I Love Italian Wine And Food - Amarone And Friends

By: LeviReiss

This article reviews a fine, distinctive Italian red wine and its more pedestrian cousins. I look at several food pairings. Was it a bargain?

I have a confession to make. I really thought that I had finished our series I Love Italian Wine and Food, and even wrote two articles drawing conclusions, one for the red wines and one for the white wines. And then I was tempted by a bottle of Amarone, a specially made wine from the Veneto region of northern Italy. Why not do one last wine for the series? Of course there are still Italian wines to taste and to retaste. But for the time being I am moving on to French and German wines and will be launching two series I Love French Wine and Food, and I Love German Wine and Food. But first let’s talk about Amarone and its less distinctive cousins; Valopicella, Valpolicella Ripasso, and Valopolicella Recioto.

Valpolicella (DOC) is usually nothing to write home about, although some producers are said to be better than others. This deep maroon, light-bodied wine comes from the area near Verona in eastern Veneto. It contains 10% to 12% alcohol and often tastes of cooked cherries. Valpolicella is made from a blend of Corvina, Rondinella, and Molinara grapes and sometimes other grapes native to the region.
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