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2013 Rosso Cà del Merlo
Giuseppe QuintarelliProducing a bottle of Quintarelli is no simple task. After harvest, while half of the fruit—in this case, a diverse blend made up mainly of Corvina, Corvinone, and Rondinella—is crushed and fermented like a traditional red wine, the remaining grapes are set to dry for two months in a process known as appassimento. After the two lots are blended, the wine is then passed over the pressed skins from the family’s Amarone, a powerful wine made entirely from dried grapes. During this ripasso, the sugars left over in the Amarone pomace set off a small secondary fermentation, slightly boosting alcohol content and, crucially, contributing additional texture and rich, complex flavors. Only after all this has taken place is the wine racked to massive Slavonian oak botti, where it rests for no fewer than seven years before bottling.
And now here it is: the fruit of all that labor, a product of local tradition and clever innovation perfected over many decades by the Quintarelli family. Edition 2013 of the Ca’ del Merlo is a vibrant and tightly wound beauty with a dense, elegant core of luxurious black fruit and sweet spices, the whole showing class and restraint. Treat it as you would a fine Barolo: decant it young, cherish it old, and serve it alongside full-flavored, savory dishes such as braises, wild mushrooms, and hearty pastas coated in slow-cooked ragù.
—Anthony Lynch
Wine Type: | red |
Vintage: | 2013 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | 55% Corvina and Corvinone, 30% Rondinella, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, Nebbiolo, Croatina, Sangiovese |
Appellation: | Veneto IGT |
Country: | Italy |
Region: | Veneto |
Producer: | Giuseppe Quintarelli |
Winemaker: | Quintarelli Family |
Vineyard: | 30 years average |
Soil: | Limestone and Basalt |
Aging: | After this fermentation, the wine is racked into large Slavonian oak barrels for seven years |
Farming: | Traditional |
Alcohol: | 15% |
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About The Producer
Giuseppe Quintarelli
About The Region
Veneto
Italy’s most prolific wine region by volume, the Veneto is the source of some of the country’s most notorious plonk: you’ll find oceans of insipid Pinot Grigo, thin Bardolino, and, of course, the ubiquitous Prosecco. And yet, the Veneto produces the highest proportion of DOC wine of any Italian region: home to prestigious appellations like Valpolicella, Amarone, and Soave, it is capable of excelling in all three colors, with equally great potential in the bubbly and dessert departments.
With almost 200,000 acres planted, the Veneto has a wealth of terroirs split between the Po Valley and the foothills of the Alps. While the rich soils of the flatlands are conducive to mechanization, high yields, and mass production of bulk wine, the areas to the north offer a fresher climate and a diversity of poor soil types, ideal for food-friendly wines that show a sense of place. Whether it’s a charming Prosecco Superiore from the Glera grape, a stony Soave or Gambellara from Garganega, or a Corvina-based red in any style, the Veneto’s indigenous grape varieties show real character when worked via traditional production methods.
Since his first visit in 1979, Kermit has regularly returned to the Veneto to enjoy its richness of fine wines and local cuisine. Our collaboration with Corte Gardoni, our longest-running Italian import, is a testament to this. The proximity of beautiful cities like Verona and Venice, with their deep culinary heritage, certainly doesn’t hurt, either.
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Kermit once said...
Kermit once said...
I want you to realize once and for all: Even the winemaker does not know what aging is going to do to a new vintage; Robert Parker does not know; I do not know. We all make educated (hopefully) guesses about what the future will bring, but guesses they are. And one of the pleasures of a wine cellar is the opportunity it provides for you to witness the evolution of your various selections. Living wines have ups and downs just as people do, periods of glory and dog days, too. If wine did not remind me of real life, I would not care about it so much.
Inspiring Thirst, page 171