GOT LEGS

If you are one of the 30,000 foreign buyers coming to Verona for Vinitaly next month, you probably already have an idea of where to stay, where to go out afterwards and how to get around… but bearing in mind that you’re going to be squashed into the city of Romeo & Juliet with another 60,000 members of the wine trade (numbers taken from Vinitaly’s April 2024 press release), preparation is key.

Tip number 1: avoid the crowds. Unless you like imagining what it must feel like as a sardine, it’s worth trying to avoid the crowds. Don’t follow the hordes to places like the Antica Bottega del Vino. (I attempted that once but I guarantee that you’ll enjoy it much, much more if you go at any other time of the year.) Remember that Verona’s wine bars and restaurants take as much in those 4 days as they do in an average calendar month. Even the restaurants further from the city centre are still running at maximum capacity. It’s worth booking now if you want to be sure of getting a table with a nice wine list.

Tip number 2: do you really need a car? If you’re planning on staying in central Verona, you can get around perfectly well without a car. That said, my experiences of Vinitaly as a visitor were considerably more enjoyable when I stayed in the surrounding countryside (Soave is always beautiful at this time of year) and had a Fiat 500 for transportation. (I just needed to leave very early in the morning to arrive in Verona before the insane Vinitaly traffic started. More on that further down…)

Tip number 3: if you like natural wine (and if you read my blog, you probably do) get out of town! There is always a range of natural wine fairs held simultaneously to Vinitaly but a few things have changed this year. Read on…

As always, the weekend kicks off with Vini Veri – at the Area Exp “La Fabbrica” Cerea (VR) from 10am until 6pm for three days, Friday 4th, Saturday 5th & Sunday 6th. At the time of writing, the list of exhibitors doesn’t appear to be online; indeed there’s rather a dearth of information available regarding ticketing but it is safe to say that Vini Veri showcases approximately 70-80 winemakers and is one of the more established natural wine “off”s during the Vinitaly weekend.

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The next day sees the start of the VinNatur Tasting (again lasting three days: Saturday 5th, Sunday 6th and Monday 7th, 10am until 6pm, in the Margraf Showroom near Gambellara.) Now, for full transparency I should say that I work for VinNatur but it is the largest of these natural wine fairs – both in terms of exhibition space and selection, with 200 winemakers coming for this, the 20th year – so it deserves its place in this round-up. You’ll find more established wineries (e.g. Marco De Bartoli, Barale, Santa Maria / Marino Colleoni, Thomas Niedermayr, and obviously La Biancara) as well as plenty of winemakers you’ve probably never heard of before but all of them make natural wines according to the VinNatur protocol. Tickets cost 30€ for one day or 50€ for two days. No trade discounts but importers and press can request accreditation through the website.

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2025 NEWS: Instead of Tuesday (as in 2024) the Baccanal x Karakterre festival (they don’t identify as a fair, but as a party or festival) will be held on Saturday 5th. Doors open at 10.30 for trade, or at midday for the general public; and close at 8pm, unless you stay for the dinner. Held in Villa Vendri, Quinto, about 11 km outside of Verona, you will probably need a car to reach it – or get lucky finding a taxi. Once there, you’ll find 28 Austrian winemakers, a scattering of wineries from Germany and Central Europe, as well as 40 Italian producers. Tickets cost 25€, but you need to bring another 25€ to cover the deposit for the use of a Zalto wine glass.

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Also on the weekend of Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th is Summa, organised by Alois Lageder at Magrè (between Trento and Bolzano) in the Alto-Adige. 112 winemakers exhibiting – not all natural, but a lot of big, quality names (Foradori & Ampeleia, Frank Cornelissen, Brundlmayer, Marie-Therese Chappaz, Billecart Salmon, Champagne Tarlant). Prices start at 60€ for a day-ticket (or 110€ for both days) for a member of the wine trade; and 120€ (1-day) or 220€ (2-days) for members of the public.

