Each spring and fall, the couple – along with partner, Marilisa Allegrini of Allegrini Winery(9) in Valpolicella – offer culinary and travel enthusiasts a true taste of Italy at Villa Giona, a restored Renaissance villa outside Verona.
The first completely dry Amarones that were commercially marketed were the 1953 vintages produced by Bolla and Bertani.
In the Valpolicella region, Negrara is a permitted minor component in the full bodied DOCG straw wine Amarone behind Corvina Veronese (40-70% of the wine), Rondinella (20-40%) and Molinara (5-25%).
The variety is permitted as a minor blending component in a number of DOC regions including Bardolino, Valpolicella, Breganze, Garda Orientale and the multi-regional Valdadige DOC that extends into the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol wine region.
The Villa is situated in Valpolicella, the viticultural center of the province of Verona and a zone producing Amarone Classico DOCG and Valpolicella Classico DOC.
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The name referred to as "Amarone", a wine characteristic of Valpolicella, was coined at the estate in 1936, during the period it was leased to the Cantina Sociale Valpolicella.