Ca’ Rugate Campo Bastiglia Valpolicella Ripasso 2023
£19.75
The wine
Concentrated aromas of red cherry with a hint of spice and floral notes. A full-bodied palate with soft tannins, an elegant silky texture and a velvety finish. Ripasso gives the weight without losing the freshness.
Ripasso means repassed. After the Amarone is drawn off, its skins still hold sugar and extract, and a young Valpolicella is refermented on them. The technique dates from post-war thrift and produces a wine with much of Amarone's depth at a fraction of the cost. It was only granted its own DOC in 2010.
The producer
Ca’ Rugate
View all Ca’ Rugate winesThe Tessari family have handed this business down since the early 1900s, renaming it Ca' Rugate in 1986 after the volcanic hills where the vineyards sit. Michele, of the fourth generation, has brought considerable energy: a technologically advanced new cellar, and expansion into Valpolicella with vineyards in the hills of Montecchia di Crosara. The estate now runs to 90 hectares.
The volcanic soil is the thread running through everything. Soave sits on the remains of ancient eruptions, and the black basalt beneath the Classico zone gives Garganega a mineral, smoky character that the sandier valley floor cannot match. Garganega is a much-maligned grape, largely because Soave was made in enormous quantity and indifferent quality through the second half of the twentieth century, and estates like this one have spent decades repairing the damage.
In Valpolicella the family work the full range of styles, from fresh red through Ripasso to Amarone, and the two sweet Recioto wines are made in the manner both appellations used long before their dry versions existed. Ca' Rugate has taken Gambero Rosso's Tre Bicchieri many times over.
