To understand Amarone, you start with Bepi. Giuseppe Quintarelli is widely called the father of the modern style, and decades after his wines first traveled the world, his estate above Negrar still makes them exactly as he did.
Backstory
The roots reach back to the early 1900s, when Silvio Quintarelli farmed vines on a sharecropping basis in Marano di Valpolicella. After the First World War he moved to Negrar and founded his own vineyard in 1924. It was his son Giuseppe, known as Bepi, who carried the estate to worldwide renown. After 60 years in wine, Giuseppe died in 2012, and the estate continues under his daughter Fiorenza, son-in-law Giampaolo, and grandchildren Francesco and Lorenzo.
The Region
The 12-hectare property sits in the hills of Negrar, north of Verona, in the heart of Valpolicella Classico, at around 500 meters of elevation. The cool altitude is central to the freshness that balances the wines' power.
Vineyards & Farming
The estate grows the traditional Valpolicella varieties, led by Corvina, Corvinone, and Rondinella, alongside experimental international plantings that Bepi pioneered. The vineyards are farmed meticulously to produce the healthy, ripe fruit that the drying process demands.
Winemaking
The signature is appassimento, the drying of grapes after harvest. Quintarelli uses three methods: hanging bunches to dry, laying them in shallow wooden crates, and resting them on wooden racks. After months of drying the grapes are pressed and fermented slowly, then aged for years in large Slavonian oak botti, around 8 years for Amarone and up to 10 for the Riserva, with Recioto aged about 6 years.
The Wines
The cellar produces the benchmark Amarone della Valpolicella Classico and its Riserva, the sweet Recioto della Valpolicella, a serious Valpolicella Classico Superiore, and the rare Alzero. Each is a study in patience, concentration, and restraint.
