Clementi Valpolicella Classico Superiore Ripasso 2018 750ml

Developed in the early 1980s, the ripasso method yields what effectively is a “baby Amarone”: in January or February following harvest, the newborn wine is augmented with the unpressed skins and solids of the recently fermented Amarone, which impart some of their flavors and textures to the wine and boost its alcohol level by 1.5 to 2%. A selection of some of the best lots picked for the Classico Superiore, Clementi’s Ripasso spends two years in 30-hectoliter used French-oak casks followed by an additional year or more in bottle before release. Even as category-typical notes of chocolate and dried fruits enter the picture here, the wine leads with acidity, firing a red-fruited beam across the palate and leaving the drinker refreshed rather than pummeled.