Weeknight in Valpolicella

Dry · Medium-bodied · Medium tannin · High acidity · Rustic · Easygoing

A Veronese IGT using partial ripasso over Amarone pomace adding richness to the Corvina-Rondinella blend, while a small Sangiovese component adds acidity. Approachable but complex mid-tier red from Allegrini.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Medium tannin · High acidity · Easygoing · Rustic

Allegrini's estate Classico Superiore reflects the house's high Corvinone proportion (45%) adding floral lift and softer tannin alongside Corvina's cherry-herb character; a bright, food-friendly everyday Valpolicella.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Low tannin · High acidity · Fruity · Savoury

Intense ruby red, with berry fruit and sultana on the nose and a fresh, sapid palate carrying light tannin and a gentle spice, from Pier Paolo Antolini's favourite varieties.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Medium tannin · High acidity · Savoury · Elegant

Ruby red, with an intense and complex nose opening on small red fruits, notably raspberry, plum and marasca, that evolves into spiced notes, sweet vanilla and intense clove, then fresh and sapid with a fine tannin that wraps the palate in softness and warmth.

Dry · Full-bodied · Medium tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Savoury

Deep ruby red with a broad, well-defined nose and a decisive but elegant taste, robust and intense in structure with excellent drinkability, a wine the estate says wins on character and balance.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Low tannin · High acidity · Easygoing · Fruity

Lively ruby red, with a delicate, vinous and fragrant red-fruit nose and a sapid, frank and pleasant palate carrying live acidity and moderate tannin.

Dry · Full-bodied · Medium tannin · High acidity · Savoury · Fruity

Clear and lively ruby red, intense and complex, opening on raspberry, cherry and marasca and evolving into spice, sweet vanilla and intense clove, then fresh and sapid with a fine tannin that wraps the palate in softness and warmth and a pleasant dry finish.

Dry · Full-bodied · Medium tannin · Medium acidity · Rustic · Savoury

Ruby red with garnet reflections, vinous and intense on the nose and decisive, dry and soft in the mouth, from silty and clay soils inside the Valpolicella Classica zone.

Dry · Full-bodied · Medium tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Rustic

Deep ruby red with garnet reflections, intense and spiced on the nose and dry and soft in the mouth, made from both indigenous and non-indigenous varieties in the estate's vineyards.

Dry · Light-bodied · Low tannin · Medium acidity · Easygoing · Fruity

Ruby to cherry red, with a fresh and fruity nose and a light, fruity and soft flavour: a young wine the estate says adapts well to any situation.

Dry · Full-bodied · Medium tannin · High acidity · Fruity · Savoury

Brilliant ruby, with red plum, marzipan and exotic flowers over a light saline shade, then juicy and enveloping with marked acidity that keeps the red fruit and spice intact, closing on the purity of the fruit.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Low tannin · High acidity · Easygoing · Fruity

Ruby red, revealing the classic aromas of cherry and small red fruits with floral hints, then soft on the palate with what the estate calls an extraordinary freshness.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Medium tannin · High acidity · Savoury · Fruity

Transparent and brilliant ruby red, with the typical cherry and small red fruit scents plus floral and spiced shadings, and a fresh, sapid palate whose fruited character integrates pleasantly with a delicate tannic weave.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Rustic · Easygoing

The cooperative's estate Amarone Classico provides accessible quality from 230 family growers across the Classico zone; a solid, tobacco-cherry traditional Amarone at significantly better value than single-estate bottlings at comparable quality.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Medium tannin · High acidity · Elegant · Savoury

Ruby with magenta edges, a complex and delicate nose of sour cherry and bramble blackberry, cedar wood, orange peel, mocha and officinal herbs, then a fine, balanced mouth with excellent tannin grain and a vibrant saline trail.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Low tannin · Medium acidity · Easygoing · Fruity

Brilliant ruby with a fruited nose of cherry, sour cherry and plum and a pleasantly savoury, harmonious mouth: fresh, young and ready without needing long ageing.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Medium tannin · High acidity · Funky · Rustic

