Each Saturday, David Brenner of Villasfor2 in Abruzzo selects a delicious, top-value 'Everyday Italian Wine' for you to try at home – or enjoy on your Abruzzo vacation !

Valpolicella Classico. 2006. Lamberti

Along with Chianti, Valpolicella is Italy's best-known red. It's also one of its most misunderstood. There's no grape variety called 'valpolicella', or town of Valpolicella providing the centre of production. Valpolicella is a region sandwiched between Verona and Lake Garda in Italy's north-east. And as for Valpolicella wine ? Well, unlike Chianti, which is pretty much all-Sangiovese, Valpolicella can be a real mongrel of a wine, with Corvina Verona, Rondinella, Molinara, Rossignola, Negrara, Trentina, Barbera and Sangiovese grapes all able to be part of the mix. And what's the blend in  the Lamberti Valpolicella Classico ? Corvina Verona, Rondinella, Molinara and…Merlot. Merlot ? Yup. Go figure.

At the basic everyday level, you'll find two distinct methods of Valpolicella production. The first – and most usual – is to make the wine in steel tanks and drink it young. This results in a fresh, fruity, juicy wine of no particular vice or merit, that doesn't cost much; goes pretty nearly with whatever you happen to be eating; and is chugged back by the tumblerful without a second thought. It's the archetypal worldwide trattoria red. 

The second method of production – the one used by Lamberti – sticks more to traditional roots in that the wine's given a little time in barrels before it's bottled. Here, it's just three months, but that's still enough to work with the Merlot and impart a roundness and smoothness to the wine and bring out Valpolicella's initial trademark hit of ripe cherries and red fruit, giving way to a dry and slightly bitter finish.

This isn't a lush, velvety wine; not one for drinking on its own, but it's well-made; good to drink, fairly-priced; and goes singularly well with salami, tomato-sauced pasta, pizza, garlicy salsicce and char-grilled spiedini of lamb or pork.

At A Glance…

• This week's featured wine: Valpolicella Classico
• Vintage: 2006
• Producer: Lamberti
• Designation: DOC
• Grape: 70% Corvina Veronese; 20% Rondinella; 5% Molinara; 5% Merlot
• Strength: 12.5%
• Closure: Cork
• This bottle cost: €4.98

Lamberti
Another component in the massive Gruppo Italiani Vini stable, Lamberti has a relatively small list – less than a dozen wines – for such a well-known winery. That list, with a Bardolino, a Soave and a handful of varietals is reliable and well-made, but the absolute jewel in the crown and definitely worth a search is the single-vineyard Valpolicella Amarone 'Tenuta Pule', painstakingly-made with the year's finest grapes that are allowed to dry a little to concentrate their flavours before being given a couple of years in wood and then many years in the bottle. A rich, hefty, complex wine, but happily without a corresponding rich, hefty, complex price tag. In the shops for less than €20 a bottle – which makes it a perfect choice for a special meal at home.

Click on the pictures in the text for larger images – and if you like Italian wine, why not check out last week's post and bookmark this site for our regular Saturday reviews.

Next week: a white varietal from the fast-rising Campania region for you to enjoy at home – or on your Abruzzo vacation !

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 17th, 2008 at 1:23 am and is filed under David's 'Everyday Italian Wine', Eating and Drinking, Vineyards. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.