The Valpolicella Wine Region Geography

The region occupies the southern foothills of the Lessini, between the Adige to the west and the Valpantena to the east, immediately north-west of Verona.

Its structure is a fan of parallel valleys running roughly north-south -- Negrar, Marano, Fumane, Sant'Ambrogio and San Pietro in Cariano -- which together form the historic Classico zone. Later expansion of the appellation added the Valpantena and land east toward Illasi.

The geology is limestone, laid down as a shallow sea bed, and the region's second industry follows directly from it: the marble quarried and worked at Sant'Ambrogio, including the pink Rosso Verona that faces half of Verona's buildings.

Altitude runs from about 100 metres near the Adige to 500 or 600 at the top of the Classico valleys, and this range -- along with south-facing terraces -- is what growers here talk about.

Above the vineyards the Lessinia plateau rises to 1,700 metres, karstic and fossil-rich, with the Ponte di Veja natural rock arch among its landmarks.