RIPASSO

The Valpolicella Ripasso of Montetondo completes the estate's classic Veronese red wine range by offering the Valpolicella grape blend in its most complex and most developed form short of the full Amarone. Produced through the Ripasso technique — re-fermenting the Valpolicella base wine on the dried Amarone grape skins — the wine acquires additional body, colour, aromatic richness, and alcoholic strength that transform it from the accessible freshness of the standard Valpolicella into something of considerably greater weight and complexity.

The six days of pressing and maceration on Amarone skins, followed by eight to twelve days of secondary fermentation at 20 to 25 degrees Celsius, provide the crucial technical steps that define the Ripasso style. The dried Amarone skins still carry substantial concentrations of colouring matter, aromatic compounds, tannins, and sugars that the Valpolicella wine extracts over this extended contact period, developing a character distinct from both the standard Valpolicella and the Amarone itself.

Eighteen months in barrels — the estate's standard ageing commitment for the Ripasso — integrate the additional complexity from the Amarone pomace contact and develop the structural depth and aromatic sophistication that distinguish serious Ripasso from lighter examples. Eight months in bottle complete the maturation before release, ensuring that the wine arrives in an integrated and accessible state.

The Montetondo Ripasso, produced for the American market alongside the estate's other Veronese classics, demonstrates the full range of what the Valpolicella appellation structure can express: from the fresh Valpolicella DOC through the structured Ripasso to the magnificent Amarone DOCG, the estate covers the complete range of Veronese red wine ambition.

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