Wine of the week: a simply astounding ripasso

(Image credit: 2018 Valpolicella Ripasso)

published 5 March 2021

2018 Valpolicella Ripasso, Classico Superiore, Monte Santoccio, Verona, Italy

I have written up a detailed review of the extraordinary portfolio of Monte Santoccio wines on my website, including a preview of a wine never before seen on our shores, the 2013 Amarone della Valpolicella, Classico Black Label, and they are all extraordinary creations. I have chosen to focus this week’s column on the ripasso in the range as the value for money afforded here is astounding.

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Winemaker Nicola Ferrari was formerly an assistant to the legendary Valpolicella producer Giuseppe Quintarelli, and he and his wife Laura now make their wines from four hectares of organically farmed vines in Fumane. Their wines are as honest and accurate as any I have tasted from this region and yet there is fascinating detail to be found behind every label. Uncommon restraint and calm balanced by grand, layered, enticing and refreshing flavours – this is the Ferrari signature and you will find it on every bottle, from those costing £17.95 up to the £75 ones. This ripasso will act as your ambassador to the range and, given its astounding flavour and the keen price, I am sure you will rejoice when you meet it.

There is an extra dimension of flair and richness at the heart of this red that is truly sensational. Many wines of this style carry extra weight and darker fruit tones, but this elite version parades glorious red fruit and uncommon succulence.

Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition’s Communicator of the Year (matthewjukes.com)

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Matthew Jukes has worked in the UK wine business for well over three decades and during this time has written 14 wine books.

Matthew regularly lectures, judges, speaks at wine conferences and runs masterclass tastings for both corporate and private clients all over the world. Matthew is also the creator of his ground-breaking initiative, the One Day Wine School, an indulgent day of tasting and learning first performed in 2006.

He has been the MoneyWeek wine correspondent since 2006 and has written a weekly column for the Daily Mail’s Weekend Magazine since 1999. His four highly-acclaimed, annual wine reports – the Burgundy En Primeur Report, the Bordeaux En Primeur Report, the Piemonte Report and the 100 Best Australian Wines – are published on his website, www.matthewjukes.com.

Matthew is one of the world’s leading experts on Australian wine and, with Brisbane-based wine writer Tyson Stelzer, runs an annual competition in Australia to find ‘The Great Australian Red’. He was made Honorary Australian of the Year in the UK at the 2012 Australia Day Foundation Gala dinner.

Matthew is a winner of the International Wine and Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year Trophy. His thoughts, recommendations and tastings notes are followed very closely by the wine world at large.