Quintarelli Valpolicella Classico Superiore 2007

Valpolicella is in Veneto, Italy.
The area is mostly known for the red wine made from the grapes Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara.

The simple Valpolicella is fruity, light red wine, like Beaujolais.

If you dry the grapes after harvest, they become more concentrated and would give the wine fuller body, deeper flavor and higher alcohol. This is Amarone della Valpolicella.

Save the left over grape skins from the Amarone production and use them to re-ferment wine. This is Valpolicella Ripasso. This process is done to give more body to usually light Valpolicella wine.

Make wine with dried grapes but stop fermentation when there is still enough residual sugar, then you will have sweet wine Recioto della Valpolicella.

These methods were originally started to give more body and flavor to the wine made from the grapes that are grown under the cold weather of Northern Italy.
Necessity is the mother of invention.

Giuseppe Quintarelli Valpolicella Classico Superiore 2007

Giuseppe Quintarelli,  Maestro del Veneto, is a known producer from Veneto.
He was a perfectionist who handled every step of wine making meticulously from grape selection to the presentation of the final product.
He passed away in 2012, but his children and grandchildren manage the winery and keep his legacy alive.

This wine is ripasso.
It had medium ruby color with garnet hue.
Fresh and ripe black cherry, plum and cassis, rose, and refreshing mint.
I tasted toast or coffee beans from oak, but they were well integrated into wine.
Good flavor and structure.
I had this wine the second and third day after opening. I liked the flavor of the second day the best.

Every time I drink wine like this, I feel glad that I'm a wine lover.