First ever November New Year’s wine resolution for fun with Valpolicella
More resolutions?!?! Now?
Wait! What? A fun one?
Valpolicella? Italian wine?
Yep! Let’s talk about this.
First of all, of course it’s the first ever November New Year’s resolution!
NO ONE ELSE DOES THIS!
But it’s BRILLIANT!
A total win-win.
No one should feel like they have failed at whatever New Year’s Resolution they chose to make. You get to have a do-over every month. And a fun one at that!
We have been doing this all year. This is my 11th monthly New Year’s resolution.
If you want to see what you’ve been missing:
Here are the links for the past monthly resolutions. Do them in any order. Feel virtuous that you have completed a New Year’s Resolution. Woo!
OR CAN CLICK HERE FOR THE YEAR IN REVIEW!!
Click here for January. The first wine resolution was about Chardonnay wine and comparing Old World and New World wines. This one is the origin story, and why resolving to eat more lemongrass offered no joy.
Click here for February. This resolution was all about Champagne. No downside to finding something to celebrate with Champagne.
Click here for March. March was all about the Beaujolais.
Click here for April. This resolution was about Riesling wine. It wears so many different hats. It also can totally mess with people who are trying to do a deductive blind tasting (that means they are trying to figure out what wine it is.)
Click here for May. We travelled to Spain. Such great value wines there.
Click here for June. That was an easy one. It was how not to be a lemming about wine. Don’t be a blind follower.
Click here for July. That was falling in love with Pinot Noir, even if it can be a heartbreaker.
Click here for August. That was having fun with Albariño wines. It was so fitting, because the made up wine holiday of National Albariño Day was August 1st.
Click here for September. I went way down the rabbit hole for this one. It was finding your way around the maze of French wine labels and rules.
Click here for October. It was about discovering Orange wine (also known as skin contact.) I went orange themed for those in the United States who are very into pumpkins and Halloween. Good info for all though.
AND NOW… November, my penultimate Monthly New Year’s Monthly fun wine Resolution!!
(Not a vocabulary quiz here. Penultimate means next to last. Just wanted an excuse to use that word.)
December will be the last in this series. I’ll replace these with something else fun.
This month is definitely a fun one! It’s all about Valpolicella wine. It could be a great choice for a Thanksgiving meal, or any other meal.
AND
Trader Joe’s does have a great version of it. But we’ll get to that.
Let’s get to know Valpolicella.
You can’t have fun with it until you know what you are dealing with.
Really basic is how you pronounce it. I could link, once again, to the WSET(Wine Spirits and Education Trust) pronunciation guide. Simply put it is: Val-po-li-chel-la. But in case you want to double check, this is the WSET how to say it guide. Click here. The wine comes from that region. Remember that Old World Wines are named after the area and not the grapes.
What grape or grapes are we talking about?
There are 4 (or 5 depending on how you view it) levels of Valpolicella and they are all made with the same grapes.
These are: Corvina (that’s the main one), Rondinella, and Molinara. Odds are you don’t know any of them. Corvina is really only grown in the Verona section of Italy, and some in Argentina. So it makes sense for someone not to have heard of it.
Italian wines are usually described as food wines, because they are often high in acid. I wrote about this in my post on the Top 10 things you need to know to have a useful wine vocabulary. You can read the whole thing here, should you want.
In case you don’t want to read the whole post, here is the section on acid:
Many people hear acid and think, OH NO! That sounds bad. But acid in wine is the sidekick that can bring life to the party! It can add brightness and make the wine taste more refreshing. It is great balancing out the sweetness in wine. It also can make you salivate which really helps when matching with food. I often mention that Italian wines are food wines. The acid in them goes great with food. Without food you are too aware of the acid.
So have the Valpolicella with food, and enjoy!
But wait, there’s more!
There are different types of Valpolicella:
Valpolicella
Valpolicella Classico
Valpolicella Superiore
Valpolicella Ripasso (spoiler alert-this is my favorite type)
Amarone della Valpolicella
Let’s do a brief overview of each type. This could help decide which one may be the most delicious and fun for you. Of course, you could try each type to go all in on this resolution. Your call.
