Ripasso della Valpolicella DOC

Ripasso della Valpolicella DOC

Ripasso della Valpolicella DOC is considered the little brother of the big, opulent Amarone. Similar in taste, but a bit more upbeat and lighter. Both come from the north of Italy, more precisely from the northeast, the Valpolicella, north of Verona.

Ripasso means as much as renewed passage. This is actually the most important thing about the process: the finished wine is fermented a second time after the end of fermentation in the spring on the dried Amarone marc of the previous fall, the yeasts and sugars contained in the skins of the marc trigger a second fermentation. Thus, additional colorants and tannins enter the wine, it acquires more body, more character, more fullness of flavor and a higher alcohol content.

With the rise of Amarone, Ripasso has also gained ground, largely displacing the traditional Valpolicella. In the past, before the boom times of Amarone, the area was known for a light, always tart but still drinkable drop with little alcohol and pronounced fruit. Valpolicella was very popular and was grown far beyond its actual area of origin; only about one-tenth came from the real Valpolicella at that time. Today this wine has almost disappeared, the Ripasso process, the "upgrade" of Valpolicella, so to speak, is experiencing widespread popularity. Ripasso can be an oenological gamble that is not always crowned with success, one also encounters wines with passito-like, compote notes, because the second fermentation is difficult to control. In the lucky case, however, a wine with complex, incomparable aromas is obtained, the marriage of the fresh Valpolicella fruit with the slightly bitter note of Amarone. Much more than its copy.