This area was inhabited by man since prehistoric times, with a rich presence in the areas between Montecchio and Montericco and in the municipalities of Sant'Anna d'Alfaedo and Grezzana, with traces of settlements dating back to the Paleolithic period, the Copper Age and the Bronze. During the Middle Ages, thanks to the barbarian invasions, different populations crossed these areas and settled over time.
Only with the fall of the lordship of the Visconti in 1387, which had divided the properties into vicariates, was the first real development of the territory. Subsequently, with the Republic of Venezia it was possible to enjoy a particular tax system, administrative autonomy and other small privileges.
These concessions were made by virtue of the great wealth of these lands and the need to be able to count on their loyalty by being border territories. In fact, to enhance the landscape in the hills we find numerous stately villas, a harmonious testimony of Venetian domination between the 16th and 18th centuries.
In Negrar di Valpolicella, as in all the nearby valleys, you can enjoy an excellent mild climate, throughout the year, almost Mediterranean, due to the proximity of Lake Garda and the guaranteed protection of the Lessini mountains, thus favoring the development of olive trees and vineyards.
There are numerous wineries that produce in this fertile valley, where we can find the Valpolicella Classico, a DOC wine produced with Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella grapes, it has a rather deep garnet red color, with a velvety and warm flavor and a characteristic smell, made exclusively from vines processed in the Valpolicella area.
We can find Valpolicella Ripasso, always a DOC wine characterized by a maceration of the pomace of dried grapes, it has a ruby red color, a red berry taste, alternating with roasting and tobacco and with a very structured smell. Valpolicella Superiore, which thanks to a process lasting at least a year, has a higher alcohol content, lower acidity and greater roundness, has a dry and velvety taste, with an intense ruby red color and a pleasant smell, delicate, characteristic.
The famous Recioto della Valpolicella, is a wine produced with the same grapes and in the same areas, but after subjecting them to a light drying, the result is a sweet and velvety wine, ideal for desserts and dark chocolate.
Finally, the Amarone della Valpolicella, made by chance from a forgotten barrel from Recioto, and which later made these valleys famous all over the world. It is a DOCG dry passito red wine, produced exclusively in the municipalities of Fumane, Negrar, Marano di Valpolicella, San Pietro di Cariano and Sant'Ambrogio di Valpolicella, with Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella grapes, and has a full and decisive flavor , with an accentuated and characteristic odor and a garnet red color.
The main event not to be missed is the Palio del Recioto, with two days entirely dedicated to wine and its flavors of the territory, which is held during the Easter period and which ends with an exciting cycling race in which athletes from all over the world participate. world.
