True Romance… Amarone & Garanegra vs Romeo & Juliet

An agriturismo is possibly one of my most coveted places to visit while in Italy. Essentially an independently owned farm, these alternatives to hotels offer a superbly intimate way to experience authentic, Italian produce- most of which is made in house.  Think freshly churned butter, sweet, wild honey and grassy olive oil. Better still, some even have their own vineyards. Once checked in, there’s pretty much no reason to leave. Ever.

Recently I had the privilege and delight to visit Verona. Forget Shakespeare’s balcony, we headed straight to the luscious Corte San Mattia. This brief stay offered much to sing about, but today I want to hone in on a couple of their delicious wines. After a brief tour of the vineyard we sat down with Somm-In-Training- Lorenzo, to talk about how Giovanni Ederle is producing wine which is the ultimate expression of this beguiling terroir. Fully organic and hand crafted, his passion for winemaking is reflected in each part of the process, producing elegant and refined rewards.

Here I discovered Garganega, a white grape typical to the Veneto region- particularly in Verona. Despite being lost as the main grape in many a bottle of boring Soave, in the gifted hands of Ederle, it produces wine of real complexity, near golden in colour.

The vineyard also plays host to my most favourite Italian red- Amarone. What sets Amarone apart from most wine is a process called appassimento  (to dry or shrivel in Italian). Put simply, grapes are harvested as per normal, but then left to dry into raisins (on straw mats), losing approximately 30-40% of their weight. The result is an intensely concentrated and high sugar grape, which in turn produces majestic, intoxicating wines.

The first time Amarone touched my lips, I fell madly in lust. Powerful, complex and persistent- yet beautifully balanced and improving with age… It’s like someone stole my perfect man and smashed him into a bottle.

Here’s a couple highlights of what we drank…

Donna Francesca- PGI Bianco Veronese

• Grapes: garganega and chardonnay
• Soils: clay, loamy, calcareous
• Fining: 12 months in medium untoasted French oak barrels
• Fining in the bottle: 1 year
• Maximum aging time planned: 15 years
• Alcoholic content: 13.5% vol
• Colour:  gold as gold
• Aroma (nose): honey, ripe yellow fruit, hint of exotic fruits, magnolia and broomflower
• Taste: complex and fully-bodied, warm rounded, chalk-like minerality and good fresh acidity

Amarone Della Valpolicella

• Grapes:  corvina, corvinone, rondinella, croatina
• Denomination: Amarone della Valpolicella DPO
• Soils: clay, loamy, calcareous
• Harvesting: by hand, by selection
• Drying:  4 months on mats
• Fining: 18 months in French oak tonneaux
• Fining in the bottle: 1-2 year
• Maximum aging time planned: 25 years
• Alcoholic content: 16% vol
• Colour:  intense garnet red with vibrant ruby highlights
• Aroma (nose): cherries soaked in alcohol, blackberries, violets, rose and liquorice
• Taste: Complex, warm, marked but rounded tannins and good minerality, persistent, long finish.

I long to return one day to meet Signor Ederle himself, and delve deeper into his deep skill and passion for wine-making. Until then, you cats can find out more here…

http://www.giovanniederle.it/en/

http://www.agriturismosanmattia.it/en/