Valpolicella - Superiore - Campo Denari - Zanoni

The Valpolicella Superiore DOC Campo Denari by Zanoni is the wine that demonstrates how interesting the Superiore tier can be when a producer decides to treat it with the same seriousness reserved for the great dried-grape wines — not a simple Valpolicella aged a few more months, but a Superiore with an ambitious production technique that approaches the Ripasso without being a Ripasso, and the Amarone without being an Amarone.

"Campo Denari" — the field of coins, an ancient vineyard parcel whose name carries the agricultural history and viticultural vocation of these Veronese soils. Zanoni selects for this wine Corvina at 80% and Rondinella at 20% from specific vineyards, and applies an unusual and interesting production technique: a partial appassimento of 20 days — not the 90 days of Amarone, not the zero days of the Classico, but a middle ground that slightly concentrates the grapes without radically transforming them, increasing aromatic complexity and structure without losing the varietal freshness of young Corvina. This brief appassimento is the signature of the Campo Denari — the technical detail that distinguishes it from any other Valpolicella Superiore in the catalogue.

After vinification the wine ages for 18 months in French oak barriques — a longer and more intense commitment than the Valli di Mezzo, which gives the Campo Denari a more present tannic structure and more pronounced spiced and vanilla notes — followed by 12 months in bottle before release. In total over three years from harvest to customer, a timeframe that for a Valpolicella Superiore is truly remarkable and immediately perceptible in the glass.

On the nose it is richer and more complex than the Valli di Mezzo: ripe cherry and morello jam, blackberry, plum, warm spice, vanilla, light tobacco, dried violet and a balsamic note of Veronese herbs. On the palate it is full and enveloping — 14.5% well integrated, present and already well-polished tannins from the barrique and bottle ageing, a glyceric sweetness that rounds the structure, a fresh acidity that guarantees balance and a medium-long finish with notes of concentrated red fruit, spice and integrated oak. It is not a Ripasso but has the structure of a serious Ripasso. It is not an Amarone but has the complexity of a producer who has learned something from the Amarone. Serve at 16-17°C.

At €21 for a Superiore with partial appassimento and 18 months in French barriques, this is one of the most compelling quality-to-price ratios in the entire Zanoni range and in the Emporio Divino catalogue.