Just outside Verona you enter East Verona It’s valleys, which wind in a fan shape from the slopes of the Lessinian Mounts, open onto a landscape scenery immersed in the cultivation of vines, olive trees and cherry trees. Entering one of these – the Illasi Valley- amongst country churches, sanctuaries, Ville Venete, and castles you reach Villa de Winckels in the ancient Borgo di Marcemigo. The pleasantness of the small hamlet allows you to enjoy an oasis of relaxation immersed in the soft curved lines of the hills. At the same time the territory offers different possibilities for a varied vacation; visits to Verona City UNESCO Patrimony of Humanity and music; excursions to the Regional Park of Lessinia; free or guided excursions by mountain bikes; guided tours to discover typical products of enogastronomy from Verona; devotional and cultural paths in the minor art, experiences in the folklore and popular traditions… and much more.
On request we organise guided tours
The lands of Valpolicella have an ancestral link with the vines, which sculptured the geometry of the hills and the culture of its people who lived there. People who, like the Merzari family, each day choose to privilege the products and producers of their own territory, evaluating a unique and inimitable patrimony and making them ambassadors.
The Illasi valley is part of DOC Valpolicella, a territory of wines famous all over the world: Valpolicella, Valpolicella Ripasso, Amarone and Recioto.
The area of production of Valpolicella denomination includes the Veronese foothills area between Lake Garda and the Lessinian Mounts and is divided into three distinct zones:
• The Classic zone, formed by five geographical areas, or the area of Sant’Ambrogio di Valpolicella and San Pietro in Cariano, the valleys of Fumane, Marano and Negrar di Valpolicella.
• The Valpantena zone, which includes the same valley
• The DOC zone with the districts of the municipality of Verona and the Illasi, Tramigna and Mezzane valleys.
The vines used in the production are autochthonous Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella and Molinara.
The Valpolicella Ripasso takes its name from the operation of “re passing” – refermentation – of the Valpolicella base on the remaining skins of Amarone and Recioto.
The name Recioto has origins from the dialect term recé ,”ears”, and indicates a wine which in the past was obtained by using only the ears of the grape bunches, those most external, most exposed to the sun’s rays.
In the modern production only the best grapes are used, whole, hung to dry on the traditional “Adele”( cane grates anciently used for the silk worm breeding) or in modern crates , inside the so called “orchards”.
The Amarone, direct relative of the ancient Recioto, is without doubt the most prestigious wine of the Valpolicella and is renowned all over the world: it is also obtained by drying the grapes, which which rest in the orchards for 100/120 days and are then vinified in winter.
