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You know, up until the 1980’s, Italy was primarily a narcissistic wine-
producing country. Unlike France, who had been exporting their wines
around the world, probably as far back as the 1600’s, Italy mostly
consumed their own wines without exporting them. And also unlike
France, quantity and not quality was stressed with most wine regions in
Italy producing their wines in large numbers for the mass consumption of
their native people. The exception to this rule would have been the
Barolo’s and Barbaresco’s of Piedmonte and perhaps a few wines here
and there from the Tuscany region. Despite having great soil and
wonderful conditions for growing grapes, the vast majority of Italy’s
winemakers were content with mediocrity. All they wanted was to
produce and sell more wine. One of these underachieving wine regions
was a large valley in North West Italy below the Alps and split by the
river Adige. This valley, which was home to many winemakers, was
known as Valpolicella.
That’s right, Valpolicella is not a grape variety, it’s a wine named after
the wine region that produces it. This is how most of the wines are named
in Europe. You honestly didn’t think there was a grape variety called
Chianti, did you? Chances are you probably are not familiar with the
grape varieties that make up the blend for Valpolicella wines. In fact, if
there is one thing Italy has, it’s a lot of wine grapes you’ve probably
never heard of! Valpolicella is made up of primarily three different grape
varietals; Corvina, which accounts for 40 – 70% of the blend, Rondinella,
making up 20 – 40%, and Molinara, 5 – 20%. These three grapes were
probably chosen because they ripen at the same time and they
compliment one another very well. The vintner may also add up to 15%
of any of these grape varieties: Rossignola, Negrara, Trentina, Barbera
and even Sangiovese (the Chianti grape, in case you were wondering).
Getting back to my opening argument. Of course, now there are
thousands of high quality wines from all over Italy and indeed, a great
many of their best wines are exported globally. This was brought about
by many influential winemakers in Italy that wanted to improve quality
and get into the global wine market. It was further aided by wine
importers in the US and other countries that had developed a love for
these new Italian gems. This explosion of Italian wine popularity started
in the 1980’s and has been gaining momentum every since.
Now, even though Italy had become a wine powerhouse, some wine-
producing regions in Italy lagged behind in development, insistent upon
keeping up the traditional ways of making wine. As a result, the wine
quality of these regions has been a bit slow to develop. Valpolicella was
indeed one of these regions. It wasn’t that you couldn’t find a great
Valpolicella wine, it was just that there were so many bad ones made that
they overshadowed the good wines and saturated the market. Robert
Parker, the famous wine critic, once referred to the wines of Valpolicella
as “insipid industrial garbage”. Italian restaurants and steak houses in
the United States looking to add a few Italian wines to their menus began
buying Valpolicella wines. The American public would drink these wines
with dinner, realizing that they weren’t exactly great, but they washed
down well with food and were very affordable. Unfortunately, as
Americans began to develop their wine consciousness, they started to
realize that this was a wine style with very little to offer and Valpolicella
all but vanished from the wine lists and retail shelves.
This was actually good news for Valpolicella because it forced the
winemakers to change the way they think about making wines in today’s
market. They began to focus on quality and not quantity for a change.
The end result so far has been a lot of very good wines and they continue,
because of their bad rap, to be very affordable. So this is definitely a win,
win situation for the consumer.
There are five different styles of wine made in the Valpolicella region and
even though our staff only tasted wines from the three basic categories
(Valpolicella, Valpolicella Classico, and Valpolicella Superiore), I believe
it is important to discuss the remaining two styles, Reicioto and
Amarone. We’ll start with these two categories first.
Reicioto wines are unique in the way they are made in that they involve a
process that is not normally used in winemaking. This process is called
“withering”. The winemaker or vintner, will select the very best grapes
and lay them on straw mats to dry up and shrivel (hence the withering
name), for a period of thirty to ninety days. They will then take those
grapes and ferment them like any other wine, however, because the
grapes have shriveled up, the natural sugars in the grapes become
concentrated, thus the vintner will ferment the wine up to a certain point
and leave some of the residual sugar in the grape must. This results in a
wine with a full body and residually sweet taste. This wine style can be
very expensive because it is somewhat rare and it is difficult to make.
Amarone is the most noble of all the wines produced in Valpolicella and it
is made by using the same “Withering” method as the Reicioto uses,
however, this time, the vintner will ferment all of that residual sugar into
alcohol. This produces a wine that is high in alcohol content and very
dry. These wines are usually very expensive, but because they can be
long-lived and unique tasting, people willingly pay the high prices for them.
The most basic style of Valpolicella wines is called just
that…Valpolicella. That means that the grapes used in the wine can come
from anywhere in the Valpolicella wine region. This generally translates
into poorer quality because often the grapevines are not planted in the
ideal places in the valley. The wines tend to be thin-bodied, quaffing
wines with very little distinction.
Any wine made from the Classic district of the Valpolicella wine region
will be designated as Valpolicella Classico. This is the ideal place in the
valley where the grapevines are best suited for ripening correctly. Wines
from this region, although not terribly complex, tend to have a little more
oomph! More flavor and pizzazz. The price will be a little more expensive
then the regular Valpolicella wine, but usually worth it.
Lastly, you have Valpolicella Superiore. Basically, these are wines made
from the very best hand selected grapes and fermented traditionally (in
other words, not using the withering technique). To add some body and
complexity to these wines, a vintner may employ a process known as
“Ripassa”. Ripassa is a process whereby the vintner takes his fermented
wine and passes it over the used grape skins and seeds from the Reicioto
wines. This adds tannins and depth to the wines that is quite noticeable.
Another effect that becomes noticeable is that it picks up a slight bit of
that residual sweetness. This makes the wine very interesting and quite
unique. This is definitely a style of wine you should at least try once in
your lifetime.
Valpolicella wines are making a comeback. It may be a slow one, but you
are starting to see more and more of them again. The more basic styles
have loads of potent acidity that could make it a refreshing drink on
Spring or Summer day as well as making this wine style ideal for cooking
with seafood or used in tomato-based sauces. The more complex versions
are wonderful wines indeed and well worth the money. Valpolicella wines
tend to display cherry or berry fruits with licorice hints. The ones that are
aged in Oak have the usual vanilla tints to them. All in all, Valpolicella
wines are fascinating wines that shouldn’t be overlooked and at the prices
most of them are sold at, they are quite a steal. Fortunately for us, Italy
is no longer being narcissistic and keeping Valpolicella wines to
themselves anymore!
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