W.E.T.C.O.W.

The red wine known as Valpolicella is typically made from three grape varietals: Corvina veronese, Rondinella and Molinara. The region of it’s production is the Veneto region, in the province of Verona.

Valpolicella is also the starting point for Ripasso and Amarone.

Amaarone (“big bitter” in Italian) is made by allowing the grapes mentioned above to dry on racks for at least four months, bringing out their flavors and increasing the amount of sugar. The wine is typically aged in oak barrels. The process produces a powerful wine, tasting of licorice, tobacco and dried fruit.

Ripasso (“revision” in Italian), is a combination of the Valpolicella and the Amarone techniques. After the Amarone has been produced, the skins are then added to already-fermented valpolicella wine, causing a second fermentation process that adds more complex tannins and flavors to the Valpolicella wine.

Our tasting included one of each of the types of wines above, as well as a “baby Amarone” (the Allegrini Palazzo Della Torre), where only 30% of the grapes are left to dry on racks, as opposed to 100% in the case of a full Amarone.

Here are our results:

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