Valpolicella Classico is your entry level Valpolicella.
This level has the lightest in body of the four. (Just in case you didn’t read over the post on wine terms: with levels of body think skim milk, whole milk, or cream.) It is the least expensive of the group. Giving it a bit of a chill isn’t a bad idea.
It is also the lowest in alcohol of the different types. If you’re eating a long meal, high alcohol may not be the way to start. Ease yourself in. Maybe have this with any appetizers.
Generally, these wines have a red fruit flavor profile. Think cherries!
Spoiler alert: There is actually an even lower level, which is Valpolicella. No Classico. Nothing. For some reason, when discussing Valpolicella wine, this is rarely mentioned. This will come from the largest area, and not the Classico area. Classico is the traditional, hilly area where grapes can ripen better and the quality tends to be better.
Here you see Valpolicella without the Classico designation.
Generally, Valpolicella wines have a red fruit flavor profile. Think cherries!
Valpolicella Superiore is your next step up should you want that.
These wines will have been aged for at least one year. They will likely have more body and alcohol. They will also be more expensive. The flavors you taste will be more varied. Sometimes the lowest levels of wine are more one note. This level will probably be more interesting. This also should be enjoyed with food. Still may be a great choice with appetizers, although it fits in with any part of the meal.
Valpolicella Ripasso is a great value higher end wine ( I did mention this is my favorite.)
This wine is often referred to as a baby Amarone (the next level up in the hierarchy) . It’s actually more like a younger brother who wears fantastic hand me downs.
Ripasso means to repass. They use the dried partially fermenting skins from Amarone production and add them to Valpolicella Classico wine. They let the skins hang out for a bit to impart more flavor.
What you end up with is a fantastic wine that is fuller-bodied, higher in alcohol and way les expensive than Amarone. In my opinion, it is way better than the other varieties!
This is the sweet spot!
This is when spending slightly more money does actually give you incredibly more!
Incredible Value!
Trader Joe’s has some really fun and delicious wines for under $10. However, you can get this fantastic and delicious Valpolicella Ripasso for $11.95.
Insanely great price for a Valpolicella Ripasso
This Valpolicella Ripasso is the best one I’ve ever had.
You will be stunned. It is significantly more than Trader Joe’s, though. If you are willing to pay more, this is an absolutely incredible wine.
In both cases of the above wines, they are great value for what you are getting. The Trader Joe’s wine because it is really good at an incredibly reasonable price. The other wine because it is insanely delicious and incredibly less expensive than an Amarone della Valpolicella.
You will not be disappointed by either wine. It just depends on what you want to spend.
There is a wide range of quality, price and styles for Valpolicella Ripasso.
Try to find a reliable person to give you guidance. You do not want to make an expensive mistake.
AND NOW…
Amarone della Valpolicella
This wine is often referred to the “wine of kings.” The grapes are picked and then allowed to shrivel for a few months. Drying the grapes this way allows the sugar, acid, flavour and tannins to concentrate. You end up with dried fruit flavors, higher alcohol levels, more tannin and color. It is then aged in oak for 2 years.
This wine is powerful and high in alcohol. It is also extremely expensive.
Amarone wines are known to be quite good.
However, you couldn’t buy any of them for less than $60. That is not my price range.
Amarone would be a rather heavy wine to have for a Thanksgiving meal. Really any meal for that matter. It could match well with beef ribs, but I would need a nap in the middle of that type of dinner. Some people sip it after a meal, rather than drinking it during.
Italian wines can often tricky to buy.
Helpful suggestions for buying:
One of my posts is called Two More insanely good value wines from Trader Joe’s and who recommended them. Click here to read about two other Italian Wines. One is a Soave (white wine) and another is a Super Tuscan (red wine).
It also has advice on how to be your own salesperson for any kind of wine, in case no one helpful is around.
There are also many wine apps that you can refer to. I am not a big fan of ratings at all, but you may get insight into style.
BACK to the resolution. Have fun while you explore the various Valpolicella styles.
Hopefully you will discover a delicious wine for any kind of meal. At least it will be fun finding out.
Cheers to whichever wine you choose!!
