A good Italian quaffer
4 December 2006
Rocca Valpolicella 2004
Available from selected Checkers branches; R28.99
Valpolicella is a Denominazione di origine Controllata (DOC)
area in the Veneto region in north east Italy. It gives its name to a
well-known dry red wine, and is also the home of Amarone and Recioto wines,
both made with dried grapes.
I spent two wonderful days there in 2005. One was a Monday
which saw me motoring slowly along the mountain passes stopping frequently
to take photographs and searching for an open restaurant. Most
establishments are ‘chiuso’ after the hectic weekend, but I found one
(practically a truck stop diner) and ordered by pointing at the plates on my
neighbour’s table. The meal was fantastic … and there were one or two
Italian sports cars parked alongside the huge trucks which are used to
transport the marble hewn from these hills down to the valley.
The preceding day, I had been the guest of two friends in the
wine industry; Roberta is in the marketing department of one of the largest
producers in Italy: Gruppo Italiano Vini (think ‘Distell’), and Anna then
worked for a Valpolicella winery. We couldn’t, of course, leave Anna’s flat
in Sant’ Ambrogio di Valpolicella until we’d knocked back several cups of
expresso and waited for everyone to spill out of church. We then strolled
several blocks to a wine bar – where we were the only women; all the others,
I was told, were at home preparing the Sunday lunch – where Anna asked the
owner to pour us three different Valpolicellas that he considered most
‘typico’.
On his finding out that I wanted to learn, 15 bottles
magically appeared, and he proceeded to lecture me about the various styles
of wine – in Italian, which I don’t speak. It was a wonderful wine
experience, nonetheless!
A leisurely lunch in one of the many small mountain villages
followed, before we paid a visit to a producer – who tore into the wine bar
owner’s careful and deliberate explanation, and offered his own. The two
encounters taught me that Valpolicella comes in many forms and, despite DOC
regulations, there is a great deal of variation in technique. Certainly, the
quality levels vary remarkedly; there is Valpolicella to quaff (and some to
ignore) and Valpolicella to revere – like the 1957 gem I sipped a few days
later with Roberta at Vinitaly.
The 2004 Valpolicella I found in Checkers is one of the good
quaffers, made by Angelo Rocca & Figli. Its made, the back label says
without disclosing proportions, from corvina, molinara and rondinella – the
three most popular grapes allowed by the DOC. (Corvina is regarded as the
best grape and contributes structure and body, molinara provides a
refreshingly high acidity and rondinella is rather more neutral, and serves
to extend the blend.)
It is relatively light bodied, at 11.5% alcohol (the minimum
required for standard Valpolicella is 11% – the Superiore version must have
12%). In the glass it is medium-deep, not as opaque as many wines from
French varieties and not nearly as light as a pinot noir, sangiovese or
nebbiolo can be. The aromas are pure seduction – violets, red plums and sour
red cherries with just a touch of cloves and nutmeg, as well as some scrub;
all these follow onto the palate as flavours.
The tannins are firm but not as drying as many expect Italian
wine to be, there’s lots of soft juicy fruit, refreshing acidity and – wow –
what a pleasure to drink a red wine that doesn’t pack an alcoholic punch.
Definitely a wine for early drinking without too much
contemplation. Slipping down easily now, it has the structure to improve
over the next 12 months but not much beyond that. It’ll easily match most
Italian dishes – from reduced tomato sauces to mushroom risotto to lamb
chops with rosemary and garlic.
Verdict: Buy and try
Foreign
fling