ON THE ROAD | Martijn Brouwer in Verona

17 July 2026

Martijn Brouwer, the Club’s Regional General Manager for Europe, took a select group of Members to northern Italy earlier in the summer, for a wine-and-opera trip in Verona. There are, he says, worse ways to spend a few days… 

We continued the theme over dinner at Maffei with two small, family-owned, rising stars: Villa Bellini and Guaite di Noemi, who went into a bit more depth in terms of viticultural and vinification details – training the vines, canopy management, the drying process for the grapes, the difference between Amarone and Recioto… It was just about the right amount of techy detail for the Members – a little much for me, I’ll admit, though I did manage to remember some of it. 

The next day was a deep dive into Valpolicella, starting at Quintarelli. This tiny, classic, traditional family producer is beautifully located on a hilltop, its seclusion immediately inducing a sense of calm that was to last the whole trip. Fransesco Quintarelli, the fourth generation, was our host, a quietly spoken man who evidently takes his craft very seriously. Though I had to laugh at his mother, Fiorenza, who didn’t speak a word of English, but was constantly hovering in the background, checking everything was just so. Quintarelli has a beautiful old cellar with the big ‘botte’-style barrels into which portraits of family members have been carved. It was quite the scene for a tasting. 

At Villa La Torre, established by Marilisa Allegrini as her own project, separate from the illustrious family, we were hosted by COO Andrea Lonardi MW. The wines were great, of course, but my abiding memory was the estate’s outstanding Italian gardens, the setting for a fantastic lunch. Then Zýmē made for a great contrast, with its startling contemporary design and hugely impressive cellar, complete with underground waterfall. Owner Celestino Gaspari showed us its Harlequin wine, the top-end blend of 16 (yes, 16) different grape varieties. 

It was a lot to take in, and after such an intense day, Friday was wine-free. Or winery-free, I should say. Instead we took to the water for a private boat tour of Lake Garda, taking in the gorgeous village of Sirmione, with its medieval castle. When the boat approached our lunch venue – the  idyllic, waterfront Michelin-starred La Speranzina, its white umbrellas dotting the outdoor terrace – and we disembarked to stroll into the restaurant, it was a moment. 

One of the things that struck me on the trip was how well the group mixed – there was always a different configuration of the group, rather than people sticking to their own small cliques. And it was such a fun, cosmopolitan group. We had an ex-Olympic figure skater; a former Olympic sprint trainer; a ballet dancer. Between us, there were guests from Australia, Canada, Peru, Latvia, the US, the UK, Ireland, Netherlands,China, Hong Kong and the Philippines. 

I didn’t think it could get much better than lunch at La Speranzina, overlooking the water with wines from Lugana, Franciacorta, Valtellina… But of course that night – after Andrea Pieropan served us a couple of old vintages of two Soave crus, La Rocca and Calvarino, over a light dinner on the rooftop of the hotel – it was off to the opera. Arena di Verona is one of the world’s most extraordinary open-air settings, a 2,000-year-old arena whose acoustics are so good, no amplification is required. Taking in La Triviata as the sun went down was just a magical experience. My first opera, and I suspect not my last. 

We finished up the trip with a visit to Franciacorta star Ca’ del Bosco, whose sizeable winery is home to artworks and a spectacular, experiential cellar. Despite the dramatic setting, the take-away here was the sheer quality of the wines, which several Members felt were the highlight of the trip. And lunch at fellow Franciacorta producer Bellavista at its Michelin-starred Le Due Colombe was a pretty decent way to round things off.