Rosso del Bepi 2008 Quintarelli Review And Tasting Notes

Rosso del Bepi 2008 Quintarelli is a mellow and soft wine, a wine that is born and worked to become one of those inviting bottles with chubby fruit. Everything contributes to making it a pleasant one, the blend of 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, 55% Corvina, 30% Rondinella, drying of the grapes until January, 20 days of maceration, and infinite aging of 7 years in big barrels.

The wine thus has the opportunity to refine, round off, and transform all this extract into a soft, velvety wine, certainly a little too pumped. Still, in any case, we are talking about an elegant wine, even if austerity and tannic propulsion are lacking.

We do not want to say that it is a mushy wine. No, we are not at the levels of the mania of analyzed wines from the Bolgheri American style or Caprai wine barrique, but honestly, from the cellar that produces Amarone masterpieces with tannins of a very different kind, we expected more dryness.

And the problem is actually how this wine is born. When the vintage is not favorable, the Quintarelli winery does not produce Amarone della Valpolicella and makes a makeshift wine, precisely the Rosso del Bepi.

So the dilemma is: as a wine in its own right, it is a great drink, but if you compare the bottle to a Quintarelli Amarone, it leaves a slight bitterness in the mouth.

Indeed, unfortunately, it is bitterness that is lacking. Indeed, the vinification is shorter, and the quality of the grapes is lower. Therefore the intensity and the product are less valuable, and not all that maceration time is needed. We are not criticizing the cellar. Indeed, they do not detract from a noble wine such as Amarone. However, the difference is felt.

A few months ago, I was having lunch at the legendary osteria 800 in Negrar with some American friends who had never tasted Quintarelli. We ordered this Rosso del Bepi 2008 Quintarelli, we tasted it, and they already went their heads, better than many Amarone, Bolgheri, or Cabernet they had tasted.

Then we tasted a 2009 Quintarelli Amarone, and soon they started crying over the risotto …

Let’s put it this way: if you have never tasted Amarone Quintarelli, it is an excellent wine, clean, full, and sumptuous.

The price is also on a completely different level. This does not cost more than 100-110 euros, the Amarone 3 times as much.

The bouquet

Ripe fruit, plums in alcohol, tobacco, cinchona, rhubarb, mint, chocolate, cola, and mature cherries. Overall it is dark, with memories of goudron, always flawless.

The taste

The palate has evolved, with ethereal tones, fruit that is still pulpy but very ripe. It develops with good gustatory dynamics and very soft tannins, a little too soft. Alcoholic strength is not indifferent: alcoholic degrees, clean finish.

The price of Rosso del Bepi 2008 Quintarelli

100-110: meh.

Food Pairings

Tasty, fatty, and succulent dishes: pizza Margherita, black truffle risotto, passatelli with Parmigiano fondue and truffle, bucatini all’amatriciana, roast beef, hamburger.