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991356 'Rosso Del Bepi' 1994                     $74.95
Veneto IGT 
(Giuseppe Quintarelli) (200 Cases) 
Rated **/**+ from a sample bottle supplied by the agent.  This blend of 55% Corvina, 25% Rondinella, 20% Cabernet, Nebbiolo, Croatina, Sangiovese has a deep intense ruby red colour. Fine, rich, gently sweet, prune-driven nose with hints of far and truffles. Fairly well balanced and extracty with an abundance of thankfully rounded, ripe tannins. Mouthfilling red pepper purée flavours with chestnut purée and sandalwood on the lingering. dusty almost Porty finish. 

Rosso del Bepi is a new wine for Quintarelli. “We consider 1994 a little vintage for making Amarone della Valpolicella, not good in comparison with the great level of the vintages of the others (i.e. 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995,...). The result is Rosso del Bepi, an indicazione geografica tipica” to which a little part of Valpolicella was added to remain in the limits of 15 degrees required for igt.

The grapes, as we do for Amarone, are strictly selected during the vin harvest,. They are gathered in wood cases, carried to the loft of the house, called “fruttaio”, then laid on bamboo canes or in shallow wooden fruit crates (graticci). It is very important nursing the bunches though the crucial first ten days of drying, when practically any excess humidity can get gray rot running rampant through the room. The noble root comes out at the end of November and is completely developed at the middle of January, when the grapes are pressed. After 20 days of maceration, fermentation lasts 45 days. At the end the wine is drown form the vat and pin into the medium Slavonic oak barrel, where rests for 4 years, in the cas of Rosso del Bepi, to complete the maturation and to continue others alcoholic fermentation. the result is a very intense wine, with the structure of an Amarone and with the particular intense scent of mellowed red fruit. It would be better to taste in 3-4 years and it could be aged for almost 20 years in cool, dark condition.