The Palio del Vino e dei Sapori (roughly, the palio of wine and flavours) is the festival with which Negrar di Valpolicella marks the grape harvest. For two days along Viale Giuseppe Mazzini, the village associations and the local wineries pour the wines of the Valpolicella Classica and serve the food of the area. Entry is free, and the dates are Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 September.
Negrar sits in the hills just north of Verona, one of the historic communes of the Valpolicella Classica, the smaller original heart of a wine district you may already know from its Amarone. The Palio began as a community gathering rather than a trade fair, and it still feels that way. The tasting stands are run by the town’s own associations, sporting, cultural and voluntary, working alongside the wineries, so every glass also supports the life of the town during the busiest stretch of its year.
When: Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 September 2026
Where: Viale Giuseppe Mazzini, Negrar di Valpolicella (Verona)
Entry: free
Tasting glass with pouch: 5 euros (required for tastings)
Tastings: paid at each stand, according to its own price list
Information: info@proloconegrardivalpolicella.com
Saturday 26 September
- 12:00 food and exhibitor stands open
- 16:30 grape-pressing in the children’s area
- 18:00 musical march by the Corpo Bandistico di Negrar, followed by the civic welcome and the introduction of the associations
- from 20:00 live music with AL-B.Band
- 24:00 stands close
Sunday 27 September
21:30 stands close
- 10:00 food and exhibitor stands open
- 10:00 guided walk “A spasso fra le colline e i vigneti della Valpolicella”
- 11:00 and 15:00 wine and chocolate tasting
- 12:00 concert by the Ensemble Suzuki (violin, viola and cello)
- from 16:00 Battiti Divini Music Contest
The wines of the Valpolicella Classica
Because Negrar is one of the classic communes, the glasses on offer tell the whole local story. The wineries bring their main labels, all built from the same family of grapes but pulling in very different directions.
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Valpolicella Classico is the everyday red: light on its feet, fresh, made for the table. The Superiore comes from the same grapes with more structure and a spell of ageing behind it. Ripasso takes its warmth from a second fermentation over the skins left by the Amarone, which rounds it out and deepens it. Recioto and Amarone both begin with appassimento, the slow drying of the grapes before pressing: Recioto keeps its sweetness and is the traditional dessert wine, while Amarone is its dry counterpart, broad and long-lived, the label that carried the name of Valpolicella well beyond its borders.
Tasting them side by side in a single afternoon is the clearest way to understand how a handful of grape varieties can produce wines so far apart.
How the tasting works
Entry to the festival is free. To drink, you buy the official glass with its neck pouch once, for five euros, and use it across both days. Individual tastings are then paid for at the stands themselves, each with its own price list, so you choose what to pour as you go rather than following a set route. The same applies to the food, prepared by the associations with the produce of the season.
Music, walks and the two days
The programme moves between good company, culture and live music. Saturday opens at midday with the stands and carries on through the afternoon with grape-pressing in the children’s area, a march by the Corpo Bandistico di Negrar (the town band), the civic welcome and the introduction of the participating associations. The evening belongs to live music from AL-B.Band, with the stands staying open late.
Sunday starts earlier and puts the landscape at the centre: the guided walk “A spasso fra le colline e i vigneti della Valpolicella” (a stroll through the hills and vineyards) takes you out among the rows at the height of the harvest. The day also makes room for wine-and-chocolate tastings, a concert by the Ensemble Suzuki on violin, viola and cello, and, from the afternoon, the Battiti Divini Music Contest.
With children
The Palio keeps families in mind. The dedicated area has old-fashioned wooden games and face-painting run by the Italian Red Cross, and on the Sunday a teaching apiary, free to enter, where families can watch the work of the bees at close hand. Saturday’s grape-pressing, in the same area, is the moment when the youngest get their hands into the harvest.
Frequently asked questions
When is the Palio del Vino e dei Sapori held?
Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 September, in Negrar di Valpolicella, along Viale Giuseppe Mazzini.
Is there an entry charge?
No, entry is free. You pay only for the glass and pouch, five euros, and for the tastings you choose at the stands.
Which wines can you taste?
The wines of the Valpolicella Classica poured by the wineries: Valpolicella Classico, Superiore, Ripasso, Recioto and Amarone.
Is it suitable for families?
Yes. There is a children’s area with wooden games and face-painting by the Red Cross, Saturday’s grape-pressing and, on the Sunday, a free teaching apiary.
How do the tastings work?
You buy the glass and pouch once for five euros, then pay for tastings directly at the stands, each with its own price list.
Close
To plan your visit or check the latest programme, you can write to the Pro Loco di Negrar di Valpolicella at info@proloconegrardivalpolicella.com.
