This was the first visit of a very full day and we were hosted by Gian Matteo Baldi. Bertani was founded in 1857 following the return of the Bertani brothers from exile in Burgundy. This information would suggest that Bertani are one of the most traditional of Veneto growers, a theme running through our visit as well as the maxim that the style was more important than the method employed.
We were escorted round the winery where concrete vats are still used for fermentation since installed in the 1920’s. Barriques, large cherry wooden vats, Slovenian oak vats are all used for ageing, the use of cherry being something they are experimenting with.
Production is 2m bottles from approx 220 hectares. The grape drying is at their Villa Nova estate and this 70ha site employs 70 –80 people to pick and dry the grapes over 4 months in the traditional way, increasing quality and flavour of the Corvina and Rondinella berries.
Their wines are only released when ready, a fact confirmed with the 2001 Amarone being the current vintage – all other current vintages in wineries we visited were 06 or 05!
We were joined for the tasting by winemaker Christian Ridolfi commencing with an 09 Soave Classico Sereole single vineyard (100% Garganega) which was grown on volcanic soil at 3-900 m, and was delightful with citrus notes, lively acidity and minerality.Two biccheri glasses for this one! This was followed by a 1988 version which still seemed young with apricots on the palate and great complexity and length.
Unfortunately, these two whites were left behind with the reds that were to come. First up, a 2006 single vineyard Valpolicella Ognisanti: this Tre Biccheri winner, was 80/20 Corvina/ Rondinella with 20% new oak, a generous nose with cherries and plums on the palate. We then tasted the 1953 version of the same wine – still fresh on the nose and leathery, spicy, cherries on the palate and still very much alive!
Next wine was the current 2001 Amarone. Still tight and angular but with great fruit, requiring a few more years.
Penultimate was the 1967 Amarone. 6 years in barrel before bottling, a complex nose with chocolate, leather and black cherries leading to incredible complexity and enjoyment.
Lastly we tasted a 1940 Recioto which was originally sparkling but was now unctuous, fresh as ever with spice, leather and morello cherries to the fore.
It was a wonderful tasting with gracious and passionate hosts and a privilege to have tasted such old vintages.
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Scriani by Jayne BridgesLong days visiting many wineries in varied locations can be stimulating or somewhat trying and the key to success is often the coach driver. If he knows his way around, finds hidden driveways and can reverse for at least 500 yards, when given the wrong directions, fortune is smiling on you. Luck was with us and we wound our way up the windy road to the village of Fumane to visit Scriani with no problems.
The vineyards are set within the scenic and historic Valpolicella district, northwest of Verona. The management of the vineyards is carried out in harmony with the balance of nature, with little reliance on irrigation or fertilization and all the viticulture, including harvesting, is carefully done by hand. We were greeted by Stephano Cottini, who wasted no time and took us straight up the hill to see his best plot.
This was the original vineyard planted by his grandfather in the 1950’s. It is 60% Corvina traditionally planted in pergola style. This enables the vines to grow and breathe, but ensures they are not exposed to direct sunlight. There were also Corvinone vines and these have particularly large clusters of grapes. Interestingly, one of the reasons they still have some Rondinella is that they can achieve great age, suffer from few diseases and are very robust - wind, rain or even the odd hail storm does not damage them. Molinara is mostly planted at the end of rows, as they need more space. They have very large leaves, are the first to flower, but the last to harvest. In his own words, ‘it does well in poor, tired soil - it is a tough bastard’
Like many other vignerons, Stephano is having difficulty in finding good vineyard workers, with sufficient experience to be left unsupervised. He works as far as possible to organic principles and only uses product as and when absolutely necessary. However, because he is so hands-on and the vineyards are all close to home, should disease present itself, he will have it treated within 24 hours. By only using natural fertilizers he can maintain the right balance in the soil.
Today, 20% of the ten hectares are trained to Guyot. In total, they have ten hectares and produce between 45,000-500,000 bottles per annum. The vineyard visit over, we went to visit the newly-refurbished tasting room, which was exceptionally smart. Hunger was kept at bay by copious plates of salami, ham and local cheeses.
As you would expect, we tasted Valpolicella, Ripasso and Amarone. All the wines were interesting, well-made and typical in a classic style.
The Ripasso was first fermented in October, with the second fermentation in February in large barrels. Malolactic takes place and the wine remains in the barrel for 12 months and a further 6 months in bottle.
The Amarone grapes are dried for between 90 to 100 days and fermented at a controlled temperature of between 22 and 24 degrees. Only natural yeasts are used.
