By Rick Riozza
There’s a lot of action going on in the Veneto region of Italy. Of course, the folks over in Venezia have just concluded their two-week stint of playing out Il Carnevale—and we did our take on this great traditional ceremony and party, check out: coachellavalleyweekly.com/il-carnevale-di-venezia.
And coming up next month is the world famous VinItaly wine trade show which serves as a fabulous showcase for all of Italy’s 20 wine regions. Most wine professionals and merchants from around the world attend this six-day extravaganza. For the wine enthusiast—especially Italian wine lovers, visiting Verona and showing up at the big wine show is on their bucket list. coachellavalleyweekly.com/merry-gentleman-verona.
We’re not the first to claim that The City of Verona is one of the most romantic places on earth. We can see why Shakespeare chose this town to write his most amorous, passionate, erotic, exciting, and daring play Romeo and Juliet. The Arena—the ancient Roman amphitheater that resembles the Rome Colosseum, but on a smaller scale and better preserved, houses grand operas and concerts regularly. The city is rustic and beautiful with the Adige river running right through it.
So—the rolling hills north of Verona have long provided a bucolic setting for the world’s greatest writers and filmmakers to tell their stories. Here, in the picturesque foothills of the Dolomiti Mountains, halfway between Milano and Venezia, Valipocella ranks as one of Italy’s most prolific wine regions, exporting to over 87 countries world-wide, with Amarone as its flagship wine. It also offers a wonderful travel experience.
Did someone say “a wonderful travel experience’? If you wish to read one of my most enjoyable Veronese experiences: coachellavalleyweekly.com/from-verona-with-love.
Valpolicella’s moniker as the Pearl of Verona reflects the uniquely unspoiled landscape where local Veronese grapes—Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella and Molinara, produce elegant Valpolicella, sophisticated Ripasso, complex Amarone and luxurious Recioto wines. These red wines feature a diversity of styles and changes in the terrain among 11 valleys. By the way—“valpolicella’ translates in English to “the valley’s many wine cellars”.
Among the 19 municipalities of Valpoicella, the city of Verona is first in terms of vineyard acreage, making the ancient city an “urban vineyard”.
For those of you who are so inclined, the next time you’re visiting the Italian wine aisle, or, are enjoying Italian cuisine and have an Italian wine list in front of you, consider these wines listed below:
Valpolicella DOC [val-polla-chellah] is considered the everyday red for the table: its a young fine wine with fresh flavors of tart cherry, cinnamon, chocolate, green peppercorns and almonds. It hosts moderate tannins with tart acidity. A wonderful food wine.
Valpolicella Ripasso DOC is where table Valpolicella is produced through a straightforward fermentation process, however the Ripasso undergoes a “secondary fermentation”. During the secondary, the Valpolicella wine is macerated with dried Appassimento grapes, which have been concentrated by being dried on straw mats. So the Ripasso is more complex with more sturdy flavors of those listed above.
Amarone Della Valpolicella is the most prestigious wine of the area and a world classic. It is robust and regal, rich and velvety. For those who’ve never enjoyed an Amarone [ah-mah-ROH-nay] a bit of heaven does indeed await. It is dry wine but enchantingly provides illusions of sweetness. The irony goes on by the fact that “amarone” translates to “the grand bitter”. So what is it? Sweet? Bitter? Fruity?
What adds to the romance in the production of this wine is, again, the region’s unique style where the newly harvested grapes are laid upon straw mats in a wine cellar room—like Ripasso, but here, the group of grapes are left alone well into the winter months for 100 days in this semi-drying process spoken earlier as “apassimento”.
This withering gives the grapes a thickness where the natural sugars are concentrated providing complexity but not an enhanced sweetness (the concentrated sugars will turn to alcohol). This shoots the sensual nature of the juice to the stratosphere—flavors, aromas, texture. And to boot, the wine is aged in casks for no less than six years, creating a stable long-lasting structure, making it able to age and develop in the bottle for decades. Did someone mention a cigar?
The first time I enjoyed this wine was at my friend’s Chinese restaurant, the Noble House in Rancho Cucamonga back in the 80’s. I was celebrating something, and I had just purchased my first bottle of the prize 1964 Bertani Amarone. It was around $70 back then.
I took it to the restaurant and sat at the bar. Also sitting nearby, and unbeknownst to me, was a wine steward from another restaurant who had promised his wife, and God, that he would not have any wine during the 40 days of Lent. (But he was having a Martini.)
I opened the bottle at the bar, looked over at him and of course offered a glass. The poor guy was beside himself as he explained his wine dilemma. I’m no theologian, but I assured him that God would probably forgive him this indiscretion—God has heard a lot more grievous broken promises. Well-worn sinners—the both of us, we readily reasoned and presumed on God’s grace. As for his wife, however, I told him he was on his own.
Recioto della Valpolicella is the ancestor of Amarone. It’s produced the same way, however the fermentation is stopped to preserve the wine’s sweetness. It is an intensely flavored sweet wine—a nice aperitif, and can be matched with chocolate desserts, pies and powerful savory dishes.
We just enjoyed the 2021 Valpolicella Classico Superiore Organisanti di Novare ($52). This elegant red showed rich aromas of red fruits and spices. Fresh with flavors of dried cherry, rose hip, thyme, tar, and loamy earth. And a really nice spice on the finish. Delicious with roasted chicken and mushroom risotto. Saluti!
