The 'Fab Three' of Grapes Produces a Number-One Hit in Italy

I’m convinced I’ve got some Italian blood pumping through my veins. Maybe my mother’s kept a dark secret from me all these years. When I’m out grazing, it’s nearly always in Italian restaurants. Even when we’re on vacation or when I’m working the other side of the pond, I manage to find a comfortable Italian restaurant to slip into.

It fits me well, and in the past I was a self-confessed creature of habit. Very often, while perusing the menu in an Italian restaurant I’d order a bottle of an innocuous wine simply because I knew it wouldn’t overwhelm my taste buds and would fill the conversation-challenged void between air kissing arriving guests and ordering our first course.  

But then I thought to myself, “Self! Why not make the first wine something special and perhaps forego a first course and savor the wine until the entrée arrives?”  I agreed with myself unanimously and thus a new drinking habit was born.

I mention this because I just met a wine that fits the role perfectly. In the Veneto region of Italy, a mere hop, skip and jump (or a quick burst of the skinny pedal in your Ferrari) from the gondolas of Venice, is the land of the Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara grapes. They're not mega stars in the grape world, but nonetheless, as a band they consistently made it to number one with their biggest all-time hit – Valpolicella.

Valpolicella is a viticultural zone in the province of Verona in northern Italy, east of lake Garda. The Fab Three grapes produce an absolutely stunning wine called Santa Sofia Ripasso 2007 (PLCB Code: 502293; $25.99). This amazing elixir will capture the palates of a whole new generation of wine drinkers.

Luciano Begnoni started in the wine industry at the beginning of 1900 and in 1967 his son Giancarlo took over the company of Santa Sofia, and still runs it with his son, Luciano, and his daughter, Patrizia.

The powerful Amarone della Valpolicella, usually known as Amarone is made from the partially dried grapes of the Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara grapes.

Santa Sofia Ripasso is a unique wine. The basic Valpolicella has the pomace of leftover grape skins and seeds from the fermentation of Amarone added for a period of time.  The taste is quite remarkable, blending a smoky-chocolatey-cherry-ish flavor. The wine has a dark ruby color and an elegant bouquet with a hint of spices.  It was aged 9 months in oak barrels then 3 months in the bottle and will go well with roasted meats, game and aged cheeses.  

I choose not to share this wine with anyone, as I am quite happy to have a private liaison with it whenever I can sneak away for a while… a long while. Cheers!

Find Santa Sofia Ripasso and other great wines at the Wine & Spirits Shop at 935 Old York Road, Abington, or click here for a list of Wine & Spirits Shops in Montgomery County.