We were coming up to the final two wines for this tasting at The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan.  It was getting a bit more crowded still, and I have to explain that the tasting was not a sit-down affair, it reminds me more of some of the  tastings at wineries, where the pourers actually remembered where each person was in the line-up for the next wine.  While I shuffled over a few feet to make room for some new to the tasting, I had time to admire some of the wine crate work that had been done in the new part of the shop.

The last two wines were from Corte San Benedetto in the Valpolicella district in the Veneto region.  The penultimate wine of the tasting was Corte San Benedetto “Camporal” Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico Riserva DOCG 2009.  The Lavarini family sold their property in Arbizzano di Negrar in the mountains of Lessinia, in the ancient rural court, hence the name of the winery, and bought land in a small town named “Camporal” in the hills of Marano di Valpolicella.  This was at the end of the 1800s and they produced enough wine for the family and the locals.  After World War II, the demand for wine increased and the estate grew, as well as growing additional varieties and even a small experimental grove of cherry tree and “Camporal” became a research center as well.  The wine is a blend of sixty percent Corvina Veronese, twenty-five percent Corvinone and fifteen percent Rondinella.  The fruit came from their vineyards in Negrar and Marano di Valpolicella, in the heart of the Classica region on soil that is clay and limestone.  The average age of the vines are forty years of age.  The fruit is hand-harvested in mid-September and placed in small wooden crates to dry, the classic “Appasimento” process. Around the end of January, the grapes are softly pressed and left to ferment slowly.   The wine is aged in oak tonneau (large casks) for three years, and then in Slavonian Oak barrels for another four years.  The deep garnet wine offered notes of stewed black cherries and prunes, potpourri and lavender, and sweet spices.  On the palate this was a full-bodied wine displaying tones of black cherries, blackberries and raisins, with traces of tobacco and blending harmoniously with velvet tannins and ending with a long-count finish of warm fruit and tannins. 

The last wine of the wine tasting was Corte San Benedetto Recioto Della Valpolicella Classico DOCG Veneto 2018.  Recioto is a sweet dessert wine only produced from the delineated Classico viticultural zone and made according to the rules of the DOCG.  The wine is sixty-five percent Corvina Veronese, ten percent Corvinone and twenty-five percent Rondinella.   The fruit is hand-harvested in mid-September and place in small wooden crates to dry, the classic “Appasimento” process.  Around the end of January, the grapes are softly pressed, and left to ferment slowly.  Once the alcoholic content reaches 13%, the fermentation is stopped (decanting, filtration, temperature control) to keep the wine sweet. It is then placed in oak barrels for six months.  The dark ruby red wine offered notes of black cherry, black plums and raspberries.  On the palate this full-bodied wine displayed rich warm tones of the dark fruits and a long lingering finish that almost seemed to beckon some dark chocolate and/or caramel.