Giuseppe Quintarelli is rightly one of the most revered winemakers in Italy and whether or not you like the full throttle Amarone style you can’t help but admire the quality of wine at this estate.
Quintarelli’s history evolved around the winery, which is located in Cerè near the village of Negrar. Quintarelli’s family has lived here since 1924. Unfortunately, Giuseppe Quintarelli passed away in January 2012, aged 84, but his family continues to follow his vision and style. One of his four daughters, Franca and her husband Giampaolo Grigoli manage the estate. They have 10 hectares of vineyards with three hectares on the hill called Monte Ca’ Paletta next to the winery. This producer does not succumb to the norm and everything they do is geared to producing the highest quality. The Valpolicella Superiore is aged 6 year rather than the local tradition of 2 years and the Amarone see eight years in large oak compared to the 3-4 years adhered to by many producers. Apart from the Amarone and Valpolicella, the property produces a range of wines including a Bianco Secco. The Ca' del Merlo is made 50/50 fresh grapes and dried grapes (appassimento) then re-fermented on the gross lees of the Amarone, a process that they call Ripasso. Meanwhile, the Rosso del Bepi is a lighter Amarone-style wine made in certain vintages. One of the great wines of the estate is the, Alzero, made primarily from Cabernet Franc. Grapes go through appassimento drying for four months and the wine spends eight years in botti. Finally, we have the Recioto della Valpolicella which is the Amarone which is left with some residual sugar resembling a non-fortified Port style wine.
The great bottle I’ve had from Quintarelli was an 1983 Recioto Gran Reserva which I opened at a tasting in New York as an afterthought following an 1985 Piedmont tasting and it ended up being one of the stars of the night.
