Osteria Sottoriva ★ 4.4
Sottoriva, Verona centro storico
A long-established osteria under the Sottoriva arcades, where the evening service runs long and the wine board stays resolutely local.
The list: Local by-the-glass board of Valpolicella, Soave and Bardolino under the medieval arcades, with cicchetti to go with it
Tip: Closed Tuesday and Wednesday, which catches out visitors who walk past on a quiet afternoon and assume it has shut for good.
Darì Ristorante e Enoteca ★ 4.3
San Pietro Incarnario, Verona centro storicoThu-Mon 12:30-14:00 and Wed-Mon 19:00-22:00; Tuesday closed
Chef Corinna Darì's palazzo dining room and wine shop near the Arena, with a courtyard garden that comes into its own once the lights go down.
The list: Wine shop and cellar attached to the dining rooms of Palazzo Cà Rezzonico, poured in the courtyard garden after dark
Tip: Ask for the dehor, the garden courtyard inside the palazzo, rather than the indoor rooms on a warm evening.
Massimago Wine Bar evening service ★ 4.4
Mezzane di SottoDinner 19:30-22:00; closed Monday and Tuesday
Evening service at the Massimago estate bar, where the organic Valpolicella range is poured neat or mixed and the garden looks down the eastern valley.
The list: Massimago's organic Valpolicella poured straight or built into cocktails, in a garden above the Mezzane valley
Tip: Twenty minutes east of Verona. Closed Monday and Tuesday, and worth booking in summer for a garden table.
Dinner in the fireplace rooms at Villa Della Torre ★ 4.7
Fumane
Villa Della Torre serves dinner in the mannerist fireplace rooms, with the estate's Valpolicella and Lugana and the Bolgheri and Montalcino sister labels.
The list: Tastings of Villa Della Torre, Poggio al Tesoro and San Polo poured at a table in the rooms with the giant mascaron fireplaces
Tip: Dinner has to be booked with the villa in advance; there is no walk-in service at the complex.
Locanda Buglioni evening pairing ★ 4.5
Cariano, San Pietro in Cariano12:00-14:30 and 19:00-22:00
Evening service at Buglioni's own restaurant among the vines at Cariano, either the five-wine pairing or the estate range with food cooked over vine cuttings.
The list: Five Buglioni wines with five courses in the Mathusalem pairing, or the estate range by the glass with the wood-fire menu
Tip: The Mathusalem pairing has to be booked as an experience rather than ordered at the table.
Enoteca della Valpolicella evening service ★ 4.7
Osan, Fumane
Evening service in the old fortified court above Fumane, where the list is built from growers the house buys from directly rather than from a distributor's catalogue.
The list: Grower-led list assembled since 1996, poured by Ada and Elisa inside the Corteforte court at Osan
Tip: Book. The dining room is small and the drive up to Osan is dark and narrow after nightfall.