A red to rival rich Amarone

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2019 Zenato Ripassa Ripasso Valpolicella Superiore 750 ml

Retail: $32

$26 19% off per bottle

Shipping included on orders $150+.
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  • Temperature controlled shipping options
  • Get credited back if a wine fails to impress

Amarone-like Complexity in a Fresh, Vibrant Package

In the castle-dotted hills of Valpolicella, Amarone is king. Intense, aromatic, and age-worthy, it’s a wine that collectors love to contemplate and discuss. But here’s one of our favorite secrets of northern Italy: Ripasso can combine those same characteristics, from the same varieties and terroir, with an incredible food-friendly energy. 

Few estates deliver on that promise like Zenato, a Valpolicella stalwart that the Wine Advocate called “one of the most historic and important wine identities in northern Italy.” And that’s exactly what they did with the 2019 Ripassa. 

Bold and aromatic, it brings all the deep complexity we love to find in Amarone, wrapped in a fresh and vibrant package. Aromatically rich with roasted blackberries, mint, leather, incense, and balsamic, it weaves dried violets, rosemary, toasted sage, and cedar together on the palate with robust tannins and juicy acidity.

In the typical Ripasso style, Zeneto fermented Valpolicella Classico Superiore—pressed fresh rather than dried—then re-fermented it on warm Amarone grape skins, which had been carefully dried for months in single layers before their pressing. This is where Ripasso gets its name, as it is “re-passed” over the Amarone lees. Over 8–10 days, this second fermentation imparts roundness, structure, and rich depth.

Zenato then rests the blend of 85% Corvina, 10% Rondinella, 5% Oseleta for 18 months in French tonneaux before bottling, bringing everything into harmony. The result is a wine that’s the perfect intermediary between Valpolicella and Amarone, offering the former’s juicy acidity with a bit of the latter’s figgy luxuriance.