Veneto

Ambivalent and unique

The unbelievable beautiful Lake Garda, romantic Verona, local wines Amarone and Valpolicella – these are all great reasons to visit Veneto.

From the winemaking viewpoint, it’s a bit more ambivalent. Veneto is the largest winemaking region in Italy judging by the volume of production. The restricted maximum yield of 150 hl/ha is one of the highest in the country. The vine training system where the vines grow overhead on pergolas allows for excessive yields of low quality harvest. Eighty percent of the winemakers sell their grapes to cooperatives that are glad to make wine, caring only about how to cut down on the expenses and raise the volumes of sells.

The traditional winemaking here is connected with the local grape varieties. The most interesting white wines – Soave – are made from the Garganega grape. The best growers, such as Inama, restrict the yields and make wines from separate vineyards, striving to emphasise the local terroir. The terroir too is quite interesting here: the winemakers still find shells, left here by the ancient sea, while on the tops of hills you can often find volcanic soils.

Local red varieties Corvina and Rodinella make the basis for the best wines in Veneto – Valpolicella and Amarone. These wines are made by the Appasimento method where the clusters of grapes are dried in wooden boxes for 5-6 months and only then the production carries on. The water evaporates from the grapes which allows for very intense and bright wines. To be honest, we don’t really like the Amarone wines. For the most part they are very heady and alcoholic, fruity and blunt. They have no depth or complexity and are created for the American market, suited to the taste that Parker advertises so vehemently.

But, as anywhere, there are exceptions. In Veneto it’s Giuseppe Quintarelli who became iconic not just in Veneto, but over all of Italy. His personality is a story of its own while the wines speak for itself. Valpolicella are aged for at least 6 years in big Slavonian oak barrels – long than others do with their Amarone. And we can say with absolute certainty that Valpolicella from Quintarelli is much better than the majority of other Amarones. The best Amarone in the domain – called Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva Casa Dei Bepi – is only produced in truly exceptional years with very strict selection on the vineyard. It’s made from seven grape varieties: Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella, Nebbiola, Sangiovese, Croatina and Cabernet Sauvignon. It is aged in big barrells for more than eight (!) years. And it’s one of the best wines in Italy. One of the few in Veneto you want to look for and collect. Especially after the sad news of Giuseppe’s death arrived.

We think that every wine connoisseur should try Amarone from Giuseppe Quintarelli at least once in their life. This wine has already become history, and for a very long time when we speak of Veneto it’ll be hard to think of anything else but the wines from Giuseppe Quintarelli.