Valpolicella Ripasso DOC Classico Superiore 2020
Wine Description
Secondo Marco's Valpolicella Ripasso Classico Superiore runs the traditional Veronese method through Marco Speri's patient Fumane cellar: the young Valpolicella is refermented on Amarone skins, gaining depth, colour and a dried fruit register, then rests in large oak until it is ready rather than merely finished. The grapes are the classic Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella from the estate's 17 hectares, grown on Speri's own Y shaped pergola.
Expect morello cherry and plum deepened by raisin, sweet spice and cocoa, with the dry, firm finish that marks the whole range. The 2018 is fully in its window and will hold for several years. Serve at 16 to 18 °C, decanted half an hour ahead, with bigoli with duck ragù, guinea fowl, sausage with polenta or Venetian fegato alla veneziana; it is also the right weight for aged but gentle mountain cheeses.
Winery
Secondo Marco is the Fumane estate of Marco Speri, who founded it in 2008 after leaving his family's historic Valpolicella house to work in his own name. He farms 17 hectares in the Classica zone and bottles around 85,000 bottles a year, training the vines on a pergola he redesigned into a Y shape to give the bunches air and even light. The cellar follows the same independent streak: spontaneous fermentations, long aging in large casks and wines released only when ready, from Valpolicella Classico through Ripasso to Amarone and the rare Riserva Fumetto.
