THE VENETO
Photo from Alberto Caliman on unsplash
Each year, the three regions of Sicily, Puglia and the Veneto vie for first place as producer of the largest amount of Italian wine.
While, in any given year, Veneto may lose that contest to one of its southern kin, it’s no issue to name Italy’s top maker of DOC* (or quality) wine. The winner is always the Veneto—producer alone, of Italy’s 20 regions, of fully one-fourth of all Italian DOC and DOCG wine.
Both Veneto and its magical capital, Venice (in Italian, Venezia), take their names from the Veneti, a tribe that settled the region by 1000 B.C. Winemaking in the Veneto goes back at least that far, perhaps further because grapes grow there of Greek origin.
Some of Veneto’s wines are especially familiar to American and British consumers—Soave, Valpolicella, and Bardolino, to name the top three, with Prosecco, Bianco di Custoza, and Amarone della Valpolicella also becoming increasingly recognized.
Soave and Bardolino
Soave’s quality ranges from a liquid tasting barely stronger than water to (progressively more numerous) versions that better and better demonstrate the flavors of the predominant grape that makes it, the Garganega—tastes such as ripe apple, citrus, hints of honey and pear—and a soft, almost creamy texture.
Bardolino, like Valpolicella chiefly made from the Corvina grape, has neither the renown of Valpolicella nor, often enough, the quality. Some Bardolino since 2001 carries the DOCG designation and is worth seeking out.
Valpolicella, Ripasso and Amarone
Some feel that the name “Valpolicella” comes from two Italian words, valle (“valley”) and pollice (“thumb”). The story goes that it was the tip of God’s thumb that created this region and its many valleys, hills, and dales.
Valpolicella, made largely of Corvina grapes, comes in different styles, from light and fruity Valpolicella so-named, to Valpolicella Classico Superiore—a rich, sometimes smoky red with tastes and aromas of licorice and dried bitter cherries—to Recioto della Valpolicella, a sweet Valpolicella that can be sensational when well-made.
Recioto takes its name from a word in Venetian dialect, recie, meaning “ears” and signifying the lobes or “ears” at the top of a grape bunch, those grapes exposed to the most sunlight and which consequently are the ripest.
These grapes (or bunches) are laid on flat wood slats, in huge airy rooms, for 4-5 months following the autumn harvest. The grapes shrivel up and begin to "raisinate," concentrating both their sugars and their character.
When made into wine and some of that sugar remains, it is a Recioto. When the sugar is fermented through, well then, it’s a wine of another order, perhaps the Veneto’s most famed red, Amarone (amah-ROE-neh) della Valpolicella.
Amarone’s finish is slightly bitter (amaro, in Italian), hence the name, Amarone: "the big bitter one" (of Valpolicella). It doesn’t mean that the wine is bitter, in our sense of the term, merely that it has a slightly astringent finish—a nice thing in a big red wine.
Amarones are for neither the faint of heart nor wallet. But another red wine made in the Valpolicella district resembles Amarone and costs significantly less. It is called Ripasso (ree-PAH-soh) and you could say that it is a “baby Amarone.”
To make a Ripasso, a winemaker produces a regular Valpolicella and then, after the Amarone is made, takes this Valpolicella and places it, for 2-3 weeks, on the Amarone’s leftover mass of grape pulp and skins (pomace, in Italian). The wine often referments, if slowly and slightly, and becomes a Ripasso (from the Italian verb ripassare, to pass over or to do something again).
The Ripasso process adds color, richness, some tannin, a bit of alcohol, and body to the Valpolicella—and makes for an altogether delicious red wine.
Prosecco
Prosecco—the full name is Prosecco di Conegliano-Valdobbiadene—is quite the wine these days, both throughout Italy and in the foreign market. This soft, fruity, light, bubbly white wine slakes thirst like few others and has assumed a large role as Italy’s best-known sparkling wine after Asti.
Food of the Veneto
The Venetians introduced spices to Italy, but cooking in the Veneto ranges from the ornate (typically, in Venice) to the plainspoken and straightforward.
The most famous dishes of the region are rice-based—risotto, first of all, and risi e bisi (rice and peas cooked together). Depending on the additions to a risotto, either white or red wine is appropriate, but generally whites such as Soave or Bianco di Custoza do well with both dishes.
Carpaccio, another Venetian recipe, enjoys a light Valpolicella or Bardolino. Full-on roasts can take an Amarone, but save some sips for the end of the meal and Amarone’s ideal companion, shards of Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano.
Ripasso wines are ideal for red meat preparations of most any kind, including richer fowl.
And, of course, Prosecco is best to begin it all.
* DOC/DOCG: Denominazione di Origine Controllata (e Garantita), Italy’s wine laws that demarcate the regions and stipulate the winemaking methods for the country’s superior wines.