Valpolicella wineries: visits and tastings

Where Valpolicella is and its three zones

The production area covers, in whole or in part, the territory of 19 municipalities in the province of Verona: Marano, Fumane, Negrar, Sant'Ambrogio, San Pietro in Cariano, Dolcè, Verona, San Martino Buon Albergo, Lavagno, Mezzane, Tregnago, Illasi, Colognola ai Colli, Cazzano di Tramigna, Grezzana, Pescantina, Cerro Veronese, San Mauro di Saline and Montecchia di Crosara.

The producers' consortium divides the area into three parts. The Classica zone is made up of five geographical areas; the production rules reserve the Classico mention for the municipalities of Negrar, Marano, Fumane, Sant'Ambrogio and San Pietro in Cariano, that is, the Sant'Ambrogio and San Pietro in Cariano areas and the Fumane, Marano and Negrar valleys. The Valpantena zone matches the valley of the same name, and the rules reserve the geographical term Valpantena for it. The third part, which the consortium calls the DOC Valpolicella zone, takes in the districts of the municipality of Verona and the Illasi, Tramigna and Mezzane valleys.

According to the consortium, the wine-growing area covers about 300 km², with 8,621 hectares of vineyard and 2,178 growers. Lake Garda, the consortium writes, tempers the continental climate of northern Italy thanks to its body of water.

How many wineries you can visit and where to find the lists

There are two official lists, and they are the best place to start.

• The "Le cantine" (the wineries) list of the Consorzio per la Tutela dei Vini Valpolicella, updated on 7 August 2026, covers 278 estates with company name, address and website. The consortium states that it represents over 80% of the producers who use the denomination, and counts 6 cooperative wineries and 338 bottlers.
• The member list of the Strada del Vino Valpolicella counts 94 wineries, which can be filtered by municipality, alongside sections for restaurants, local products, accommodation, villas, museums and parks.

Neither list gives opening hours, visiting arrangements or prices: each gives the estate's contact details, and the visit is arranged with the estate itself.

The information points

The Strada del Vino lists eight information points in the area, at Sant'Ambrogio di Valpolicella, San Pietro in Cariano, Sant'Anna d'Alfaedo, Fumane, Marano di Valpolicella, Pescantina, Negrar di Valpolicella and Dolcè. The area's official tourism portal, infovalpolicella.it, covers eight municipalities: Sant'Anna d'Alfaedo, Sant'Ambrogio di Valpolicella, San Pietro in Cariano, Pescantina, Negrar di Valpolicella, Fumane, Marano di Valpolicella and Dolcè.

How to book a visit and what it costs

Visits are booked directly with the winery, using the website or phone number given in the lists of the producers' consortium and the Strada del Vino. If you would rather join an organised trip with transport from the city, there are guided tastings in Valpolicella you can book online.

On costs, the official sources give no benchmark: neither the consortium nor the Strada del Vino publishes a price or a price range for tastings, which each estate sets for itself. This page therefore gives no average price, because no official source establishes one. The only price list published by the sources consulted concerns the discounts of the Valpolicella Card.

The Valpolicella Card

The Card offered by the official tourism portal is not for sale: it is free and you apply for it online. Shown at participating businesses, it gives these reductions:

• Cantina Corte Archi, at Valgatara di Marano di Valpolicella: 5% off wine purchases;
• Villa del Bene, at Dolcè: adult ticket reduced from 6 to 5 euros;
• Parco delle Cascate di Molina (the Molina waterfalls park): 12% off the full-price ticket;
• Macelleria Ronconi, a butcher's at Sant'Anna d'Alfaedo: 5% off a minimum spend of 50 euros.

One point worth clarifying: the consortium's Valpolicella Education Program, the three-day certification course that has trained 74 "Valpolicella wine specialists" from 27 countries, is aimed at the press, trade professionals and wine educators, so it is not an option for visitors.

What you taste: the four wines of Valpolicella

The base grapes are the same for Valpolicella, Ripasso and Amarone: Corvina Veronese (also called Cruina or Corvina) and Corvinone from 45 to 95%, Rondinella from 5 to 30%, with a maximum of 25% of other red grapes permitted in the province of Verona. The consortium reports that the actual vineyard is 97% native varieties: 56% Corvina, 19% Rondinella, 18% Corvinone and 4% other varieties.

What changes is the winemaking. Young Valpolicella comes from red-wine fermentation and a short period of ageing; the Superiore type requires one year of compulsory ageing from 1 January of the year after the harvest. Ripasso is made by refermenting the wine, in a single operation, on the pomace left over after the extraction of the products intended to become Amarone or Recioto: the liquid fraction brought by the pomace must be between 10 and 15% of the volume of wine used. Amarone is made from dried grapes, and Recioto is the sweet version.

In 2024 the consortium counted 59 million bottles: 48% Valpolicella Ripasso DOC, 29% Valpolicella DOC and 23% Amarone and Recioto della Valpolicella DOCG. For the detail of the rules, see the guide to the differences between the four wines; to take a bottle home, Amarone and Ripasso.

Appassimento: why Amarone makes sense in the cellar

Appassimento is the main reason to go inside a Valpolicella winery instead of just buying the bottle. The Amarone production rules require the grapes to be dried in suitable rooms, with the help of climate-control equipment only at temperatures similar to those of traditional methods, and forbid any dehumidifying system that works with heat.

The grapes set aside to dry may not be made into wine before 1 December, unless the Veneto Region authorises it, at the documented request of the producers' consortium, when the weather makes it necessary. After drying, the grapes must reach a minimum natural alcoholic strength of 14%. The report attached to the rules describes a period of 100 or 120 days in the fruttaio, the drying loft.

These rules give the calendar for a visit. Between October and December the drying lofts are full and appassimento is under way; from December onwards you can see the fermentation vats at work; for the rest of the year the visit centres on the barrel cellar, where Amarone spends its two years of compulsory ageing (four for the riserva). According to the same report, the name of the wine recalls the Acinatico, described as "mosto invernale, freddo sangue" (winter must, cold blood), obtained by drying the grapes.

Getting around: the nine routes of the Strada del Vino

The Strada del Vino Valpolicella publishes nine numbered routes, designed mainly for cycling and described as suitable for families too. They cover all the municipalities of Valpolicella and reach the Adige valley.

• Route 1: Pescantina and Dolcè;
• Route 2: Sant'Ambrogio;
• Route 3: Fumane, San Pietro in Cariano, Marano;
• Route 4: Negrar;
• Route 5: Torricelle;
• Route 6: Grezzana, Cerro, San Mauro di Saline;
• Route 7: Montorio;
• Route 8: San Martino Buon Albergo, Lavagno, Illasi, Mezzane;
• Route 9: Colognola ai Colli, Tregnago, Cazzano di Tramigna, Montecchia di Crosara.

The first four stay within the Classica zone and the band north of Verona, and the last three cover the Illasi, Tramigna and Mezzane valleys. Anyone tasting at wineries has to bear the drink-driving limits in mind: a bike ride, a transport service or a tour with a driver from the city of Verona solves the problem. The Strada del Vino's eight information points and the official tourism portal give up-to-date details on events and opening times.