Amarone della Valpolicella, more known as just Amarone, is a pretty well-known wine. It’s usually being sought out by the older customers who remember it from years ago at the height of its modern day popularity. Of course once I show them some Amarone their jaw drops at the sight of the price. Amarone is not cheap and for a good reason: It takes a lot of work to produce. The grapes are dried on mats in the sun or, using the more modern method, stacked in open crates being blown with hot air until they’re basically raisins. Then they’re squeezed for the juice, which isn’t a lot as you can imagine. So prepare to spend some dough on an Amarone.
But never fear, Amarone lover! There are other options. Namely a Valpolicella Ripasso Superiore. A quality fine wine is made using the same grape varietals as Amarone (Corvina, Molinara, and Rondinella) in the same region of Veneto, Italy. “Ripasso” means “re-passed”, and this is because it then gets to sit and macerate with the pumice from recently made Amarone. This gives it a darker color, fuller body, more structure, that beautiful raisinated Amarone flavor, and it starts a second fermentation to give it more alcohol. Also, it’s much friendlier on the wallet.
