This generous, smooth, silky and rich wine, with its palate full of plum, red berry, black cherry and Christmas cake spices offers the foretaste of an Amarone at a less costly fee and at more terrestrial alcohol levels. This is one of the most sought-after and best-selling wines we've had year in and year out. It's a brilliant synthesis of what are, for many, the prerequisite components for being a very, very good red wine.
The Zenato family are based in the scenic town Peschiera on Lake Garda (home to a theme park called GardaLand - not a joke), which gives them privileged access to vineyards in Lugana (their spiritual home they tell me), Soave and Valpolicella.
Allowing them access to fruit in pristine condition, this gives them time, which is a valuable commodity in winemaking, to make decisions and to age the wines in a manner consistent to their beliefs and goals. It's a good system.
Made from Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella, the classic Valpolicella grape varieties, this is another execution that the Zenato family are rightly proud to stand over. Famed for their whites that are grown on the slopes beside Lake Garda, they are relative newcomers to red wine production, but their steadfast adherence to vineyard management and good practices that have made such wonderful whites has become the bedrock for the success of their reds.
You can't perhaps get the minerality that the whites have in a red like this, but you do see balance and finesse that their white wine heritage provides and it's brighter and possesses more clarity than their monumental Amarone.
What we really like is that it shows a very even-handed and pleasing transition from one winemaking discipline to the next.
Region: Veneto
Country: Italy
Grape(s): Corvina
Style: Structured, Smooth, Silky, Rich, Full, Dark, Creamy, Complex, Balanced
Best food matches: Venison, Red Meats, Grills, Game, Cheeses, Charcuterie, Casseroles
Alcohol: 14%