In our online wine shop there are several wines that win the hearts of customers with very different tastes and buying habits alike. Some bottles are evergreens of the wine world: they always stay at the top of the best-seller list, whatever the season.
Let’s look at two of them, a red and a white, both from a region renowned for producing high-quality wines, the Veneto: we are talking about Ripassa Zenato and Lugana Cà dei Frati.
Ripassa Valpolicella Ripasso DOC Zenato
Made from Corvina, Rondinella and Oseleta grapes, Ripassa Zenato is one of the most significant wines in the Veneto winery’s evolution. It stands out for its particular winemaking: after the dried Amarone grapes have fermented, the finest selection of Valpolicella is passed over the Amarone pomace, triggering a second, brief fermentation. It then ages in oak casks for 18 months and for 6 months in the bottle.
This process raises the alcohol content and enriches the wine with colour, extract and aromas, producing a refined wine with intense aromas of cherry and plum, a velvety, harmonious taste and excellent structure.
It has received many accolades, from excellent scores from James Suckling and Wine Spectator to gold medals in competitions, international ones included.
The Valpolicella Ripasso DOC production area runs along the foothills of the province of Verona, stretching from Lake Garda to near the border with the province of Vicenza.
The practice of passing wine over the pomace is rooted in the age-old customs of local winegrowers, with documented traces going back to the Middle Ages. It was in the 1960s that this traditional practice, the basis of Valpolicella Ripasso, was officially recognised and regulated.
Ripassa Zenato is available in a 6-bottle case, so you can stock up on Ripassa and save.
Lugana Cà dei Frati
Cà dei Frati has called it “its pride and joy”: an iconic wine that has contributed greatly to the winery’s fame, Lugana has a strong sense of place.
Made from 100% Turbiana grapes, an ancient native variety of the area, Lugana Cà dei Frati is surprising because, although it is a wine to drink young, it also offers an excellent experience after a few years of bottle ageing. Fresh, linear, very fine and elegant, Lugana expresses delicate notes of white flowers and balsamic notes, with hints of apricot and almonds.
As mentioned, it evolves wonderfully over time, developing more pronounced mineral notes and gaining greater complexity in its iodine, spice and candied fruit hints. It envelops the palate with marked savouriness, together with lively, exuberant acidity.
The Lugana DOC appellation is interregional and covers a small production area across five municipalities between Brescia and Verona. This place has a profound influence on the wine’s structure.
The lake, with its body of water and the influence of the winds from Trentino, creates a considerable temperature difference between day and night, shaping an ideal climate for the vineyard all year round.
The four glaciations that affected this area have constantly moderated the temperature and left a legacy of hydrogeological material made up of mixed stones from the Alpine slopes, giving a unique character to this territory shared between Lombardy and the Veneto.
