Alpha Zeta V Valpolicella 2025
£10.95
The wine
Bright, youthful ruby with cherry perfume giving way to a fresh, ripe cherry pie character on the palate. Soft, rounded, juicy tannins lend body to fruit that carries right through the finish.
Corvina with Rondinella and a little Corvinone, from the Valpantena valley in the hills above Verona. Cool air spilling off the Dolomite foothills slows ripening, and the poor chalky soil keeps the vines stressed and the yields low. Eight days on skins, fermented between 22 and 28 degrees, then finished in concrete rather than oak so the cherry fruit stays unshaded.
The producer
Alpha Zeta
View all Alpha Zeta winesAlpha Zeta is a clever idea, beautifully executed. Founded in 1999 by the Master of Wine David Gleave and the acclaimed New Zealand winemaker Matt Thomson, the project set out to prove that the Veneto could deliver modern, characterful wines at genuinely everyday prices.
The approach is refreshingly direct. Rather than buying in finished wine, Alpha Zeta works hand in hand with growers in the hills around Verona, in the Valpantena and Alpone valleys, lowering yields and picking later for riper, cleaner fruit. Cool air spilling down from the foothills of the Dolomites keeps the grapes fresh and aromatic.
The name says it all. From A to Z, each wine is labelled by a single letter and made to show its grape and its place as clearly as possible: the crisp S Soave, the melon-scented C Chardonnay, the juicy V Valpolicella and the rich A Amarone at the summit. Most are sealed under screwcap to keep them bright and free of fault.
The result is a range that punches far above its price, fresh, honest and true to the Veneto. Proof that great everyday drinking and real quality need not be at odds.