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Now, let’s move to central Verona. Bear in mind that traffic and parking in Verona during Vinitaly is awful – I can’t stress that enough. The first year I attended (and to save money, I stayed in a hotel just south of Verona and rented a car to drive in) I spent hours in traffic jams, only finding myself in the wrong lane at an underground junction and ending up going completely in the wrong direction, back out of town again. Learn from my mistake and try to find a hotel out of town where you can take the train and shuttle bus to Vinitaly. (n.b. VinNatur also offers a shuttle bus service to/from San Bonifacio train station.)

Anyway, if you’re a natural wine lover, things have changed this year: exit VIVIT and enter RAW.

Monday 7th sees Isabelle Legeron and her RAW Wine team host 120+ winemakers in Vinitaly for the first time. Opening hours: 9.30 until 17.30. You can find the full list of exhibitors on the RAW website. (It’s worth noting down where precisely you’ll find the RAW Fair because they’re not in a Pavillon, but in the basement of Palaexpo under entrance A2, Room “Argento”.) To get in, you’ll need a ticket to Vinitaly, which costs 125€, but there’s a very curious phrase on the Vinitaly website which seems to imply that the general wine trade (unless you’re a buyer) are not allowed to enter on Monday:

“Operators who do not have a direct and active role in purchasing (“Sommelier for passion” and “My winery does not exhibit at Vinitaly”) will be able to choose to visit the exhibition only on Sunday and Wednesday.” (link here)

I’m sure people will get in anyway – this is Italy after all, there’s always a way around… – but if you’re someone who follows the rules, you may be put off by this message.

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MORE 2025 NEWS: VIVIT is no longer in the Pavillon 8 of Vinitaly. The group, which is actually called Vi.Te – Vignaioli e Territori, have moved their 60 winemakers outside the walls of Veronafiera to the Crowne Plaza hotel just 300m walk away. Monday 7th & Tuesday 8th April, from 11am until 7pm both days. Tickets are not on general sale. It appears you have to send an email to get on the list. Information on their Instagram. (They don’t seem to have a website.)

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And to be clear, I’m not against all co-ops. Most serve a purpose and some can even be great. If you want a tip, check out the Cantina Produttori Nebbiolo di Carema (you’ll find them in Pavillon 10 Piemonte, Zone H4.) In Piedmont, but bordering onto the Aosta Valley, the Carema DOC was created in 1967 and – probably because it only counts 13 hectares – still hardly anyone knows about it. If you love nebbiolo, though, you should seek out these wines like you might a Valtellina. The steep, terraced slopes are recognised and protected by Slow Food. You can find the DOC (2 years of ageing, of which at least 1 in large oak botti) or the Riserva (with 3 years of ageing, of which at least 1 year in large oak barrels. The late, great Nicolas Belfrage MW said (in Barolo to Valpolicella, 2004):

“Carema is capable of considerable perfume and elegance, although weather conditions are so often adverse, and therefore the return is so small, that it is hard to understand why the growers continue to break their backs working these ridiculous but wonderful mountain terraces…. Less than 500 hectolitres were declared in 2000… about half is produced by the Cantina Sociale di Carema who turn out a good Carema normale as well as a special selection called Carema di Carema Etichetta Bianca…”

Just as an aside, in 2015, the Cantina had the capacity to vinify 1000 hectolitres (approx 130 000 bottles) from their 71 associated-growers, so things are improving.

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Final point : it’s worth noting that in 2025, there’s no longer the C’era Una Volta fair (it seems they decided only to hold a fair in the Loire this spring) nor is there Les Grottes Naturelles, nor (for I haven’t seen any adverts) is there Notturno di Meteri. Maybe the Italians have learnt before the French that it’s not worth hosting 20 different wine fairs in the same weekend?! 😉

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To recap:

VINI VERI: 4 – 5 – 6 April 2025 at AreaExp, Cerea VR (website)

VINNATUR: 5 – 6 – 7 April 2025 at Margraf, Torre di Confine VI (website)

BACCANAL: 5 April 2025 at Villa Vendri, Quinto VR (website)

SUMMA: 6 – 7 April 2025 at Magrè, Alto Adige (website)

VINITALY: 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 April 2025, Veronafiera (website)

VI.TE: 7-8 April 2025, Crowne Plaza Verona (Instagram)