Rosso Del Bepi Quintarelli 2008

Quintarelli Rosso Del Bepi 2008 is a full-bodied red wine produced by the estate of the late Giuseppe Quintarelli in Valpolicella, in the Veneto region of northern Italy. Giuseppe (Bepe) Quintarelli was one of the true icons of Italian wine until his death in 2012, celebrated for his hedonistic and long-lived Valpolicellas, reciotos and Amarones. Bepe worked with uncompromising attention to detail and patience at a time when the rest of Italy was embracing the efficiencies occasioned by the industrialisation of wine. Rosso del Bepi is the appassimento wine that Quintarelli produces in years in which no Amarone wine is made. It is made using the same processes, including air-drying of the grapes and seven years of elevage in large-format Slavonian oak casks. "This wine reflects the ideals of a classic blend of Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella (with a smaller percentage of other varieties mixed in for good measure), although you do feel some of the extra heat of the vintage, with some lingering sweetness on the close. The wine registers at 15.5% alcohol, and there are ripe nuances of dark fruit, sweet cherry and jammy blackberry. The wine is immediately open, accessible and beautiful, but like all of Quintarelli`s releases, it would also benefit from additional aging." Monica Larner, 2019