Sparkling: Desiderio Jeio (Bisol), Valdobbiadene Prosecco DOC Brut, 11.5%

Grapes: Prosecco, Pinot Blanc, Verdiso

 A quality Prosecco from Valdobbiadene in the heart of the zone; quality sparkler which emphasises fruit, not ageing; Charmat method suits this admirably.

Whites

'Passo Avanti', Soave DOC, Cantina di Monteforte, 2006, 13%

 Passo Avanti, like all Soave based on the Gar-gar-nega grape, with rest made up of Pinot Bianco or Chardonnay. This wine actually qualifies to be called Soave Classico (ie the wine comes from the Soave heartland). The Italian law can't decide whether you are selling a 'place', a name, or a wine, so a better wine has to be marketed differently in the UK. But the winery decided to declassify to Soave so as to be able to use a screw cap, passo avanti, a step ahead. Reliable, refreshing, modern, a good mass market wine.

'Vin Soave', Soave Classico DOC, S Inama, 2007, 12.5%

100% Garganega,

 Soave is usually cheap and neutral but this is the first of our two wines which show what it can be like if grown and vinified by the committed individual. Stefano Inama is a dynamic younger grower who has specialised in export with an excellent range of wines of the traditional and contemporary sorts, eg experimenting with the red grape Carmenere in the hills behind Vicenza or a dessert wine made from Sauvignon Blanc. Here we try his take on Soave Classico, grown on the mineral soils in the Classico district and which he believes should subjected to minimum intervention. This is his Vin Soave.

'La Rocca', Soave DOC Classico, Pieropan, 2006, 13%

  La Rocca is a single vineyard wine from the Nino Pieropan who did more than anyone to change the horizons of Soave growers. See the tribute to him as an Italian wine hero, with a pretty picture of the castle of Soave behind him. No technical info on his website about the wine but let's try it!

Sweet:

Le Colombare, Recioto di Soave, Pieropan, 2004, 13%

Garganega, Trebbiano di Soave

 Recioto di Soave, a rare modern example of a very ancient wine, which we know about from ancient Greek, Phoenician and Roman sources. Homer, the epic poet, rather than the cartoon character, 800 years before Christ praises the best wines as 'sweet and strong'. What he is probably referring to is the practise of making wines from semi-dried grapes. Why would you do this? Because, before modern hygiene, how do you preserve wine for transportation around the Mediterranean? Bottling is incredibly modern and ancient amphorae where anything but air tight. This probably led to preserving the wine by raising the alcohol level by partially drying the grapes first. Certainly there are good Roman accounts of this, by Columella in 1st C and Cassiodorus in 5th. The latter says of the famous wine of Verona that you pick your grapes and hang them indoors on 'domestic pergolas'. It is then vinified and - he adds a poetic touch - it becomes a 'beautiful, clear white wine that looks as if it were obtained from lilies'! Compared to Cassiodorus' lily wines, modern Recioto is yellow-gold in colour, with honey and flower scents, balanced, full-bodied, complex, sometimes with botrytis flavours. This is Pieropan's take on this famous ancient wine. The word 'Recioto' comes from dialect word, 'reccia', ie the upper part of the bunch of Garganega grapes, the 'ears' which are most exposed to sun. They are dried for 4-6 months, selected and vinified. This is style of wine is called 'passito', dried, as is widely practised in Italy, eg Vin Santo in Tuscany, Passito di Pantelleria, and, of course, the dry red version Amarone. Recioto has somewhat fallen out of fashion which requires great wines to be dry, powerful and (mainly) red. But it's the historic special wine of the Valpolicella area, in contrast to the relative newcomer Amarone. 

Reds

Bardolino DOC, Recchia, 2008, 12.5%,

 Bardolino: like its near neighbour, Valpolicella, this is a style of wine that is hugely under valued in modern wine making: light red. Whether in the fine wine market under the influence of Robert Parker or in the mass market of Australia or South Africa, red wines have to be big and the bigger the better, with lots of fruit and lots of alcohol. But actually on a hot summer's day or with chicken or fish, lightly chilled light red can be exactly what is required. Bardolino or standard Valpolicella, just further East, should fit the bill. All these Venetian reds are made from the same blend of grapes: mainly (35 or 40 — 65 or 80%) Corvina, of which some can be Corvinone, Rondinella and other local or international red grapes. Corvina sets the tone - fruity, sour cherry in flavour, pleasant rather than characterful. A good mass market wine.

Valpolicella DOC Ripasso Classico Superiore, Recchia (for Waitrose) 2005, 14%

 Valpolicella Classico Superiore Ripasso. A high quality large producer's Ripasso, this one made for Waitrose by Recchia, incidentally the producer of the Bardolino we tasted. If basic Valpolicella should cheap, refreshing and reliable, the Veneto has to do something special to produce wines of character and substance. Corvina is light and fruity if not spectacularly perfumed, the other grapes in the mix are really insurance and decent blenders. So where it the intensity and excitement going to come from? The answer is from the by-product of the dried grape wines - from the semi-fermented skins and pips of Recioto or Amarone. So after these skins have been used to produce the depth of colour and flavour for the first wines, they are then used a second time, ie the just fermented Valpolicella is passed over the residues to enrich them. Hence 'ripasso', to pass over some thing. So a light wine is enriched by the by product of a dried grape wine, 'versatile Venetians' indeed.

'Campi Magri', Valpolicella DOC Superiore, Corte Sant' Alda, 2005, 13.5%

 A top quality small producer's version of Ripasso, 'Campi Magri', Corte Sant'Alda by Marinella Camerani, in Mezzane di Sotto (ie Valpolicella, not Val Classico). The literal translation of the vineyard name is 'lean fields' and that may be the clue - top wines are often grown in very demanding territory. Marinella describes herself as 'artigiana della vite e del vino' and indeed won the 'Grower of the Year' in this year's Gambero Rosso, for the quality of her wines and her commitment to organic farming. She uses traditional methods, ferments this wine from a single vineyard in oak vats with naturally occurring yeasts. After the enrichment process of ripasso, the wine is then matured for two years in large barrels made of cherry for two years.

Amarone della Valpolicella DOC, Valpatena, Tezza, 2003, 16%

 Amarone della Valpolicella, Tezza, in Valpatena. If Recioto was the traditional big wine of the region, the modern classic is Amarone, a dry wine of great power and potentially complexity made from semi-dried red grapes. In the old days, if your fermentation went well you got Amarone, literally the big 'bitter' wine, ie dry; if it stopped before all the sugar was used up, you got traditional Recioto, a sweet red wine. Nowadays, with better control, you can choose and the overwhelming choice is Amarone, because of the potential for a high price and demand for rich red wines with structure. But why is it expensive? · Pick perfect bunches grapes in early/mid September; if they are not perfect they will rot in the slow drying out process· Lay them in a single layer with lots of air around them; you can use dehumidier but not heating;· Dry out for 3-4 months until the grapes have lost 50% of weight; this increases percentage of sugar and reduces acidity;· [Remove botrysised grapes as desired]· Either vinified traditionally during Jan and Feb with long maceration period, slow fermentation because of low temperatures and long ageing· or with temp control for fruitier modern style· aged either in large Slavonian oak or in barriques· release after five years [or sooner if in modern fruit led style]The most recent threat has been the vast expansion of Amarone and Passito at the expense of simple Valpolicella. Can all these wines really live up to the demands of quality Amarone or are they just tryng to cash in on a famous name? This aided by the change in the law to allow drying of grapes with fans in the critical first ten days of drying out when rot is most likely - but again, is this really what Amarone about or should it continue to be a small scale, hand made wine?