Campolongo di Torbe, Valle di Megrar’s dark light (1)

Driving along the road northeast from Verona to Negrar you could easily think you were in Bavaria with the postcard perfect scenery of rolling hills almost entirely covered with orderly vineyards and interspersed with pastel-colored homes. But the area is that of Valpolicella Classica which extends from Sant’Amborgio to Negrar, the westernmost sector of the wine world’s golden zone.

For years, business has been very good for all the many wineries in the valley (vallis polis cellae). And this is not only thanks to Amarone, which with its rounded and bold character has conquered markets in colder climates – Northern Europe and Canada in particular – including the United States, where it is considered a kind of Zinfandel. The area has also won a special place in the hearts of wine lovers thanks to Valpolicella Ripasso which is viewed a bridge between that excellent ready-to-drink wine Valpolicella and the superstar that ages so magnificently.

Amarone (amaro means bitter) is similar to Umbria’s Sagrantino in that it was initially supposed to be a sweet wine: Recioto. In other words, it was a Recioto ‘gone wrong’ that was created in the 1930s under the name ‘Recioto Amaro’, it being bitter due to the lack of sugar residue.  Under the 1968 classification for Valpolicella the wine was renamed Recioto Amarone, a name it kept until 1991 when a clear distinction was made between the sweet Recioto della Valpolicella and the dry Amarone della Valpolicella.

Amarone is a Valpolicella blend of Corvina grapes, which give the wine its structure and magnificent cherry notes; Rondinella, which contributes color and spice; Molinara for the acidity; and sometimes the tannin-rich Oseleta. Amarone is a rare dry red wine made from raisinated grapes with a sugar residue that fluctuates between 5-10g per liter. It is a wine that has become what it is thanks also to enologist Nino Franceschetti, who for years was the consultant at the Masi winery.

Like many other important red-wine producing areas of Italy, a variety of styles are used to make Amarone, although in this case the main variable does not involve the type of wood used or grape yield but the possibility for grapes in certain vineyards to be attacked by noble rot which, when well-managed, can clearly enhance the softness of the finished wine, giving Amarone its great mellowness. 

 

Masi’s role 

There can be no denying that Masi has always played a leading role among the many fine producers in the area. This without a doubt thanks to its owner Sandro Boscaini, one of the most important men in the Italian wine world even if he is lesser known among wine lovers than Angelo Gaja or the Marchese Antinori. A businessman of extraordinary success – among other things he was one of the founders of Vinitaly - Boscaini transformed his estate into in beacon for the area with its clear and recognizable style.

It is a style that admirably bring together the character of the land and the pleasure of drinking, with one eye on the past and the other open towards the future, with constant research into methods of raisinating at the University of Milan under professors Scienza and Brancadoro.

Masi’s Amarone wines are strictly produced using absolutely healthy grapes, with noble rot kept under control on the vine (given that the mold is not uniform), spasmodic control as the grapes raisinate and the use of inoculated yeasts (naturally selected, reproduced and preserved at a temperature of -80°C in the laboratories of the university of Verona). The result is that the only variations between wines depend on the nature of the harvest.

This include an extraordinary wine made from grapes from the Torbe di Negar vineyard that is dry but not dry and is, in fact, soft with padded yet lively tannins. It is a luminous wine with a dark light, bold yet incredibly pleasing to drink, one that achieved the utmost pleasure imaginable with vintage 1995.

The Torbe vineyard dates back as far as 1190 and became a cru in 1958. It has a calcareous soil rich in volcanic tuff and a southwest exposure and is situated at an altitude of some 350m above sea level. Critics and wine lovers agree that the Amarone it produces is one of the best of the whole area.

DoctorWine: Why did you decide to treat Campolongo di Torbe as a cru?

Sandro Boscaini: After the Second World War, my father carried out a long and meticulous study, analyzing 27 authentic Valpolicella Classica cru. The qualitative and historic evidence he gathered led him to classify some of them and the first wine to be produced from a single vineyard was Campolongo di Torbe in 1958. It is an historic vineyard that was mentioned in a document from 1190 which defined the vineyards of Capavo – today Campolongo di Torbe – as the most suited to produce a wine with great structure and personality.

DW: Does it make sense to use the term cru for a wine made with raisinated grapes?

SB: For sure. Amarone is not just the product of the intriguing method of raisinating grapes. It is the result of a combination of interactions between the grape varieties, microclimate, soil and production technology. In my view, more than for other wines, the varietals used to produce Amarone are of the utmost importance. For example, having a final blend with 20% composed of Molinara or not using it at all (in two Amarone produced in the same area and using the same method),  or using or not using 20% Oseleta produces totally different wines. The polyphenolic properties (anthocyanins and tannins) of these two varietals are completely different and thus logically produce different wines. Corvina and Corvinone, the most important grapes for Amarone, are equally as different. The first has a smaller fruit and a thinner skin but more natural wax on it than Corvinone, which has a greater fruit/skin ratio. These differences are only a few of the reasons why Corvinone takes longer to raisate than Corvina.

DW: Masi never stops studying methods for raisinating grapes. What have been the most important results of this research?

SB: One of the most fascinating discoveries in recent years was that the genetic activity of the different grape varieties is not the same after the grapes are picked from the vine. Cellular and molecular biological studies have demonstrated that, once picked, the grapes change their metabolism depending on the new environmental conditions and their genetic makeup. You could say that certain genes are ‘turned off’ and others are ‘turned on’. This does not necessarily take place immediately but at different times during the process of raisinating depending on the varietal. Another discovery was that the sugar level of the grapes when drying is not linear with a loss in weight and this because it depends on other qualities of the grapes that are genetically determined in every cultivar.  Studies have determined that Corvina is very suited for raisinating and under the same environmental conditions dries much slower than grapes like Oseleta and this is true even with harvests that are very different form each other. Another example; Cabernet Sauvignon, which is an exceptional grape, easily acquires unpleasant bitter notes when dried.

The study of new raisianting methods is important to ensure a more precise kinetic precision in the dehydration of the grapes: through controls of temperature, humidity and air flow in order to better control the drying process. The primary goal is to reduce the oxidative process to a minimum.

(Tomorrow we will conclude our interview and move on to a vertical tasting of Amarone Campolongo di Torbe).