Giuseppe Quintarelli
Appellations
History
Giuseppe Quintarelli, the estate at Cerè above Negrar in the Valpolicella Classica, is widely regarded as the greatest name in Amarone — Giuseppe Quintarelli (1927-2012), the 'maestro' of Valpolicella, made wines of extraordinary depth and longevity that set the benchmark for the whole appellation.
The method is uncompromisingly traditional and slow: grapes are dried on racks for months (appassimento), fermented and aged for many years in large Slavonian oak, and released long after other producers — the Amarone often spending seven years or more in wood before bottling. Everything is done by hand, at a scale and patience almost unmatched.
Alongside the flagship Amarone della Valpolicella Classico and the sweet Recioto, the estate makes the Valpolicella Classico Superiore, the 'Rosso del Bepi' (Amarone-declassified in lesser years), and the rare Cabernet-based 'Alzero'. The wines are cult objects, sought worldwide.