Verona – Amarone Opera Prima 2026

With Unesco cuisine and Olympics, Amarone Opera Prima lights up Verona from Jan. 30 to Feb. 1

After a promotional agenda in 2025 marked by 19 international events and 32 touring appointments in Italy, the Consorzio Tutela Vini Valpolicella opens the new year with Amarone Opera Prima, the event dedicated to the presentation of the 2021 vintage of the great red wine from Veneto, scheduled in Verona from January 30 to February 1.

“The 22nd edition bears witness to a symbolic passage for the city and for the country,” says Consortium president Christian Marchesini. “On the one hand, Italian cuisine recognized as an intangible heritage of Unesco, and on the other, the approach of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, which will see Verona as the protagonist of the closing ceremony and the opening of the Paralympics. In this context, Amarone becomes the trait d’union of a collective identity narrative.”

Friday, January 30

And just to leave room for the official Olympic events, Amarone Opera Prima 2026 changes the venue of the scheduled events. The program opens on Friday, January 30 at 11 a.m. at Veronafiere’s Mercatali Galleries with a masterclass led by JC Viens, titled “Back to the Future – Valpolicella 2030: Europe’s Most Advanced Case Study in Regional Reinvention,” to bring out Valpolicella as one of Europe’s most advanced case studies in reinvention, where historical practices meet innovation, with a look at the future of wine in the European wine context.

Saturday, January 31

The event continues on Saturday, Jan. 31, at 10:30 a.m., at the Riccardo Borghero auditorium of the Chamber of Commerce (Corso Porta Nuova 96), with a speech by President Marchesini and the presentation of the vintage followed by “Amarone da podium con la Cucina Italiana e le Olimpiadi,” the talk that compares different but connected worlds. Discussing it will be Maddalena Fossati, editor of La Cucina Italiana, creator of the Unesco candidacy and chair of the promoting committee; Deborah Compagnoni, sports legend, sole winner of 3 Olympic gold and 1 silver medal, 3 world golds and 1 world cup in giant slalom and ambassador of the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympics and Paralympics; and Cristina Bowerman, chef of Glass Hostaria in Rome, 1 Michelin star and two Gambero Rosso Forks.

At the conclusion, from 12:30 p.m., off to the tasting counters at the Mercatali Galleries also for Amarone lovers starting at 4 p.m.

Sunday, February 1

Tasting with tasting booths also on Sunday, Feb. 1 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., until the evening closing party (7 p.m. to midnight).

Full details at https://www.amaroneoperaprima.it/it