The wine is then aged in barriques for 3 years. The 2005 vintage is luscious, full of ripe berry fruits with a touch of chocolate gateau thrown in for good measure. The structure is firm but not aggressive - a truly delightful wine.
As always there was lively discussion over the table and various members of the team had their own favourites. But what always emerges from these visits is that, although not everyone is in agreement on what is the ‘best’, the passion and the commitment of the individual winemakers to produce wines which fully express the grape varieties and the local terroir. It is this interaction that enables one to begin to fully understand a region, and what makes the AWE visits so special. By the end of a trip, it simply makes ‘more sense’ in a way that reading or even attending a ‘specialist tasting’ can ever provide.
All in all, an invigorating and stimulating visit. If you are wondering why the Cottini family own a vinery called Scriani, it is because, their ancestors were ‘writers’ or scribes. Today they would be employed as PR agents for the winery, with plenty of good stories to write up.
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Nicolis by Helen Savage
Nicolis is quite a large estate, with cellars at San Pietro in Cariano in the heart of Valpolicella Classico. It was founded in 1951 and now owns around 42 ha. of vines; It is proud to be an Azienda Agricola and a member of the Family of Amarone Producers. Most vines are on hillside sites, with 70% on pergola. There are more than eight parcels, which include two crus. Newest planting in the last four or five years (on Guyot) is at some of the highest altitudes in the region. The estate is not organic, but uses sustainable methods including solar panels to generate power in the winery.
Grapes are dried in three fruttai, with humidity controlled by open and closing of windows and by fans. Little expense has been spared in the winery, even to the extent of using marble to maintain a consistent cool temperature of around 16C. If wine is not thought to be good enough to sell under the estate brand it is sold off in bulk (no wine was sold under the Nicolis label in 1999 and 2002). Wine is aged in a mixture of wood – botti, barricas and tonneaux.
Basic Valpolicella Classico is vinified and aged in stainless steel and is designed to be drunk young, served a little cool. Ripasso from the cru Seccal is aged about 16 months in botti and a further six months in bottle before release. Amarone is aged for 30 months in botti. The estate’s flagship wine is ‘Testal’, sold as IGT Rosso Veronese, made from 90% Corvina, from grapes partially dried on the vines by severing whole branches at the end of rows. Amarone from the cru Ambrosan is part aged in barricas for up to eighteen months. Recioto is aged in botti for about six months. The wines are sold in the UK by Bibendum.
All the wines are well made, with an emphasis on generous fruit and silky tannins. Testal 2005 is perhaps the most interesting wine in the range: a hefty red with powerful raisined fruit, with the suggestion of raspberry and cherry jam, a very silky texture and surprisingly soft acidity. Not especially elegant, it is nevertheless a big, attractively forward wine and a fascinating example of how Corvina may be made in a full-bodied style without recourse to full drying of the grapes.
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Villa Monteleone by Marisa D’Vari
Villa Monteleone is owned by Lucia Raimondi who, with her late husband, came to Gargagnago and produced their first vintage in 1989. Valpolicella Classico is grown on Classico hillside sites (220 m) with south-facing exposures on pergola Veronese vines. The average age of the vines is twenty years and the vineyard is made up of Corvina, Rondinella, Croatina, and Molinara.Grapes are de-stemmed and crushed. Fermentation and maceration on the grape skins take place at controlled temperatures for 12 days in steel vats. Periodic pumping of the must takes place during the first phase of fermentation, and then manual punching down of the cap after fermentation. The must is aged in steel tanks for six months, then in bottle for another six months. Yields are lower (55 ha/hl) and fermentation is longer (15 days) for Valpolicella Classico Superiore Ripasso. Re-fermentation over the lees of Amarone takes place the following year in March. It is matured in wood for 24 months and aged in bottle for a further 12.
Amarone is produced from the same Classico elevated site yet yields are lower - 30 ha/hl. The grapes are dried in wood crates for 120 days then de-stemmed, with fermentation and maceration on the grape skins taking place at controlled temperatures for twenty days in wooden vats. Occasional pumping over is practised during fermentation and manual punching down at the end. It is then aged in wood for thirty-six months, followed by a year in the bottle
For Recioto, the age of the vines is thirty years and the yield per hectare is 29 hl. Manual harvest takes place in October, with the grapes drying in wooden crates for more than 130 days with the loss of 50% of original weight. Grapes are de-stalked and crushed, with fermentation and maceration at controlled temperatures for 20 days with occasional pumping over during fermentation and manual punching down at the end.
Currently they do not have a distributor in the UK.
