When considering Italian reds, Valpolicella is often overlooked. It doesn’t have the current buzz of, say, Etna Rosso from Sicily, or the prestige of Chianti Classico from Tuscany or Barolo from Piedmont.
But Valpolicella, from Veneto in northeastern Italy, is worth rediscovering for its fruit-forward profile, its drinkability, and its value.
There was a time when Valpolicella was a go-to wine at countless Italian-American restaurants adorned with those red and white checkered tablecloths, especially from a couple of big producers (ciao, Bolla and Folonari). It was cheap, fruity, easy to drink — and pretty generic.
Fast forward to 2024, and Valpolicella is a lot more interesting, as I discovered tasting a broad sampling of the wines.
They take their name from the large Valpolicella region of Veneto, and are typically a blend of three native grapes: Corvina, Rondinella, and Molinara, grown in the region’s calcareous, limestone, and clay soils. The sub-Alpine vineyards are cooled by the breezes of nearby Lake Garda, Italy’s largest. The better wines come from the Valpolicella Classico zone, but there are good ones to be found in the broader Valpolicella region as well.
While there are a number of styles (including the famed and powerful Amarone wines that are capable of long aging), I focused on classic Valpolicella and the richer Valpolicella Ripasso, which is made by “re-passing” the wine through a second fermentation with the grape skins that were used to make Amarone. This gives the Ripassos more concentration, tannin, color, and a bigger mouthfeel.
