Giuseppe Quintarelli - Cabernet 'Alzero' 2016

The late, great Maestro del Veneto, Giuseppe Quintarelli, succeeded in establishing his mythical and legendary estate during an amazing sixty-year career. All of the tradition, love, heart, and soul of crafting one of the world’s finest wines continue at the Quintarelli home and winery in the hills north of Verona. Giuseppe’s daughter Fiorenza, his son-in-law Giampaolo, and his grandsons Francesco and Lorenzo are all keeping a close watch over the family’s legacy.

It is impossible to speak about Quintarelli without superlatives. The name itself stands for so much: the family, the wines, a style, a tradition, a way of doing things. After all the time, effort, patience, and care that go into the making of a bottle of Quintarelli, it truly does mean so much more than wine. Giuseppe, fondly known as “Bepi” to those closest to him, was a perfectionist in every way. From the beautiful handwritten labels, to the best possible quality cork, to the exquisite wine in the bottles, the Quintarelli name is a stamp of authenticity and the ultimate indication of an artisanal, handmade, uncompromising wine of the highest quality.

Nothing is ever hurried at Quintarelli. The wines take their time and are given the time they need. In the still, quiet calm of the family cellars above the town of Negrar, along the winding via del Cerè, deep in the Valpolicella zone, the wine from the family’s hillside vineyards ages patiently and gracefully in large casks until it is ready. Every release is a masterpiece, a testament to time, tradition, skill, and passion, the creations of a master artisan. You can’t really compare these wines to any other in the region, or anywhere else in the world. They really are in a class and a category all their own.

Alzero is a blend of 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Cabernet Franc, 20% Merlot.

• Harvested before most other grapes, at the end of August and beginning of September
• Careful selection of grapes during harvest
• After harvest, grapes sit in wooden boxes or on rush mats
• Dried grapes are pressed in mid-December
• Grapes are pressed and after 20 days of maceration, alcoholic fermentation begins with indigenous yeasts
• Fermentation lasts approximately 50 days
• Wine is then aged in French barrels for two or three years, then racked into Slavonian oak barrels for four more years
• During this aging process, additional alcoholic fermentations take place

"The Quintarelli Giuseppe 2016 Cabernet Alzero is a blend of 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Cabernet Franc and 20% Merlot. The two Cabernet grapes see between one and two months of appassimento, and because these varieties do not share the light color and big berry size of the traditional Valpolicella grapes that are usually used in the air-drying process, the Cabernets reach a higher sugar content in a shorter time frame. The winery team has been working to reduce the sweetness you might associate with older vintages of this wine, and indeed, the Alzero has gone from 20 grams per liter of residual sugar in the past to seven grams today (with a powerful 16.5% alcohol content). There is a subtle herbal note with green curry leaf that transitions to jammy blackberry and blackcurrant. This is a wine of broad shoulders, big richness and a generously fleshed-out texture (my sample came from a bottle that had been opened most of the day)." - 95 Points, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Producer: Giuseppe Quintarelli

Country: Italy

Region: Veneto

Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc

Appellation: Veneto IGT

Vintage: 2016

Size: 750ml