Veneto Wine Guide: Grapes, Appellations & Producers

Corvina & Amarone

Tip · Amarone is made by drying ('appassimento') Corvina grapes for months, concentrating them into a dry, port-strength red.

Value pick

Monte dall'Ora Valpolicella Classico 'Saseti' · ~$28

Bright, pure, fresh Valpolicella from a biodynamic grower — the antidote to bulk Amarone, at a great price.

Collector pick

Giuseppe Quintarelli Amarone della Valpolicella · ~$700 · 2013

The most revered Amarone of all — released late, rare, and intensely collected.

Garganega whites

Tip · Long dismissed as cheap bulk wine, top Soave Classico from volcanic hills is mineral, textured and genuinely age-worthy.

Value pick

Pieropan Soave Classico · ~$22

The estate that proved Soave can be serious — mineral, lemony, age-worthy and still cheap.

Collector pick

Pieropan 'Calvarino' Soave Classico · ~$35 · 2019

A single-vineyard Soave that ages for a decade-plus — proof of Soave's serious side.

Glera sparkling

Tip · Prosecco uses the tank (Charmat) method, not bottle fermentation — that's why it's fruity-fresh rather than bready like Champagne.

Value pick

Sorelle Bronca Valdobbiadene 'Particella 232' Extra Brut · ~$25

Single-parcel, drier, hillside Prosecco that shows the category's serious side for a few dollars more.

Collector pick

Sorelle Bronca 'Particella 232' (library) · ~$30 · 2019

A serious, single-parcel Prosecco — a fun outlier in a cellar of big reds.