Soraigo shows what biodynamic Valpolicella Classico tastes like with minimal intervention: earthy, mineral, tart cherry with clay soil expressiveness and a savoury, food-friendly character that makes it a superb natural-wine discovery.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Low tannin · High acidity · Refreshing · Easygoing

The estate's look beyond the Valpantena, a Lugana from the clay flats south of Lake Garda, first made in 2020.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Medium tannin · High acidity · Savoury · Elegant

One of the estate's three faithful photographs of the Valpantena, first made in 2016, from a wholly manual harvest and grape selection intended to keep the nuances of each vintage in the glass.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Medium tannin · High acidity · Elegant · Savoury

A Superiore of real finesse and elegance, with clear scents of spice, small forest fruits and rose, and a palate the estate describes as showing great complexity and freshness.

Dry · Light-bodied · Low tannin · High acidity · Refreshing · Fruity

Fresh fruit on the nose with floral notes of violet, elegant and light with the extraordinary freshness and drinkability the estate aims for in its entry red.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Low tannin · High acidity · Easygoing · Refreshing

A dry red made by soft pressing with destemming, fifteen days of maceration with three hand punch-downs a day, and steel storage before bottling, at 13 percent alcohol and 5.7 grams per litre of total acidity.

Dry · Full-bodied · Medium tannin · Medium acidity · Savoury · Rustic

A dry red from partly dried grapes, soft pressed and destemmed, fermented at 24 to 27 degrees with fifteen days of maceration and three hand punch-downs a day.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Medium tannin · High acidity · Rustic · Savoury

Quintarelli's entry-level Valpolicella is already a lesson in traditional winemaking: high-acid, savoury cherry fruit with dried-herb complexity and three years in large oak adding gentle structure.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Low tannin · High acidity · Easygoing · Refreshing

A Valpolicella Superiore whose simplicity is the point: fresh red fruit, floral notes and a little spice from the varieties, with delicate tannin and freshness balanced by softness.

Dry · Light-bodied · Low tannin · High acidity · Easygoing · Refreshing

Ruby red with an almond scent and tones of rose and cherry, fresh and dry on the palate and pleasantly tart, a young wine of moderate alcohol to be drunk within a year or two.

Dry · Light-bodied · Low tannin · Medium acidity · Easygoing · Refreshing

The estate calls it a fresh, fruity, food-friendly wine, a blend of the indigenous grapes that reflects the terroir it takes its name from.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Low tannin · High acidity · Refreshing · Easygoing

A Trebbiano-led white with Garganega and Incrocio Manzoni, one of the two whites the Fumanelli family makes at Squarano alongside its Valpolicella reds.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Medium tannin · High acidity · Savoury · Elegant

The classic Superiore of the Squarano estate, from a Corvina and Corvinone base with Rondinella, made by traditional methods on calcareous and clay soils.

Dry · Full-bodied · Medium tannin · Medium acidity · Fruity · Easygoing

Rich, round and velvety but sociable at table: intense ruby, ripe cherry and sweet spice on the nose, rich and intense in cherry and wild berries on the palate with good persistence and soft tannins.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Medium tannin · High acidity · Refreshing · Savoury

Ruby red, with ripe red fruit of cherry and sour cherry alongside minty notes and spice, confirmed on the palate with good freshness and sapidity and, in the estate's words, great drinkability.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Low tannin · High acidity · Refreshing · Funky

Ruby, with small red fruits, iris flower and rose on the nose, then a palate where freshness and salinity dominate with minty notes and crunchy spice.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Medium tannin · High acidity · Refreshing · Elegant

Ruby red, where the freshness and integrity of the fruit give character to a medium-bodied, agreeable wine carrying the persistence of elegant dried-flower notes.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Low tannin · High acidity · Refreshing · Fruity

Medium-intensity ruby, fresh and fruity with cherry and marasca, then good body with marked acidity, a bitter-almond edge and a sapid, harmonious close.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Low tannin · High acidity · Funky · Refreshing

Novaia's no-added-sulphite Valpolicella, made with indigenous yeasts and about two months of post-fermentation maceration, staying medium-bodied, sapid and fresh.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Low tannin · High acidity · Refreshing · Fruity

Medium ruby and lively when young, with a fragrant nose of delicate flowers, fresh black cherry and warm spice, then a medium-bodied, sapid and well-balanced palate with soft tannin and good acidity.

