Corte Giara Ripasso Valpolicella Superiore
Corte Giara Ripasso Valpolicella Superiore
Vintage: 2005
Region: Verona, Italy
Varietal: 60% Corvina Veronese / 35% Rondinella / 5% Molinara
Alcohol: 13.5%
Price: $13.95
Since I recently wrote about Making Sense of Italian Wine, I thought it would be relevant to review an Italian wine this week. This example from Corte Giara is a Valpolicella Superiore Ripasso, and is the last of three or so cases that I procured in late 2008. What makes this wine special? It is a Ripasso (sometimes noted as Ripassa) meaning that it was double fermented on the skins and lees of Recioto della Valpolicella. This secondary fermentation gives the wine a darker, richer flavor profile as compared to normal Valpolicella wines. It is also the reason that Ripasso wines are often referred to as ‘Baby Amarone’ since that secondary fermentation takes place on the same lees used to make Amarone. I also would be remiss not to mention the price I paid, which at under $15.00 per bottle was a deal. This is further evidenced by my purchase of 36 bottles.
On to the wine, out of the bottle it is clean and is brick like in color trailing to orange hues on its edges. On the nose, there is a touch of game, with blackberries and notes of fortified oak. At the temperature tested of 19 degrees Celsius, there were also some hints vegetation which adds some unique character. In the mouth, this wine is fresh with tart cherries up front with great balance and acidity. It has smooth tannins and a long finish to round out the experience. It isn’t overly complicated but that isn’t what this wine is about. It is an excellent foil for food yet is approachable on its own. I have enjoyed this wine with several different foods and found it to a great pair with tomato based sauces on pasta or pizza.
The 2005 Corte Giara Ripasso Valpolicella Superiore is a wine that I was glad to stock up on when I encountered it. I love it for its price, simplicity and its drinkability. It was shared with friends / family as gifts and enjoyed it at gatherings. I’m sad that I have depleted my supply but this means that I need to find a new house red wine. Let the hunt begin!
86 Points
- Corte Giara Ripasso Valpolicella Superiore
- by Adrian Bryksa
- Published on May 20th, 2009
- Photos:
- Verona, Italy
- Rating:
- 86 Points
More from Adrian Bryksa:
-
2008 Rocky Mountain Food and Wine Festival
For the third straight year, editors from Reading for New Times attended the Calgary stop of the Rocky Mountain Food and Wine Festival. The festival brings Calgarians a taste of some of the finest wines, beers and spirits being offered in the city……
-
Hillside Estate Pinotage
This wine rates in my top 10 Canadian wines, and I would seek it out at if you are interested in giving it a try.
-
Book Review: Stop Working
So, what would you do if you didn’t have to work? Most people I talk to say that they wouldn’t know what to do with themselves. This is the challenge that Derek Foster puts to the readers of his book Stop Working: Here’s How You Can.
-
Château Latour – Martillac
If you cellar wine, one of the great pleasures is to pluck out a wine that you have been holding and enjoy it – preferably with friends.
-
Wine by the glass at Vin Room
Vin Room, a wine bar and bistro has been on the tip of everyone’s tongue these days. Their expansive offerings of wine by the glass and that everyone has either went or wants to go is making this a hip spot.
-
Adamas Pinot Noir
Burgundy: there are few words in the world of wine that can mean so much. Often setting an oenophilles heart aflutter, its wines are esoteric, complicated and more often than not, misunderstood.
Other recent features:
-
Sónar 2010 – Barcelona, Spain
The festival attracts a lot of outsiders, but the Mediterranean, Spanish and more specifically Catalan nature of the people makes the festival what it is. Catalan people are passionate and this passion is infectious. The atmosphere is electric in Barcelona as a city and heightened by music and intoxicants at Sónar.
-
Summer Party Naval Styles at Seven RestoLounge
Oysters, like wine are affected by terroir and these Miyagi’s flavor profiles ranged with one showing a cleaner, almost tropical profile and the other being more salty, marine driven. As I was devouring the seemingly endless plates put in front of us, I sipped on a glass of fine sauvignon blanc.
-
R4NT Radio March 2010
R4NT Radio March 2010 um wow it’s been far too long since the last edition edition, featuring: Hector Hernandez, The Infesticons, Blockhead, Gramatik, Emika, Thunderheist, Parov Stelar, Eddy Meets Yannah, Anti-Pop Consortium, The Slew, Lighterthief, Andreya Triana, Parasyte Woman, Mathon, Venetian Snares, and Funki Porcini.
-
O Restaurant & Lounge revisited
Calgary has a diverse set of urban communities, most of which have the ubiquitous strip mall watering hole. In the South West community of Marda Loop, a reinvention of this paradigm has been established.
-
Predictions 2010.. and beyond!
So 2010 eh? Almost but not quite (no year zero they say) another decade? It seems like just yesterday that the world was waiting for Y2K. R4NT started publishing in March 2001, so we’re not quite 10 years old yet, but in internet years we are already a senior citizen.
-
Invictus
No matter what, the reality of Nelson Mandela is something that deserves screen time. Should this film even remotely intrigue the masses to take interest in this figure, the world would likely benefit greatly from it.
