day 6 :

sunday, 20 may

We spent a good part of Sunday traveling to our cooking class. First we took the local train from Manarola to Genova, then an InterCity train from Genova to Verona. (The countryside near Genova was beautiful! We'd like to go back there some day and visit.) We grabbed a late lunch on the people-watching promenade in Verona's main piazza near the arena. We had a wonderful melone e prosciutto antipasta with that meal, and the melon was so fresh that we started to wonder why melon in the U.S. never tastes that good - even melons from the organic farms sold in the Pike Place Market aren't so sweet and fresh. I guess there will always be a reason to go back to Italy. :-)

We took a taxi to Villa Giona, and were soon on our way to a week of absolutely first-class experiences. The villa was built in the 16th century, but has been extensively renovated for the past 20 years, producing the perfect blend of regalness and luxurious modern accomodations. Giuliano Hazan's classes are at the villa for four weeks this year, and weekends at the villa are booked with weddings and similar affairs. The grounds also include a new vineyard owned by the Allegrini family. Wines from that vineyard should be on the market in the next two to three years, with Villa Giona on the label.

Paolo, whose family owns the villa, greeted us and showed us to our amazing room. Paolo, Giuliano, and his wife, Lael, were incredibly thoughtful and provided us with a bottle of champagne in honor of our honeymoon. We basked in the surprise of it all, and quickly got settled in. It didn't take long for Dawn to declare that she had moved in, and was not going to be leaving at the end of the week. :-)

We met the rest of our class at 7 p.m. that evening in the main courtyard, and enjoyed Prosecco sparkling wine while we were introduced to our hosts for the week: Giuliano Hazan; Lael, who helped in so many ways, and made sure everything ran exceptionally smoothly; Jean-Carlos, our historian; and Marilisa Allegrini, our wine expert and educator.

That night, a bus took us to dinner at one of Marilisa's favorite local restaurants, Ristorante Groto. The restaurant is normally closed on Sundays, but the owner, Giorgio, opened just for us. We were incredibly fortunate to have eaten there - it was the best meal during our trip in Italy. It started off simply enough, with platters of wonderfully-fresh cold cuts (sopressata, lardo, pancetta, with arugula for garnish), and some Allegrini Palazzo della Torre '98. Next came white asparagus and veal carpaccio, and another wine. It was somewhere around this point that Giuliano said, "We're still working on the antipasta. I'll let you know when we make it to the first course." :-) This was followed by a tortletta with asparagus, fresh ricotta, and more wine. After a fourth (!) appetizer, with peppers, we finally made it to the primi. Next was secondi, then the formaggio (cheese) course with ricotta and molto veronese, and then we graduated to dolci (dessert).

We can't even remember how many wines we had that evening, but it was astounding. Marilisa introduced us to each wine and described how it was made. Everyone seemed most impressed with the Allegrini Amarone della Valpolicella '97. It was served in the largest wine glass we've seen, and the glass had been "seasoned" with a little bit of Amarone rinsed through the glass before they poured for us, so that the flavor wouldn't be corrupted by trace amounts of soap or water. Clearly this is something that is only done for an exceptional wine, and the Amarone certainly lived up to its reputation.

We went home stuffed, a bit tipsy, and with high expectations for the coming week!