“Alzero” Cabernet Veneto IGT 2018

Giuseppe Quintarelli | Veneto
Az. Agr. Quintarelli Giuseppe | Via Cerè, 1 | IT 37024 Negrar

03282718 · 0,75 l · 473,33 €/l · Price (DE) incl. VAT, excl. Shipping< 24 units available
Limitation of 2 articles per customer

In 1983, Giuseppe Quintarelli did something that demonstrated the full extent of his innovative spirit and mastery: he applied the Amarone technique – allowing the grapes to dry rather than pressing them straight away – not to the native Valpolicella varieties, but to Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and a little Merlot. Bordeaux grapes, transformed by Venetian tradition. The wine quickly became something special within the family: Alzero was the favourite wine of Giuseppe's wife, Franca. Anyone who tastes it immediately understands why. The grapes are left to dry from harvest until mid-December – an even longer period than for Amarone. Only then are they pressed, with maceration and fermentation taking place slowly in the cool family cellar. This is followed by seven years' ageing in a carefully curated selection of wooden casks before the wine is bottled.

The result is something of an anomaly in the world of Italian wine: Leather, tobacco and blackcurrant – as found on the left bank of Bordeaux – blend with the concentration and intense, ripe fruit notes that only the appassimento process can impart – a powerful testament to the art of winemaking in northern Italy. Essentially an Amarone, made from Cabernet and Merlot rather than Corvina and Rondinella. A love letter to crisp autumn evenings and earthy red fruit, a tribute to the elegance and balance that only precision and time can produce. Deep, stately and unforgettable – a wine for today or for the next five decades. SUPERIORE.DE