Small group tour Wine and Verona opera tour Verona

Wednesday 6 September 2023
You travel on the BA578 leaving Heathrow at 08.50 and arriving in Venice Marco Polo airport at 12.05. After your arrival at Venice airport, please collect your luggage and proceed through security where your Tour Manager and food and wine expert, Cindy-Marie, will be waiting for you with your driver and private coach.
We head east across the plains of Verona for our first wine visit to Pieropan. This is a family-run estate in the Soave classification, that has been remarkable in its dedication to crafting world-class, multi-award winning white wines, a far cry from the easy quaffing style of the past. Their wines are made mostly from the Garganega grape variety and especially those from their single vineyards have a wonderful minerality as we discover at our tasting at their cellars this afternoon.
Afterwards, we continue to Verona, where we check into our hotel in central Verona, which is just a very short flat walk from the Arena, so there are no late-night scrambles for coach transfers after the opera, but a pleasurable meander back to the hotel after the performance, perhaps calling in at one of the many cafés or bars for a late night digestivo.
2023 marks the one hundredth season of the Arena Opera Festival, where it will be presenting a wonderful array of operas which have been performed in the open-air amphitheatre since its initial season in 1913.
Verona’s Roman Arena, where gladiators once battled, is the magnificent setting for the most famous opera festival in the world, with one of the largest stages in the world, where up to 15,000 opera loving spectators gather to enjoy opera from Aida to Carmen, as the night falls over Verona.
To give you greater flexibility, you can choose if you would like to have tickets to one, two or all three operas performed during our tour. Please see section at the end of the itinerary for more details.
On the evenings that you choose not to attend the opera you are welcome to join your Wine Guide Tour Manager, Cindy-Marie, at the restaurant of her choice in central Verona, to sample some of the local delicacies such as delicious Risotto al’Amarone.
This evening’s performance is Bizet’s Carmen which is the tragic love story of Carmen, a gypsy girl from Seville and featuring the seductive Harbanera and rousing toreador’s song.

Thursday 7 September 2023
Enjoy breakfast at the hotel and then mid-morning, we head east into the heart of the valleys of the Valpolicella region, where we visit an outstanding small producer, Ca La Bionda, whose wine from the main grape varieties of Corvina, Rondinella, and Molinara range in style from simple Valpolicella Classico, through to Ripasso, so delicious with lamb, and of course the iconic wine – Amarone. We enjoy these splendid wines at this family-run estate, before continuing to the Enoteca della Valpolicella for lunch. This welcoming restaurant has a stunning wine list and is a favourite haunt of the local wine makers. Over lunch, Cindy-Marie will pair a selection of wines with the seasonal menu at the Enoteca.
We return to Verona mid-afternoon, which allows time for you to explore. The city still bears the marks of Roman times with sites such as the impressive Porta Borsari, a Roman gate with twelve arches. In the Piazza Signori stands a statue to honour Dante Aligheri, flanked by a frescoed loggia.
One of the most dominant features of Piazza Bra is the famous Roman Arena (where the Opera Festival is held). This amphitheatre dates from 30 AD and is thoroughly impressive with its second outer wall of which only a small part remains, whilst the rest is almost unchanged with the tunnels underneath where animals used to be kept for Roman gladiator fights.
This evening’s performance is Puccini’s classic Madama Butterfly, the story of unrequited love and tragedy of a young geisha who falls in love with an American naval officer, including the haunting aria un bel di vedremmo.

Friday 8 September 2023
After breakfast at the hotel there is another leisurely start this morning for our visit to Ca dei Frati. The Dal Cero family has transformed their Ca’ dei Frati property, situated on the southern shores of Lake Garda, into a model Italian estate over the past two decades. In 1987, they had 12 hectares of vineyard but now, following the purchase of a large chunk of prime vineyard in 2008, they have over 160 hectares. This increase in quantity has been matched by an increase in quality and today they remain the outstanding producer in the region.
The secret to the success of the Cà dei Frati wines is their outstanding vineyards, where the vines are trained low, on single or double Guyot; newer vineyards have a higher density of planting and yields are well below the average for the zone. The cool nights, thanks to the moderating influence of the lake, ensure the grapes retain aroma and acidity as we discover in our tasting these lovely, white wines. Following the tasting, we move next door to enjoy a lunch featuring some of the fish caught locally in Lake Garda.
Afterwards there is some free time for a stroll around the lake-side town of Sirmione. Located on a narrow peninsular that juts out into Lake Garda, it is famous for its turreted castle, Roman grottoes, thermal springs, and delightful frescoed churches - the ideal place for a passeggiata – perhaps with gelato in hand.
We return to Verona in the late afternoon, and there is more time for you to explore, perhaps the medieval Castelvecchio, a Scaligeri family castle when they ruled the city in the Middle Ages. Today, from its defensive location on the River Adige, it houses sculptures, art and a museum of ancient armoury.
This evening’s performance is Aida. Verdi’s opera is a classic to see in the Arena and tells the tale of Egypt and Ethiopia at war. Egyptian Army General Radamès is chosen to lead an assault on the enemy. He hopes, by being victorious, to win the hand of his lover Aida, an Ethiopian enslaved as handmaiden to the Egyptian princess, Amneris. However, Amneris is in love with Radamès herself, and is growing suspicious. Radamès returns from battle triumphant, but Aida is devastated – her own father Amonasro, who is actually the King of Ethiopia, has been taken captive. To make matters worse, the King rewards Radamès with an unwelcome gift – his daughter Amneris in marriage. When Amonasro tasks Aida with helping him avenge Ethiopia though Radamès, loyalties collide, with devastating consequences…

Saturday 9 September 2023
This morning after breakfast we check-out of the hotel and leave Verona, heading west to the Colli Euganei, a range of volcanic hills that rise from the plains to the south of Padova. Here we visit La Montecchia, the wine estate belonging to the aristocratic Capodilista family, who make delightful wines from food-friendly Pinot Bianco, their flagship red blend from Merlot, Carmenere and Cabernet through to an enticing fragrant dessert wine.
Following a visit to their spectacular frescoed villa on the Montecchia Hill, we enjoy a range of their wines matched with lunch.
Afterwards, we continue to Venice airport where we check-in for the British Airways flight BA469 departing from Venice Marco Polo at 17.20 hrs and arriving at 18.35 into London Heathrow.