DRINK DIFFERENT - VALPOLICELLA RIPASSO

Spring might be around the corner, but the lingering cold weather definitely calls for a big – in texture, body and alcohol – red wine.  Among the heartiest on offer is Amarone della Valpolicella, produced in the Veneto region in northeast Italy, its hugeness comes from the process of drying (or ‘raisining’) the grapes on mats before fermentation, increasing the intensity of the fruit and of the alcohol, which regularly passes 15%.

This process is, however, expensive, but fear not – in the same region another wine captures much of that intensity at a much lower cost.  Ripasso wines from Valpolicella are made from the same native grapes (such as Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara), but instead of being dried, the fermented juice is passed (hence ‘Ripasso’) over the lees of that expensive Amarone wine, imparting colour, texture and flavor – as well as inducing a secondary fermentation which boosts the alcohol content.

A winter wine for the last blast of cold weather at a bargain price – what’s not to like?