2021 Fasoli Gino La Corte del Pozzo Valpolicella Ripasso DOC Veneto 6pk 6x750ml

Fasoli Gino has been working Veneto since 1925 — and went fully organic in 1979, when the second-generation Gino Fasoli developed a chemical allergy and decided the vineyards had to change. By 1984, the estate had committed to organic principles across the board. Today, they're the only biodynamic producer in the region, a century-old family operation that's spent the last forty years proving you don't need shortcuts to make honest wine.

Ripasso is Valpolicella's middle ground — fuller than the everyday stuff, less intense than Amarone, and built by a technique that's part thrift, part genius. After Amarone fermentation, the still-warm grape skins get a second use: fresh Valpolicella is passed over them (ri-passato — "re-passed"), pulling residual sugar, tannin, and concentration into the wine. It's a way to add weight and depth without the time and cost of full appassimento, and when it's done right, you get Amarone's structure at a third of the price.

La Corte del Pozzo comes from vineyards on the morainic hills around Lake Garda, in the Bardolino district — famous for breezy, light-bodied reds that drink best cold. The grapes — Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella, and a splash of Garganega — are hand-harvested, fermented in stainless, and bottled with 12.8% alcohol. It's biodynamic farming married to a style that doesn't ask you to think hard.

In the glass: soft red fruit — strawberry, cherry — with peach and rose petal riding the edges. Medium-light body, round texture, silky without losing the line of acidity that keeps it refreshing. Wonderfully dry on the finish.

This is the kind of Ripasso that drinks like bottles asking twice the price — honest farming, old-school technique, and the depth you'd expect from a producer that's been at it for a century. Chill it to 58°F and pour it freely.