Valpollicella Ripasso is one of my favourite wines and a good one is full of fruit flavour. 'R' from Alpha Zeta is a classic example of this wine. Ripasso wines use a technique which " re-ferments" the standard Valpollicela using the lees leftover from the production of Amarone. This improves the concentration of flavours and the structure of the wine. The ripasso technique has been used for centuries.
Valpollicella Ripasso is an individual wine which retains some of the structure and taste of the standard wine but its flavour is more concentrated and the wine has a fuller body. Sometimes it has been referred to as a "poor man's " Amarone but this is not true. Ripasso is a great wine in its own right. The wine is much more approachable than "Amarone" and it does not need to be drunk with heavy food. It goes down well with both Italian and French cuisine. We drank Alpa Zeta 'R' wine with rib of beef cooked in French style by my wife. It also went down well with French and English cheeses.
Alpa Zeta 'R' is produced by Liberty Wines who deploy the skills of Matt Thomson, a winemaker and New Zealander to bring out the best of the Corvina and Rondinella grapes and the ripasso tradition.
This wine has its own individualistic flavour - dare I say New World - whilst retaining the characteristics of the Veneto region's wines. This is wine is exceptional value for money as you can buy it for around £10 a bottle. It is well worth tracking down a bottle or two. One to drink now and one to drink in two or three years as the 2012 will improve in the bottle if kept under favourable conditions. Appellation rules dictate that the wine must be sealed with a cork rather than a screw cap, so lay it on its side.
http://libertywines.co.uk/index.htm?pageto=prddtldrt&productCD=AZ117
http://www.wine-searcher.com/wine-53507-0001-alpha-zeta-r-valpolicella-superiore-ripasso-veneto-italy
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