Dry · Full-bodied · Medium tannin · Medium acidity · Savoury · Rustic

Deep ruby with an intense, clear aroma of spice and the particular notes given by refermenting on Amarone skins, then a full-bodied, structured, sapid and persistent palate with evolved tannins.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Medium tannin · High acidity · Easygoing · Rustic

Santa Sofia's Classico Superiore is a reliable, food-friendly, accessible Valpolicella from the historic Pedemonte estate with cherry-tobacco character and good acidity.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Low tannin · High acidity · Easygoing · Fruity

Brilliant ruby with a fragrant, intense and very fruity scent and a dry, harmonious taste, from the Ronchiel and La Costa vineyards in the Fumane valley.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Medium tannin · Medium acidity · Savoury · Elegant

A deep ruby red, harmonious and sapid, with an intense and agreeable scent, drawn from the Ronchiel, La Costa and Monte Sant'Urbano vineyards and picked late at the end of October.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Low tannin · High acidity · Easygoing · Refreshing

Luminous ruby, elegant and aromatically complex for its level, with fruit and prevailing spice notes, sapid and light-footed with extraordinary drinkability.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Low tannin · High acidity · Fruity · Easygoing

Ruby red with violet reflections and intense vinous scents of violet and cherry, a medium-bodied, fruity wine the estate says is made to be drunk young.

Dry · Full-bodied · Medium tannin · High acidity · Savoury · Elegant

Intense red, with red fruit, spice and cocoa on the nose, then warm and soft in the mouth and well balanced by a round tannin, from a ripasso the estate deliberately applies more restrictively than the appellation rules allow.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Medium tannin · High acidity · Rustic · Easygoing

The Capitel dei Nicalo is Tedeschi's Valpolicella Superiore partially ripassoed over dried skins, offering accessible Corvina cherry fruit with tobacco structure and good food-pairing versatility.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Low tannin · High acidity · Refreshing · Easygoing

The estate's base red, from grapes grown as high as 600 metres on basaltic and clay soils of volcanic origin in the Marano valley.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Medium tannin · High acidity · Rustic · Easygoing

Tommasi's Ripasso offers the hallmark refermentation complexity over dried Amarone skins in a well-structured, cherry-tobacco dominated medium red that is one of the zone's best-value offerings in the Ripasso DOC.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Medium tannin · High acidity · Easygoing · Savoury

Selected from the best Valpolicella in the cellar, a wine in which freshness, fruit and soft notes from refinement blend together, which the estate says gives it great versatility.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Low tannin · High acidity · Easygoing · Fruity

The estate's first organic bottling, embracing floral, fruity and pleasantly spiced notes, going straight into bottle after racking and a steel refinement so that it stays fresh and easy for everyday drinking.

Dry · Full-bodied · Medium tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Rustic

A garnet red of good intensity born from the union of Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara with Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese, whose dominant notes the estate gives as marasca cherry in spirit, liquorice and spice.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Medium tannin · High acidity · Rustic · Funky

Valentina Cubi's organic Valpolicella Superiore shows the freshness of high-altitude Fumane fruit with earthy mineral character from organic farming; a genuinely characterful everyday Valpolicella with better-than-average expressiveness.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Low tannin · High acidity · Easygoing · Fruity

Ruby red, intense in red fruit on the nose and well balanced on the palate with good acidity, from certified organic terraced hillside vineyards at 200 to 250 metres.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Low tannin · High acidity · Refreshing · Fruity

Claudio Viviani's entry red from the Mazzano hillside above Negrar: delicate bright ruby, red-berry and floral aromatics, good structure lengthened by a fresh acid vein.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Medium tannin · Medium acidity · Rustic · Savoury

A medium-structured red that carries the aromatic signature of its older brother the Amarone with a lighter touch, the result of refermenting the Valpolicella on Amarone skins.