Valpolicella Ripasso DOC
Grapes Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella

Coffee, chocolate and ripe fruit on the nose, there is more than hint of Amarone in the background. This is a full and forward wine that is delicious when young and always has the structure to improve for years. 13.5%

Link to Luigi Righetti producer page

Ripasso was trademarked for many years by Masi (who are in the same village), fortunately it is a term that has been freed for all to use, a great step forward for the consumer because it is a very distinct style of wine.

Righetti’s take on ripasso is a conventional one; the grapes are crushed and fermented at the end of the harvest and the wine is stored in steel vats where it languishes until the springtime awaiting the Amarone to finish its fermentation, in Righetti’s case this is in three tranches in February, March and April.

When the fermentation is complete the Amarone is taken off its skins and transferred to casks for ageing, it is replaced by a future Campolieti, the wine is enriched a little to get the fermentation going again and this draws some of the lovely flavours that remain in the Amarone skins and adds a little more alcohol.
The finished wine is transferred to a mixture of large oak casks and some barrique for 8 to 12 month stint of maturation before being transferred to steel tanks before bottling.