Giuseppe Quintarelli, Ca’ del Merlo, Veneto, Italy 2016

The late, great Maestro del Veneto, Giuseppe Quintarelli, succeeded in establishing his mythical and legendary estate during an amazing sixty-year career. All of the tradition, love, heart, and soul of crafting one of the world’s finest wines continue at the Quintarelli home and winery in the hills north of Verona. Giuseppe’s daughter Fiorenza, his son-in-law Giampaolo, and his grandsons Francesco and Lorenzo are all keeping a close watch over the family’s legacy.

It is impossible to speak about Quintarelli without superlatives. The name itself stands for so much: the family, the wines, a style, a tradition, a way of doing things. After all the time, effort, patience, and care that go into the making of a bottle of Quintarelli, it truly does mean so much more than wine. Giuseppe, fondly known as “Bepi” to those closest to him, was a perfectionist in every way. From the beautiful handwritten labels, to the best possible quality cork, to the exquisite wine in the bottles, the Quintarelli name is a stamp of authenticity and the ultimate indication of an artisanal, handmade, uncompromising wine of the highest quality.

Nothing is ever hurried at Quintarelli. The wines take their time and are given the time they need. In the still, quiet calm of the family cellars above the town of Negrar, along the winding via del Cerè, deep in the Valpolicella zone, the wine from the family’s hillside vineyards ages patiently and gracefully in large casks until it is ready. Every release is a masterpiece, a testament to time, tradition, skill, and passion, the creations of a master artisan. You can’t really compare these wines to any other in the region, or anywhere else in the world. They really are in a class and a category all their own.

Producing a bottle of Quintarelli is no simple task. After harvest, while half of the fruit—in this case, a diverse blend made up mainly of Corvina, Corvinone, and Rondinella—is crushed and fermented like a traditional red wine, the remaining grapes are set to dry for two months in a process known as appassimento. After the two lots are blended, the wine is then passed over the pressed skins from the family’s Amarone, a powerful wine made entirely from dried grapes. During this ripasso, the sugars left over in the Amarone pomace set off a small secondary fermentation, slightly boosting alcohol content and, crucially, contributing additional texture and rich, complex flavors. Only after all this has taken place is the wine racked to massive Slavonian oak botti, where it rests for no fewer than seven years before bottling.