Taste journey: Verona and surroundings part 2

The beauty of the lands of Verona represents its tourism success. A province that offers unexpected landscape insights and satisfies lovers of land and water, history and contemporaneity, art and the vitality of man.

Today we set off for the mythical areas of Valpolicella but, this time, we won’t stop at wineries. That would be too predictable. We will get to know this ancient land that hides treasures of gastronomic values of rare pleasure. Above all, we will cross the Valpolicella Classica from east to west to meet three friends passionate about their work and the enhancement of raw materials.

The city of Verona is bordered to the west by the Valpolicella Classica, which begins just “outside the walls,” so to speak. In particular, when arriving in the village of Arbizzano, the vineyards begin to act as a "leitmotif" of the journey. Arbizzano is a small ancient village dominated by charming 18th-century villas, but it has gained attention in recent years because it houses the famous federal swimming pool, where Federica Pellegrini and the greats of Italian swimming have trained since childhood.

If you leave the provincial road, climbing towards the valley, and turn right near the federal swimming center, you take a small ancient road that leads to the right side of the valley. A large wall of stones and pebbles accompanies those who travel it. Once it was the road traveled by horses and carriages from the ancient noble villas that rise on the hillside. Today, gradually narrowing, the road leads to the parish church of Arbizzano. Exactly in front of it, from outside, in a small clearing where a few cars can park, there is a sign: “Sapori del Portico.” There are then two steps that lead down to enter. You might not immediately feel like you are entering one of the most interesting gourmet shops in Valpolicella and the province of Verona: there are newspapers, books, magazines, two rows of shelves on the right that contain everything, but it is at the end of these that the sumptuous counter of cheeses and cured meats opens up.

In short, this is the village shop and, like in times not too remote, it remains the point of reference for purchasing essentials. It has the flavor of the village shops of the 70s and 80s. The ones where you would stop by in the morning for a stuffed sandwich, for a pen that no longer wrote and needed to be replaced, or where Panini stickers were never available because they had run out just the day before. The shop where behind the counter were people who knew you, your parents, your family, and perhaps invited you to “behave yourself” at school. In short, poetry of children with tangled hair and school bags on their shoulders.

Today, behind that counter is Giuseppe Bernardinelli, ONAF cheese tasting master, AIS sommelier with neatly hung diplomas on the walls. Giuseppe has a cheerful and smiling face of someone who knows he has to please hundreds of customers coming from all over Verona and the province (and beyond) every day. His story is rooted in his childhood and youth. Inside that shop, there are the scents of a time he never stopped seeking and proposing. His mastery in presenting the cheesemaking masterpieces found in his gourmet shop enchants with the simplicity and genuineness of the words. Above all, one feels overwhelmed by the passion of this man who has forged bonds with shepherds, breeders, farmers, fishermen, bakers, and all the artisans of taste who are there with him every day of the week. Yes, because Giuseppe doesn’t just talk to you about cheese, pastures, or cows. He tells you about who Piero, Toni, Carmela, Francesco, Pina, and Totò are; he narrates the lives of the women and men who stand behind those masterpieces of taste. And this is the most fascinating part, the added value of his little treasure chest.

For us who also know his secrets, we ask him to take a look beneath the shop. What could be down there? His personal vault. Where cheeses and cured meats mature in the white stone caves of Valpolicella at ideal temperatures and humidity levels. Here, good molds and bacteria have taken root for decades and help Giuseppe bring the cheeses and cured meats to levels of very high maturation. His wife, then, is no less. She is credited with gourmet cheeses like the Zenzerito, the Pistakkito, and the legendary Dominik Blu with Rum and Cocoa. A beautiful couple, right? If you are in a hurry, it’s not worth coming all this way. Here you must have patience. You don’t take a number for your turn. You wait for Giuseppe to finish with the person in front of you and pamper them well. Then your turn arrives, don’t worry. In the meantime, you can indulge in all the bounty that is found at the counter and on the shelves. Or you can enrich your knowledge and listen to what Giuseppe has to share. A journey within a journey, that is what is experienced here at Sapori del Portico in Arbizzano.

But other adventures and fantastic characters await us in these lands. We take the road that leads to Negrar and climb toward Mazzano. Then higher up, until we reach Fane. Finally, we continue to the junction that leads to the natural arch of the Ponte di Veja. A structure that nature created millions of years ago and which allowed early humans to settle under its caves and begin the first stirrings of civilization in these ancient lands.

Right there at the junction is another treasure trove of flavors in high Valpolicella. A family has shaped it over the years, making it one of the most interesting realities in the production of cured meats and cheeses today. Corrado Benedetti is remembered by all those who have passed through these mountains and valleys. People remember his fragrant salamis and aged soppressas, ideal for accompanying Valpolicella wines even on the noblest tables. A family tied to the high Valpolicella and to Lessinia. Wise people who have always understood the raw materials of the cheeses from these lands, bringing them to fine refinements that have ensured quality improvements over time.

Today, stopping by the Benedetti means experiencing the most authentic expression of the raw material from the mountains and the Verona hills. Its ability lies in using elements from nature such as the leaves of chestnut trees from these woods, the aromatic herbs from the meadows, the flowers of Lessinia, and perfectly integrating them with the cheeses produced from milk of the pastures. It involves pairing the meat of the typical Veronese soppressa with Amarone, as in the case of the Cordivino, or even cheese, as in the case of the Redivino, using the delicacies of their lands to offer captivating taste experiences.

Benedetti has opened his property to visitors with tours worth taking and a tasting room that enhances their gourmet masterpieces. Corrado Benedetti is also a producer of a whole series of fruit creams, mustards, and other jarred delicacies, like the Renga in Saòr, which spring from family experiences and always benefit from the advice of the mothers and women of the company. Nothing escapes, and everything that has been lived between these lands is brought into the jar. Benedetti wants to offer experiential tastings to his clients. He aims to impart the same feelings that have accompanied him for decades, ever since he was a child when life was still poor but proud in these parts.

Bernardo Pasquali

S&M