roccolo grassi 3bottles

The centre of Verona has a quite a strange charm that transports one back in time. Not to the Roman age but rather to a time of over-exposed matt film photography; old school markets and the bustle of tourists and locals that can appear as quickly as they vanish at the turn of a narrow street.

verona market

It was back in 2008 when I was here last, having lunch with a friend in front of the colosseum. I recall turning the pages of the inch thick wine list until spotting a page of Valpolicella Superiore wines, at the price we were happy to pay, appeared. Showing the page to the waiter with my finger fixed on the Roccolo Grassi and a quizzical expression fixed on my face, he replied, “That is a very good choice sir.” And so it was.

Fast forward 9 years and I am back in Verona for lunch but this time at the traditional Osteria al Duca to sample some local produce. This high ceilinged dining hall has 50cm thick walls and is run by sturdy older ladies with a jovial charm. The food is heavy for August but tasty.

After lunch we wonder through the sun drenched antique streets, across the market and passed the famed home of Juliet, Romeo’s doomed love. A crowd throngs around the building but the buzz looks too energetic so we stroll on.

coloseum

Spied first through through a small breach between some buildings, the colosseum is familiar. I walk towards it, sweating a little from the heavy lunch, the wine and the sun. Across the piazza I see the restaurant where I first tasted Roccolo Grassi 9 years earlier and a bell rings in my mind… the ticket on the car is about to run out and we must go now to the vineyard of the same name of the wine that I am reminiscing over.

Roccolo Grassi vineyard and tasting

roccolo grassi vines

The vineyard sits to the east of Verona, about thirty minutes away, on a plain of volcanic soils that give the wines their varying degrees of distinct freshness and sense of life. This is really a small family affair that has consciously chosen the path of smaller quantity and higher quality.

It is August so the area is quiet apart from a sea of vines that blow very gently in the breeze. We sit down to taste with Francesca, daughter of one partner and sister of another. There are three wines to taste: Soave Superiore, Valpolicella Superiore and the famed Amarone.

under 25 blueRoccolo Grassi La Broia Soave, 2014, Veneto

Garganega grapes harvested at the end of September and the 1st week of October. The fruit is picked and immediately vinified in oak barrel. Then 50% is moved into cement.

These whites have aromas of flowers and citrus with lots of body. Lot’s zing/mineral non-fruit character and clean finish. Not typical of the region where so much is made in huge quantities. This is much more of a crafted fine white wine.

Food pairing: Could easily handle a meaty white fish in pasta with fresh tomatoes.

Cella door cost: ~£14

Roccolo Grassi Valpolicella superiore2012under 25 blue

The Roccolo Grassi Valpolicella Superiore 2012, Veneto

Hugely complex. 50% of the grapes are fresh and 50% are dried in the same way that amarone is made*. These wines are built for ageing, have great structure and aroma. Huge depth and layers of flavour but because the 50% of the grapes are pressed fresh, they retain that integrity of the valpolicella. With age they start to add balsamic flavours to the rich dark fruit flavours. Really delicious.

Food pairing: Red meat dishes including steak, venison. Mushroom, truffle risotto.

Cella door cost: ~£30

amerone grapesDried grapes used to make the amerone wine

over 50 orange Roccolo Grassi, Amarone, 2014, Veneto

The Valpolicella ripasso DOC grapes are picked in October. Amarone 100% dried grapes are picked in 2nd half September and put in the cellar until December. There is an evaporation of water and concentration of sugar. The characteristics of the amarone is the richness and great body with layers of dark fruit and balanced tannin. Great complexity, great structure and great fruit. It must retain that freshness. Best with 10yrs age at least, not before. 

Food pairing: game, hard cheeses, red meats.

Cellar door cost: ~£70

 

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Last week a picture was posted on Twitter of vines in Shabo, a large estate that lies to the west of Odesa on southern Ukraine’s Black Sea coastline. The image seemed benign at face value but the reality, of course, is that the city of Odesa has been bracing itself for attack by Russian forces. 

 

As COVID-19 conspires with the grimmest of winds and rain to force a societal retreat behind our own front doors, the word ennui springs to mind. The muddle of displeasure is pierced when Natalia hands me a large bulbous glass of a liquid I do not recognise.

 

 

Britain’s lamentable exit

On the eve of Britain’s official departure from the EU, my partner and I decided to explore a small town on the Italian Riviera where thewintry cold doesn’t feel so much like cold war bite.

I had warned my significant other that I would be having an inverse departure party, a release of the sanity valve if you like!

 

Sitting inside the ancient castle walls inside the town of Soave, a short drive from Verona in northern Italy, the unique slightly almond aroma of the indigenous grape, Garganega, rises gently from my glass. The castle sprawls up the side of an extinct volcano that gives the region its variant soil structures that mark out the better quality of Soave wines.

 

Tanisha Townsend decided to move to Paris 4 years ago after regularly passing through the city en route to the world’s most famous vineyards. In fact, it was about 2 years ago at the Printemps de Champagne Bouzy Rouge tasting in Reims that I saw (who we shall now refer to as) GirlMeetsGlass chirpily speaking to her web followers on Snapchat.

 

The cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, the final resting place of Saint James, rises out of the landscape, infested with antiquity. The rambling steep streets give way to shafts of dramatic light, emblazoned chapels, and tightly packed tapas bars, dusty, as old novels pressed together in antiquarian bookshops.

 

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