Zenato Ripassa Valpolicella Ripasso Superiore DOC 2021, Veneto

Zenato Ripassa Valpolicella Ripasso Superiore DOC is one of the wines that made the family’s name. The grapes, chiefly Corvina Veronese with Corvinone and Rondinella, are hand-picked from stony, chalky-limestone hillsides at 250 to 300 metres. The young wine is first fermented in the usual way, then in January it is “re-passed” for a week over the pomace left from making Amarone. This ripasso method sparks a second gentle fermentation, adding body, depth and a hint of dried-fruit richness. It then ages for a long spell in wood before further time in steel and bottle.

Deep ruby in colour, Ripassa opens with cherry, redcurrant and violet, layered with sweet spice, light toast and a balsamic note. The palate is rich yet balanced and fresh, with soft, velvety tannins, dark fruit, a touch of chocolate and a long, spicy finish.

This is a wine for hearty food: braised beef, roast lamb, venison or rabbit stew, mushroom risotto, polenta with mushrooms and aged hard cheeses. Serve at around 18°C, and give it a little air beforehand. Zenato Ripassa is drinking well now and will develop nicely for five to eight years.

Zenato’s story begins in 1960 at San Benedetto di Lugana, on the southern shore of Lake Garda, where Sergio Zenato and his wife Carla Prospero set out to show what this corner of the Veneto could do. Today their children, Nadia and Alberto, run the family estate from Peschiera del Garda, farming nearly a hundred hectares of vineyards across Lugana, Valpolicella and Bolgheri. The range is built on two pillars: crisp, characterful Lugana whites from the lakeside clay soils, and rich, generous Valpolicella reds from the chalky hillsides above Verona, crowned by Ripassa and Amarone. Sustainability matters here too, with the family following the Equalitas programme since 2021 and keeping bees on the Costalunga estate in Valpolicella.