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Tedeschi by Stephen Rosser
After our previous visit to the tiny Villa Monteleone, the bus driver was delighted to see that the entrance to Tedeschi was more than ample to fit the bus in, without having to remove gates & walls! |
| Riccardo Tedeschi (photo by Helen Savage) |
Riccardo explained that although the family can trace vineyard ownership as far back as 1630, and Tedeschi produce traditional Valpolicella wines, they are constantly striving to innovate and experiment in the vineyard and the winery.
In common with the majority of growers, most of the vines are trained high up on pergolas; however some are now trained to Guyot, and they also use a form of lyre training, the unilateral Trentin bower to give more balance to the vine. Tedeschi are now experimenting with Biodynamics in a small part of their newly-acquired Maternigo vineyard. With the grape drying process, “Appassimento”, they work to keep botrytis to a minimum, and this allows greater expression of the terroir.
So had did all of this translate into the wines?
My overall impression was of a range of consummate wines, which exemplified the true essence of the finest Valpolicellas. The highlights were the Amarones and Reciotos. Many wine makers claim that their wines improve if kept - Tedeschi proved it in the glass.
After tasting the wonderful current release, 2005, we were then treated to the single vineyard 1995 Capitel Monte Olmi Amarone; this wine was maturing beautifully with notes of spice and earth, but still with fresh floral hints of violets.
And finally to the pinnacle of the 1988 Capitel Fontana Recioto; a true wine of meditation!
But no time for meditation! Back on the bus for 2 more visits before our final Valpolicellan feast in Tommasi’s cellar.
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Cà La Bionda by Gareth Morgan |
| Alessandro Castellani (photo by Helen Savage) |
All the wines are estate grown and bottled (no grapes are bought or sold). The focus is on the classical styles of the Valpolicella region, with typical production of 110,000 bottles per year. We briefly visited the recent purpose-built underground winery and barrel cellar, with drying room above (for the grapes to be used for Amarone).
We had an interesting discussion of different drying methods for the appassimento process: Alessandro is keen to maintain the traditional approach of drying the grapes on wooden trays (many other properties preferred plastic for reasons of hygiene) and he prefers only natural ventilation (some properties now have drying rooms with controlled temperature and humidity). He does have a machine to adjust the humidity and blow air across the room but aims to avoid using it except in the most difficult years.
We tasted his Valpolicella Classico 2009 and Valpolicella Classico Superiore 2006 which was aged for 20 months in oak, 90% of it in large botti and 10% in second year small barriques. The property dedicates one vineyard specifically for this wine (unlike many others whose “normal” wines are only made from grapes which were rejected for the Amarone). I felt this was one of the best Valpolicellas made from fresh grapes that we tasted during our whole time in the region.
We then tasted his Amarones from 2006 and from 1998 (his first vintage) – both of these are based on roughly 70% Corvina, 10% Rondinella and 20% Corvinone. The 2006 was very good, but the 1998 had developed further complexity from ageing: the traditional bitter edge had faded to create a wine with superb spice and depth.
Ex-cellars prices were very reasonable for wines of this quality, ranging from €4.80 for the latest unoaked Valpolicella Classico to €23.50 for the 1998 Amarone.
In Italy, most of the wine is sold to restaurants although 90% of the overall production is exported, especially to Norway and Sweden. The property does not currently have a UK agent but some of the wines are available through “Passion of Wine”.
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Viticolturi Tommasi by Paul Howard
The Tommasi family own 95 hectares of vineyards in the heart of Valpolicella Classico and also have significant holdings in the Veneto and the Tuscan Maremma. Founded in 1902, six members of the family’s 4th generation currently occupy key business roles. Tommasi have also cleverly diversified from wine production into related activities. For example, the nearby Hotel Villa Quaranta Park combines modern Italian designer chic with classical Palladian architecture and we were most fortunate to be able to stay here during our time in Valpolicella. Pierangelo Tommasi hosted our winery tour, wine tasting and exuberant evening meal. An energetic young man of considerable knowledge and charm, he is well suited for his role as marketing and export manager.
Tommasi must be one of the most ambitious wine businesses in Italy. They are near to completing a massive winery extension that allows for considerable future expansion beyond their current annual production of 1.5 million bottles.
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| Magnifica (photo by Helen Savage) |
While this is clearly a showpiece, Tommasi retain a clear focus on quality winegrowing using traditional methods. The wines encountered here were of high quality, whether these are modest entry level wines or their flagship wines made with dried grapes. There is space here to mention just two from the latter category. Their Ripasso is particularly succulent, while the Amarone is a blend of impressive power, harmony and spices. Tommasi have plenty of substance behind the style.
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