes for a fine acoustic experience in the roof tent … Our host told us the next morning that they lost 30% of their grape harvest due to the hale in the past days … Maybe investing in whines that age well is a good strategy – although a cynical one.
Valpolicella only produces red grapes, although we were told that some white ones are up in the hills, but only for consumption within the family. So the main types are:
- Valpolicella Classico, a light young summer wine
- Valpolicella Superiore, aged at least one year, with more alcohol
- Valpolicella Ripasso, with a young wine having a second fermentation on the grape skins leftover from Amarone or Recioto wines. Quite aromatic.
- The Amarone della Valpolicella, a deep, robust, complex wine made from dried grapes.
- And the Recioto della Valpolicella, a sweet wine similar to Amarone, but the fermentation is stopped so that it contains a lot of sugar. Enjoy with your biscotti.
We were also lucky to find a cheese seller on the market place.
And there was an “abandoned” (?) peach tree with monster fruits … I thought they existed only in supermarkets, but no, they are actually real!
After that, we visited Verona, but I refrain from posting anything here, it was simply too crowded, too touristy, on a Monday noon.
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