Valpolicella Wine Descriptions

 

This blend of wine has been produced in some form in the region since Roman times and continued into the era of the Visigoth invaders. There are 6th century written documents by Cassiodoro, a magistrate of Visigoth King Theodorus, describing a sweet wine made from half dried grapes in Verona that is mostly likely an early version of Amarone or Recioto. “Straw wine,” the process used to make these wines by drying grapes on straw mats before pressing, is a style of wine-making that was passed on from the ancient Greeks. In 643 Lombard King Rotari wrote an edict protecting the Valpolicella trifecta grapes from being pulled. Both Amarone and Valpolicella became a popular export from nearby Venezia. 

 

For a long time, Valpolicella as a table wine was produced primarily for local consumption, not intended for serious cellaring. Most of the Valpolicella that was imported for much of the 20th century was the mass-produced sort that wasn’t very well regarded. But some producers who take care to monitor yields and judicious efforts with barrel aging have produced some great stuff. Like Chianti, Valpolicella has a Classico zone. It also might be labeled Valpolicella Valpantena, referring to a specific viticultural zone. 

 

Valpolicella Ripasso now has its own DOC (and sub-DOC’s for Classico and Valpantena depending on where the grapes are sourced). Ripasso is a style of wine that was revived in the 1960s by the Masi estate. Dried passito grapes are re-passed or refermented with Valpolicella juice to give the wine more depth of flavor and complexity. These are often considered kind of “baby Amarones,” though they are still not quite as intense in flavor.