Quintarelli Giuseppe is a name capable of immediately evoking the history of a territory and the prestige of a wine, inseparably linked, in the memory of every wine lover, to the simply disarming graphics of its labels written in cursive. Silvio Quintarelli, who together with his brothers sharecropped the vineyards in Figàri, in the municipality of Marano di Valpolicella, founded the winery in the early twentieth century. Production was already then exported to the United States, in 50-liter barrels, through the landowner. In 1924 the winery moved to the Negrar valley, in the village of Cerè, where Silvio continued his business with the invaluable help of his sons and wife. Giuseppe, the youngest of the brothers, took over the management of the family business from the 1950s: the renewal of the vineyards, the increase in demands and the enlargement of the winery did not distract from a respectfully traditional work method. These are the fundamental years for the winery: from the observation of Recioto through more or less favorable vintages, an experience is born that will lead to the production of a wine of extreme quality. The discovery of Amarone by an important public immediately decreed its great success. Having passed away in recent years Giuseppe, the management of the winery passed into the hands of his daughter Fiorenza.

Azienda Agricola Quintarelli Giuseppe is based in the historic building on Via Cerè, in Negrar, one of the five municipalities rooted in the classic Valpolicella area. Within these boundaries are also the vineyards planted in the Valgatara and Sant'Ambrogio areas, extending further west and closer to the mitigating action of Lake Garda. A final section of plots resides instead in the commune of Montorio, just northeast of Verona and included in the more generic DOC area. The soils show important differences, including alluvial deposits with a gravelly component and deeper, basic and extremely calcareous soils, and even volcanic rocks that outcrop in the more hilly areas. In this diverse setting the historic black berries of Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella are bred, to which Croatina, Sangiovese, Nebbiolo and the international Cabernet Sauvignon and Franc have been added.

Quintarelli Giuseppe's winery also surprisingly makes a white, from Garganega, Chardonnay, Sauvignon and Trebbiano grapes. Production actually spans four appellations: Amarone della Valpolicella, Recioto della Valpolicella, Valpolicella and Veneto IGT, which can make room for a wide variety of terroirs. The most representative vinifications obviously concern Amarone Classico and Riserva: long withering and long macerations, with fermentations carried out in wood and respectful of ancestral times. Wines to be considered in the Olympus of human winemaking wisdom.

Rosso 'Ca' del Merlo' Quintarelli 2017

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