This was a humid and rainy vintage and many producers in the Valpolicella decided not to make their top-shelf Amarone wines, directing their fruit to wines like this instead. The Quintarelli Giuseppe 2014 Valpolicella Classico Superiore offers a spicy opener with tarry smoke and cured tobacco. It also shows some tart and brambly fruit, and this ties into what we can expect of the vintage. In truth, the ripeness is present and balanced. It undergoes a partial and brief appassimento. The 2014 is thinner than past vintages have been, but I am very much enjoying this more streamlined and elegant approach.

The 2011 Valpolicella Classico Superiore saw seven months of slow and careful aging in botte grande before being deemed ready for the market. The wine takes a little coaxing before it fully opens, and it requires a few extra vigorous swirls of the glass before it begins to reveal earthy tones of baked brick and potting soil. However, the core of the wine is definitely packed tight with blackberry and ripe plum. The hot vintage has shaped a wine with extra volume and textural richness (with 15% alcohol).

The 2009 Valpolicella Classico is a wine of pedigree and depth. The blend is Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella and Molinara, and other loose odds and ends found in the vineyards. Half the grapes are pressed as fresh fruit. The other half sees a brief two-month appassimento. The two are blended and macerated on the leftover skins of Amarone. The wine then goes into botte grande for six years and bottle for an additional six months for full integration. This classic vintage shows sweet fruit and black spice with lingering sweetness on the close. The wine imparts a round and slightly sweet flavor profile with earthy end notes of spice and campfire ash.