Wine Lesson 101 - Verona

First rule of thumb in Italy....everything in the carafe is delicious (that was my new word from London being used)!  Seriously, if you are going to drink wine with lunch, appetizers, dinner and beyond be sure to stick with the carafe of house wine as it has approx 10% alcohol compared to a bottle in Italy which is around 13%...I have learned this the hard way.  As a side note, many red wines in the states are in the 14.5% range...ouch!

Speaking of which, last night we went to dinner at Greppia and it was fantastic.  Jeff's Homemade Pasta with Truffles stole the show.  It began to rain but could have cared less - we were nice and cozy next to a beautiful couple from Germany.  We all became fast friends thanks to their ability to speak multiple languages.  After the best Tiramisu I have ever had (fun fact - Tiramisu means "lift me higher" not "make be bigger"), the four of us proceeded to a local wine bar.  Wine bars are numerous in Verona and a great place to learn about the local varietals.  Which leads me to Wine Lesson 101 Verona....the lessons I learned.

My absolute favorite varietal is grown in Northern Italy, Amarone della Valpolicella or Amarone for short.  In the states, Amorone is incredibly expensive so we don't have the opportunity to drink it as often as we would like BUT in Italy it is inexpensive and gorgeous! In Italy, Amorone is the fourth biggest seller behind Chianti, Asti, and Soave. Amarone is made with grapes that have been dried on racks for at least four months.  This brings out the beautiful flavors or licorice, dried fruit and tobacco, creates a deep garnate color and and increases the sugar.  The selection process for the grapes is done by hand  then the bunches are placed in a single layer. I have heard that the smell in the drying rooms is amazing (next trip)!  In the winter, they press the grapes and fermentation begins. After fermentation Amarone is aged for at least two years in wooden barrels. It is allowed to sell Amarone three years after harvest but many wineries follow old tradition and leave the Amarone in barrels for five or more years. The result...gorgeous structure, a sultry, silky mouth feel and a wine that can be kept in your cellar for over 20 years.  But luckily, Amarone can be drunk young as well!

Now a new one for me....Ripasso which means 'revision'.  Ripasso is the technique used by Valpolicella winemakers to enrich the normal Valpolicella wine with the flavors of the Amarone. After harvest, the best grapes are dried for four months before they are processed to become Amarone (see above), normal grapes are vinified soon after harvest to make the normal Valpolicella. In the winter, the five months old Valpolicella wine is put on the grape skins left at the end of the Amarone making process so that they can get some of the flavor of the Amarone. The result is Risapasso Valpolicella which is a medium bodied wine between the normal Valpolicella and the Amarone. I fell in love with Ripasso while in Verona....such a romantic city!

Now it is off to drink more Rispossa on our last night in Verona....