Corte Sant’Alda Valpolicella Ripasso Campi Magri 2018: The Review Of An Excellent Biodynamic Wine

The 2018 Valpolicella Ripasso Campi Magri made by Corte Sant’Alda winery is a warm, enveloping, mature red wine full of spices and savory and balsamic scents. But above all, it is a wine that makes you glimpse all the sumptuousness of Amarone without all that structure (and alcohol).

This is the beauty of the Ripasso technique, it indeed wasn’t born yesterday, and you know it well. Just dip the pomace used to produce Amarone in Valpolicella, and it will be enriched with anthocyanins, tannins, and aromas.

If you then add to this that Cantina Sant’Alda is one of the best in all of Valpolicella, thanks to its ethical, environmental commitment and the production of wines as natural as possible, you understand that we have a small masterpiece on our hands.

How is it produced?

The vineyards have been organic for at least 10 years, and biodynamics has also been practiced for 3-4 years. After the harvest, the must ferments spontaneously in wooden vats and then refines in large wooden barrels. In February, the refresher is carried out, and so the wine is enriched and then aged for two years in large wooden barrels.

Organoleptic characteristics

The result is a splendid wine for strength and dynamism, always tense and poised between the ripe and the freshness that smells of orange.

The nose is spectacular: it has all the aromas that usually court Amarone, but the tone is more muffled, delicate, and declined in a more graceful and carefree way. There is also cocoa and coffee for fetishists, but what dominates is a fruit based on very juicy black cherries.

On the palate, we find this dualism between light and shadow, warmth and acidity, softness and tannic impulse, and this phrasing makes the wine intriguing. The balance is already good. It is not a wine that has to spend years in the cellar. Indeed it is already delightful now.

It is not a colossal wine: it has a subtle and elegant cut, but it knows how to fascinate with a spontaneous and engaging drinkability.

Price

23-25 ​​euros: an acceptable price for an excellent red wine that refreshes the category, bringing depth and excellent deepness.

Food Pairings

Tacos, black truffle risotto, passatelli with Parmigiano fondue and truffle, bucatini all’amatriciana, roast beef, hamburger.