Zenato Valpolicella Classico Superiore DOC 2022, Veneto

Zenato Valpolicella Classico Superiore DOC comes from the historic Classico heart of Valpolicella, in the hills north of Verona. The grapes, mainly Corvina Veronese with Rondinella and Corvinone, grow on stony, chalky-limestone slopes at 250 to 300 metres and are picked by hand. After a gentle crush and around ten days’ maceration in stainless steel, the wine spends about a year in oak tonneaux, which adds a layer of spice without masking the fruit.

In the glass it is a bright ruby red. The nose is classic Valpolicella: sour cherry and wild berries, with hints of violet and almond. The palate is dry, smooth and velvety, with a mineral edge, ripe cherry and prune flavours, good structure and a long, clean finish. It sits neatly between a light everyday Valpolicella and the richer Ripasso style.

This is a very versatile red for the table. Try it with pasta in tomato or meat sauces, roast pork or chicken, grilled sausages and burgers, or a plate of salami and hard cheese. Serve at around 18°C, perhaps a touch cooler in summer. Zenato’s Valpolicella Superiore is drinking well on release and will keep happily for three to five 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.