VENETO Pt. 1- VALPOLICELLA
Perhaps the most famous city of Veneto is Venice. The city of Venice has drawn people from all over the world for centuries. Once a mighty trade center, now one of the must-see places in Italy.
For this piece we will go to the opposite end of the Veneto region where we will concentrate on wines of Valpolicella.
These vines are planted on the western side of Veneto near the city of Verona. Veneto is a big region. There is a lot of wine produced here. How much wine?
The Veneto wine region is the #1 producer of wine by volume in Italy.
If you separated Veneto from Italy, it would be the 7th largest producer of wine in the world.
Wow! That is a staggering statistic!
Veneto produced 132 million cases of wine in 2022. Of that, 81% of it was white wine (lots of Prosecco & Pinot Grigio).
We will talk more about the other wines from Veneto another day.
VALPOLICELLA DOC-
We will study the Valpolicella region now. Valpolicella produced 1.8 million cases of wine in 2022.
There are 2 sub-zones where the wine comes from; Classico and Valpantena. Classico is the original, Valpantena was added later.
A common misunderstanding, and one I had for years, was that “Classico” connotates a production style or a "step-up" in quality from regular wine, when in fact it is place or area within a wine region.
That is one of the keys to understanding Italian wine, its all about the place or area that is the most important part of Italian wine.
There are 4 different grape varietals allowed in Valpolicella DOC. Corvina is the primary grape grown and used in the wine. The others include Rondinella, Molinara, and Corvinone.
Each grape has their certain attribute that enhances the overall blend of the wines.
Some producers will use different percentages of the grapes in their wine, but the wine laws allow a fair amount of leeway in the percentages of the blend.
There isn’t a huge difference in the different styles of wine made by different producers. The core grape is Corvina and that is the largest percentage in the wines of Valpolicella.
Valpolicella is an easy drinking red wine with a broad appeal to the masses. Mostly medium-bodied, red fruit flavors & some sour cherry, with a smooth easy finish.
Due to its easy going, fruit forward flavor profile, Valpolicella is my “go-to” Italian red wine for people that were just starting to get into red wine.
It certainly isn’t sweet but there is plenty of ripe juicy fruit flavors with clean dry (not tannic) smooth finish.
It doesn’t require food to be better, but it is a great accompaniment to most food flavors, be it lighter flavored foods or beef & lamb.
As with most Italian wine, there is an undercurrent of earthiness to make it food worthy. A great wine for mushrooms in all their glory.
The wine could last up to 5 yrs but it is not made for cellaring and letting it develop in the bottle. It is drink now, fresh is good, kind of wine.
There are some excellent producers of Valpolicella wines. The costs are good ($12- $30 retail) and a great way to get introduced to Italian red wine.
There is a “Superiore” designation and generally that means the wine does require a minimum of one year of aging.
Superiore will sell for a higher price because of the aging.
Food Pairings:
A great wine with medium flavored dishes and cheeses. Roasted chicken, pork, burgers, red sauces, pizza, oily fish such as tuna, salmon, swordfish.
Cheddar, Jack, Gouda cheeses would be nice with prosciutto or salami & olives would all play well with Valpolicella.
A very versatile wine for a wide range of flavors.
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Amarone della Valpolicella-
We can’t talk about Valpolicella without talking about Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG.
Amarone is made by taking the same grapes used in Valpolicella except they take the harvested grapes to a barn or warehouse-like building (with plenty of air circulation from large fans) and place the grapes on mats to dry them out. (see the picture above)
After 90 days the dried grapes are then crushed and the fermentation begins.
The grapes drying out concentrates the flavors a great deal. It also reduces the volume of wine significantly.
We generally see less production of Amarone cause most of it has evaporated over the 90-day period.
There is a raisiny quality to Amarone with the drying out of the grapes, but the depth, and flavor of the wine is incredible.
There’s a reason they start at about $40 + in buying a bottle retail. Depending on the restaurant, 2 to 3 times that on a wine list.
Amarone is high in alcohol due to the sugars of the grapes that are left behind from the juice evaporating. To get a dry wine, it will be about 14.5% alc. and upwards.
The wine is rich, lush and a full-flavored experience. Once you have had an Amarone, you keep wanting them.
Generally, not so tannic or harsh like many robust wines, but plenty of flavor and bodyweight.
Amarone is aged (mostly in barrel) for a minimum of 2 years before release. If the wine is a Riserva, it must age for a minimum of 4 years prior to release.
For me, there are two styles of Amarone.
This is my opinion and not that of the producers of the wines (as far as I know anyway).
My experience has been that the more modern style of Amarone has this raisiny quality & quite jammy, fruity.
The traditional, old style is perceived to be drier, less raisiny and more balanced.
Both styles are delicious and wonderful. One isn’t better than the other, just different.
I don’t know if that is something the winemakers do on purpose or if it depends on the harvest. I will certainly ask about it if I get the chance to meet one!
For me the “raisiny quality is subtle and not strong like fruit bread.
It is there, subtle yet persistent. It is the uniqueness that makes Amarone, Amarone!
Basically, you will love the taste of Amarone!
Its richness & layers of flavors are the mark of a great wine. Each sip from the glass is a pleasure that can be difficult to describe.
The wines can age for decades. Truely a special wine.
I suggest you enjoy this wine as soon as you can!
Food Pairings- Amarone is a big powerful wine! It will overpower lighter flavored foods.
It would pair well with hearty foods like beef or lamb.
Strong cheeses like blue cheese or aged cheddars.
Full-flavored sauces are a great fit as well.
The wine is high in alcohol so I suggest you avoid real spicy foods.
