San Mattia, the agriturismo where we stayed is situated at the top of the ridge overlooking Verona, Italy taking about 20 hairpin turns to reach the top. It is a lovely place, surrounded by beautiful flowers, trees, and farmland. We were given a tour of the vineyards where Silvia, the winemaker explained the process for making Amerone wine. 
She explained how they grow the grapes, cutting the center growth and letting the sides shoots grow. They prune and allow only one bunch of grapes to grow per shoot, concentrating the grapes for more flavor.
The grapes are hand picked for the best grapes. These grapes are then placed in shallow boxes and stacked in a shed for drying. There must be continuous air flow for the next 3 months. The result is a very flavorful wine, high in alcohol. We enjoyed learning about this wine and most importantly we enjoyed drinking it. After the tour we had a wine tasting. We tasted three wines, each with a great story about how they were named or how they decided on the art for the labels. 
We had a delicious dinner our first night complete with very typical Italian dishes. Verona is also in the Veneto region that I spoke about in the last blog. The food was amazing as you will see.
We began our dinner with an antipasto of local salami, prosciutto, and cheeses. The hams are so good in Italy in part due to the strict regulations for raising the pigs. The pigs must be from farms in central northern Italy. They are fed a special diet including the whey from Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese production.
Next we were served the first coarse family style that included beet risotto and pasta with Bolognese sauce. The beet risotto was beautifully colored from the red beets and it was rich, creamy and delicious. 
The pasta was equally good. The Bolognese in Italy has a lighter tomato sauce than we usually have in the U.S. providing more meat flavor.
Then the second course. I know what you must be thinking and yes I was so full that I couldn't believe they were bringing out more food. But that is the Italian way of things. They begin with antipasto or appetizer as we routinely call it. The first course is a pasta dish and the second course is the meat dish with sides. There was dessert but I gave up and declined dessert.
This was the best meal we've had so far and San Mattia was a wonderful place to stay. The staff were very friendly and the food was amazing. Breakfast was served everyday and it included meats, cheeses, farm fresh eggs, pastries, and jams.
We especially enjoyed the story about the geese and chickens that were at one time were free to roam about until they started eating the grapes. However, they only ate the grapes when they were at their peak, ready to pick, helping to staff to know it must be harvest time. After that season the birds are inside a pen until after harvest- must save the grapes for the wine!