Giuseppe Quintarelli

Negrar · Verona (VR)

← Veneto

Established

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the Quintarelli family; the estate was defined by Giuseppe Quintarelli (1927-2012)

Yearly production

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estate (Valpolicella Classica)

Location

Negrar

Verona (VR) · Veneto

Vineyard area

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terraced pergola vineyards in the Valpolicella Classica above Negrar, planted to Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella and complementary varieties

Appellations

Amarone della Valpolicella DOCGAmarone della Valpolicella DOCG sottozona ClassicoRecioto della Valpolicella DOCGValpolicella DOC

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.