2017 Monte Zovo Valpolicella Ripasso Superiore

2017 Monte Zovo Valpolicella Ripasso Superiore

Ripasso is known as a reduced version of Amarone, or more commonly known as baby Amarone, which come from Valpolicella region of Italy. I didn’t have a lot of patience for Amarone, as it will take decades for it to mellow down to be drinkable. Coming from a tricky vintage of 2017, this baby Amarone possessed a very friendly and approachable characteristic. I had a hard time deciding whether to use Grassl Cru glass or 1855 glass, after tasting it from both glasses, I decided the 1855 was more suitable, as the bouquet revealed a lot of ripe red cherries and berry characters. Content with the 1855 glass was more concentrated, I can taste more fruits from the 1855 glass (talk to our glass experts if you wonder what makes the difference in flavor, a short hint: the glass opening causes the wine flowing onto your palate to be more focused or spreadout). The wine was really pleasant and easy to drink, while retaining a lot of fruit flavor. It took me almost 2/3 of the bottle to start to detect tannins, although the tannins were not harsh. This wine was made for early consumption, so pop and drink with some Italian food will be the best pairing!