Valpolicella Classico Superiore

Quintarelli's Valpolicella Classico Superiore is not a textbook ripasso: the house's own version of the technique is more lees-driven and gentler. Roughly half the fruit is fermented fresh, half from briefly appassimento-dried grapes (around two months on racks). The young wine is then racked at the end of February onto the Amarone marc and lees, kicking off a second fermentation with native yeasts - a baby Amarone in style rather than a typical Ripasso della Valpolicella.

Composition for this 2003 is the local Valpolicella trio - Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella - topped up with small quantities of Cabernet Sauvignon, Nebbiolo, Croatina, and Sangiovese: 55% Corvina+Corvinone, 30% Rondinella, 15% across the four others. Quintarelli never publishes exact percentages within the local trio.

Aged around seven years in large Slavonian oak botti before release - unusually long for a Valpolicella-labelled wine. 15% ABV.

2003 was the European canicule - record summer heat and drought, early harvest, low yields. Valpolicella produced very ripe, concentrated, alcohol-forward wines; the broader consensus is that 2003 Amarones tend to be roasted and short-aging compared to balanced vintages like 2004 or 2006. The Classico Superiore's long botti élevage and lees reprise absorb much of that vintage heat - this bottle is more drinkable now than the 2003 Amarone would be.