Valpolicella Ripasso

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• The production zone is sheltered to the north by the Lessini mountain range and benefits from the proximity of Lake Garda and the southerly aspect of its hillside and valley-floor vineyards, enjoying a mild and not excessively rainy climate.
• Rainfall is not excessive except during winter, and the annual average ranges between 850 and 1,000 mm.
• The soils of Valpolicella are derived from the weathering of calcareous-dolomitic formations as well as from basalts and morainic and fluvial deposits of volcanic origin, displaying aspects of variability.
• Vineyards are planted at elevations of up to 500 metres above sea level, with varying aspects depending on the hillside slopes on which they are located.
• On the lower and middle hillsides, which do not exceed 300 metres above sea level, soils are sandy-gravelly and clayey in character.
• The higher slopes of the production zone feature marly limestones identified as Biancone and Scaglia.

• The technique of passing the wine over the grape marc — the ripasso method — an elaboration exclusive to the winegrowers of Valpolicella, can be traced back to the Middle Ages in documents recording the purchase of vineyard land.
• During the era of the Most Serene Republic of Venice, the wines of Valpolicella were known as 'vini dogali' and were prized by the Venetian doges.
• In 1873, at the Universal Exposition in Vienna, the wine that would become Valpolicella Ripasso received highly favourable assessments.
• In the 1960s, the traditional practice at the heart of Valpolicella Ripasso was formally recognised and regulated by prefectural decrees governing harvests in Valpolicella.

• The wine displays a ruby colour with garnet reflections, a lightly ethereal bouquet of red fruit with notes of vanilla, and a refined, harmonious, dry, and velvety palate.
• Compared with standard Valpolicella, Ripasso is characterised by greater structure and longevity, higher alcoholic strength, lower acidity, greater roundness, and higher levels of extract and phenolic compounds.

• The mild and not excessively rainy climate of the zone — warmer in summer and autumn — ensures a fairly regular ripening of the grapes and gives valley-floor Ripasso a restrained alcoholic strength and a balanced aromatic profile with floral notes.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

All appellations in Italy

Sources

• eAmbrosia register (EU) — File number PDO-IT-A0446
• Official trade body site — Consorzio Tutela Vini Valpolicella