Iti one on...

I have a new favourite to add to my list of 'Love' wines.

On Saturdays I go to work. A devastating state of affairs only slightly remedied by having Mondays off. One thing that softens the blow is knowing that my brilliant wife is busying herself with what invariably becomes a soporific feast worthy of Kings and Queens; something to look forward to as I tear at the coal-face of indentured servitude...

My task, not difficult given my occupation, is to bring home a wine to match.

A few weeks ago the recipe was lasagne. A simple enough dish enlivened by Ricotta, Basil and spinach, accompanied by a simple rocquette salad, dressed with EVOO and balsamic.

THIS CALLS FOR A TUSCAN! I said to myself, startling various shoppers.

I like to meander up and down the aisles, allowing vinous inspiration to leap out at me from the heaving shelves.

A Chianti Classico here, an Amarone there, a Toscana or a Barolo for good measure...

On this particular Saturday I flashed back to a tasting brought in by a wine-rep and left for me to taste when I arrived later that day. I remember my head swimming with complex, old world aromas, my tongue titillated by fine-grained tannins and a cascade of tomato-leaf, spice and earthy undertones, dancing across my palate.

As though a single beam of light sought it out in the din of Saturday's browsers, there it stood:

Tommasi Ripasso.

Not a Tuscan but a Veneto from Valpolicella. The 2009 vintage tasting stuck in my head for its qualities of elegance, broad structure and fine, lingering tannin. There's nothing like the perfect dichotomy of lightness and power to get my juices flowing (no really, my mouth is watering as I write) and I knew that this was the wine for tonight.

So, with my shop-weary feet, I trudged home past the Saturday night revelers priming for Sunday's regrets and entered my house triumphantly clutching an Italian gem, crying, "Honey, I'm home! What fabulous smells! Quick, grab a decanter!"

The Valpolicella lived up to all its promise and more. The technique of Ripasso is one which takes grapes grown in Valpolicella and dries them, traditionally on straw mats, prior to pressing the juice, this concentrates the sugars and lends a richness to the wine which maintains a beautiful dry, textured finish. This technique is also used for Amarone, a style which generally costs a lot more and doesn't always deliver as much 'Bang for Buck', at the very least requiring some aging before full appreciation can be achieved.

People often ask me, when discussing a new variety or style, what can you compare it to? This is always a tough question to answer, as each variety is very much an individual and different producers, regions and climates produce them in different ways. If I had to make such a supposition in this instance however, I would probably say that it has the structure of a fine Cabernet Sauvignon, with the lightness of a premium Pinot. Dominating flavours are akin to spiced chocolate and dried herbs and tomato leaf, and seamless, fine-grained tannins carry these gorgeous flavours in a cascade of vinous extravagance all the way from the top lip to the deep reaches of the throat, allowing this top quality Lasagne to weave it's cheesy, tomoatoey, beefy indulgence into the bargain, and had me closing my eyes in gourmandish revelry.

Love

This

Wine.

(About $45 from DMs)

"Ripasso" Valpolicella Classico Superiore Doc

Vintage	2009
Origin	Vigneti Conca d’oro, La Groletta, De Buris
Grapes	Corvina Veronese 70% Rondinella 25% Corvinone 5%
Alcohol	13% vol
Vinification and Maturation	Refermented on the Amarone grape skins with the method “Ripasso". Aged 18 months in Slavonian Oak barrels of 65 hectoliters.