Valpolicella DOC Classico Superiore “Ognisanti” 2022

Ognisanti di Novare is Bertani's cru Valpolicella Classico Superiore, from eight terraced plots totalling 2.92 hectares above the little Ognisanti church at Tenuta Novare in Arbizzano di Negrar. The vineyard faces west and is planted almost entirely to Corvina Veronese, 95% from the estate's massal selection with 5% Rondinella. The wine ages one year in French oak barrels and at least six months in bottle. It shows what serious Valpolicella can be without appassimento: a concentrated ruby, fresh red fruit and spice on the nose, then real volume and balance on the palate, firm, biting tannins and a savoury finish that goes on. Give it half an hour of air and serve at 16 to 18 °C with roast pigeon, duck cooked the Venetian way with its stuffing, or veal with mushrooms; it also handles mature Asiago. It drinks well on release and rewards a few years of patience.