Valpolicella Superiore: the future in Valpolicella is more about territory and less about method

The main red wine of the Valpolicella Superiore denomination is historical as well as contemporary. When the wine is produced from fresh grapes it is the one that best reflects the territory in the glass. Today, Superior has great potential for growth. It is oriented towards light, fruity wines with moderate alcohol content, in line with the current consumer tastes, which, however, penalize reds, including Amarone (-17% in 2023 compared to 2022). Superiore benefits from higher temperatures that allow Corvina and Corvinone, the main native varieties of the Valpolicella grape, to reach full ripeness, making over-ripening and drying superfluous, while overcoming the limiting factor that consolidated the method of setting grapes aside to reach alcoholic strength and adequate body. The Consortium had become aware of its great potential several years ago when it embarked on a path of studies to improve Valpolicella Superiore, and on promotions, through events such as the two-day "Venezia Superiore" in the Lagoon. The event was held on July 5-6th, to an audience of 600 wine lovers, in the Loggia Maggiore of the Pescheria di Rialto, offering an insight into the typology, and fifty vintages from 2013 to 2022 for a tasting of Valpolicella DOC and Valpolicella Superiore DOC from thirty-eight companies. “Valpolicella DOC Superiore is the star of a new productive and commercial wave”, Christian Marchesini, president of the Consorzio Vini Valpolicella, explained during the WineNews interview, “a strategic and shared vision that aims to cross the trends of National and International consumers that are more and more inclined to reward quality combined to versatility. This is the reason why the producers of the denomination are betting more and more on Valpolicella Superiore, and on modernizing its presentation standards. Of the 20 million bottles of Valpolicella DOC, 4.5 million are Superiore, almost entirely distributed on the HORECA (hotels, restaurants, catering) channel. It is still a niche, but producers are moving more and more towards it”.
Betting on Valpolicella Superiore means focusing more on the territory and less on tradition. The Consortium is focusing on this with the support of data based on specific research and market trends, which will soon be shared with the production base in specialized meetings. “The project”, Marchesini explained, “is to carry out an analysis of the characteristics of the Valpolicella Superiore wines on the market, in collaboration with the Department of Viticultural and Oenological Sciences and Technologies of the University of Verona, as well as the change in consumer tastes to lead producers in this direction. We started work on these studies 5 years ago, and we will finish when we have also addressed the issue of crus (it is premature to talk about them), inserting rules based on the results obtained from these past years of research into the regulation guidelines. Our data confirm that Valpolicella Superiore is basically produced by small and medium-sized companies of the denomination, and therefore protecting this wine gives us the opportunity to obtain an adequate income from the Valpolicella system and try to reduce "drainage" on the Valpolicella market, a result of the production of Valpolicella Ripasso”. The number of bottles of Valpolicella Superiore is growing and at the same time, a change of style is taking place, which represents the weak point of this typology as it does not have its own well-defined profile. The profiles range from fresh and elegant Superiore from fresh grapes, vinified in steel and aged in extract wood not marked, to opulent wines obtained from dried grapes aged in wood barrels.
“One cannot get a precise idea of what the typical style of Valpolicella Superiore should be even after tasting the wines, reading the literature and speaking to the producers, and therefore, “JC Viens, the Wset educator, ambassador of Italian wine and collaborator of the Consortium, opening the Masterclass on local red in the nineteenth-century Molino Stucky, a splendid location at the Hotel Hilton Venice, explained, “this meeting aims to stimulate reflections on the theme and to draw attention to a typology that has great potential, not only in Italy but all over the world. Valpolicella Superiore represents only slightly more than 7% of the total Valpolicella production. The percentage is very low because the producers focus on Ripasso, of course, but also because the typology as it is presented today, creates confusion among the professionals. We can say, though, that this percentage has been for the most part stable since 2012, which demonstrates loyalty to the product. Most of the manufacturers with whom I have spoken over the past few years, are convinced that Superior will play an important role in the future”.
The reasons for Valpolicella Superiore’s great potential were explained in Viens’ detailed analysis, starting from the first Production Regulations in 1968, which were based - like all regulations at the time - on existing practices that mirrored current events. “Compared to then”, JC Viens pointed out, “the production area has remained exactly the same and has never been enlarged, in spite of the name “enlarged”, that the eastern part of the denomination identified with (now it is called "oriental", ed.). The area presents unique macro-level conditions that mitigate climatic extremes, bordering on Lake Garda to the west, the Adriatic to the east and the Lessini Mountains to the north, while the micro-levels are linked not only to the enormous variety of soils in its valleys but also on slopes, exposure and altitudes. It is a set of area conditions, which, together with a much higher intensity of light than in Champagne or Burgundy, make it extraordinary. In addition, there is the extreme sensitivity to the territory of Corvina and Corvinone, where it is possible to capture and restore each microclimate in the wine, exactly like Pinot Noir in Burgundy. Therefore, this is a great opportunity to characterize Valpolicella Superiore”.
The native varieties allowed today are somewhat different than in the 1968 specification. They include, in addition to Corvina Veronese, also Corvinone (both 45-95%), plus the red-berried varieties of Verona (including Rondinella, explicitly provided for in the 1968 regulations), and native Italian varieties. The parameters that distinguish Valpolicella and Valpolicella Superiore are the same as they were then (respectively, total alcohol content 11% and 12%; dry extract 18% and 20% and minimum of 12 months of aging from January 1 after the harvest for Superiore). “The 1968 regulations”, Viens observed, “fixed a minimum quality standard that took into consideration higher production levels as well as the difficulties of Corvina and Corvinone to ripen, which need optimal ripening to express themselves at their best. Ripening, instead, today, considering the increase in annual temperatures, which in Valpolicella has grown + 2°C since 1971, is perfectly achievable. Here, global warming represents an opportunity, as human intervention, using the traditional drying method to obtain wines with greater structure, is no longer necessary, leaving room for the various facets of the terroir to be expressed”.

During the Masterclass, tasting ten Valpolicella Superiore wines, each from a different company location within the denomination, as well as many other parameters, of which the most characterizing is definitely the use, or not, of drying and ageing in wood, clearly highlighted that the Valpolicella Superiore wines from fresh grapes are more recognizable and more drinkable, elegant and fresh. The Consorzio Vini Valpolicella is aiming towards this sensory profiling to extend the period of drinkability to the summer, and to pair it with fish, by playing on a lower serving temperature than the usual standards. “It is a luxury that the basic Valpolicella and the Valpolicella Superiore can afford, unlike other reds - because Corvina and Corvinone have a limited tannic content”, Gianpaolo Breda, president of the Italian Sommelier Association (AIS) Veneto, said.