Giuseppe Quintarelli 2018 Valpolicella Classico Superiore 750ml

Giuseppe Quintarelli spent sixty years building an estate in the hills north of Verona that is now, by wide consensus, home to the single most famous handwritten label in the entire wine world. He earned the nickname "the father of Amarone" not through marketing but through six decades of relentless, patient refinement of a technique — appassimento, the slow drying of grapes before pressing — that he pushed further and applied more thoughtfully than almost anyone else working in the Veneto. His family continues the estate today under the exact same standards, releasing wines only when they judge them truly ready — never before.

The Valpolicella Classico Superiore is, in the words of one respected retailer, "the insider wine — if you are a sommelier, you know what I'm talking about." Do not let the appellation name fool you: in Quintarelli's hands, this bottling is essentially a baby Amarone. The blend runs primarily Corvina and Corvinone (roughly 55%) and Rondinella (roughly 30%), rounded out with small additions of Cabernet Sauvignon, Nebbiolo, Croatina, and Sangiovese. Half the harvested grapes are pressed immediately after picking, preserving genuine freshness, while the other half are dried for roughly two months before pressing — a hybrid technique that captures both immediacy and concentration in the same wine. After the estate's Amarone is racked off its own skins, this Valpolicella is added directly to that leftover marc — the ripasso process — triggering a natural second fermentation fueled by residual sugar and the cellar's own native yeast, beginning around February. The finished wine then rests for approximately seven years in large Slavonian oak botti before release.

Vinous's Eric Guido awarded 94 Points, writing that the 2018 "pulls the taster close to the glass with a darkly alluring blend of dried roses, violets, crushed stone, clove and blood orange," washing "across the palate with silken textures, lifted and finessed in the style of the vintage, as ripe wildberry fruits swirl beneath an air of sweet lavender." He called the finish genuinely "ethereal," with "sweet tannins that provide a lovely framework to perfumed inner florals and hints of blackberry that resonate," recommending a drinking window from 2025 through 2032. Biondivino's own tasting note describes a wine "spicy, rustic, and loaded with classic flavors of meat, strawberry jam, and wild herbs," black cherries and plums giving way to "forest scents, roses, prunes, cocoa powder, and minerals" — "concentrated yet perfectly balanced with great depth and complexity, intense yet elegant, and, like all Quintarelli's wines, never heavy." This bypasses the massive weight of true Amarone in favor of something sleeker and more vertical — genuinely, as more than one collector has called it, the smart-money buy of the entire Quintarelli portfolio.

Origins & Craftsmanship

Giuseppe Quintarelli established his estate over the course of a sixty-year career in the hills north of Verona, in Italy's Veneto region, earning a reputation as "the father of Amarone" for his mastery of appassimento — the traditional practice of slowly drying grapes before pressing to concentrate flavor and sugar. Following his death, the winery has continued under his family, maintaining the exact same exacting standards, releasing wines only when they are judged completely ready, never before.

To carry the Valpolicella Classico Superiore DOC designation, grapes must be sourced from vineyards at the foothills of the mountains within the historic Valpolicella Classico zone, an area of cold winters and hot summers that produces small, highly concentrated berries. Quintarelli's own vineyards sit on calcareous clay and limestone hillside soils, farmed with sustainable agricultural practices and harvested entirely by hand. The blend is primarily Corvina and Corvinone (approximately 55%) and Rondinella (approximately 30%), with the remaining 15% composed of small additions of Cabernet Sauvignon, Nebbiolo, Croatina, and Sangiovese.

Production follows a genuinely distinctive dual process: roughly half of the harvested grapes are pressed immediately to preserve freshness and pure varietal character, while the remaining half are dried for approximately two months before pressing, concentrating their sugars and flavor compounds in the appassimento tradition. Following three to four days of maceration, primary fermentation proceeds with indigenous yeasts. After an initial racking, the wine rests until around February, at which point it undergoes a second alcoholic fermentation directly on the marc (skins) left over from the estate's Amarone production — the traditional ripasso technique, which draws additional depth, structure, and complexity from the residual sugar and tannin in the Amarone skins, fermented by the cellar's own native yeast population. The finished wine is then transferred to large Slavonian oak botti, where it ages for approximately seven years before release.

Critics Reviews

Vinous (Eric Guido) — 94 Points (September 2025):
"The 2018 Valpolicella Classico Superiore pulls the taster close to the glass with a darkly alluring blend of dried roses, violets, crushed stone, clove and blood orange. It washes across the palate with silken textures, lifted and finessed in the style of the vintage, as ripe wildberry fruits swirl beneath an air of sweet lavender. The word ethereal comes to mind as the 2018 tapers off with sweet tannins that provide a lovely framework to perfumed inner florals and hints of blackberry that resonate. Drinking Window 2025-2032."

Tasting Profile

Nose
Darkly alluring, with dried roses and violets leading, joined by crushed stone, clove, and blood orange. Black cherries and plums add fruit depth, alongside forest scents, prunes, and cocoa powder — spicy, rustic, and genuinely complex.

Palate
Silken in texture, lifted and finessed, with ripe wildberry fruits swirling beneath an air of sweet lavender. Classic flavors of meat, strawberry jam, and wild herbs run through a concentrated yet perfectly balanced structure — intense yet elegant, never heavy, exactly as the estate's broader reputation promises.

Finish
Genuinely ethereal, with sweet, refined tannins providing a lovely framework for perfumed inner florals and lingering hints of blackberry. Long, savory, and continually evolving — a finish that specifically rewards patience, both in the glass over several hours and in the cellar over several years.

Quick Overview

Food Pairings

• Pasta with rich meat ragù
• Braised or roasted game
• Aged hard cheeses
• Wild mushroom dishes
• Hearty Veronese cuisine