Hurlo - Garbole

Hurlo. A name that asks no permission. A wine that makes no apologies. Garbole, the small visionary winery of the Valpolicella that with the Heletto has already demonstrated it follows no convention, brings with the Hurlo an even more radical and personal interpretation of the Veronese territory — a wine that shouts its identity before it is even poured into the glass.

Like the Heletto, the Hurlo is born from nearly forgotten indigenous Veronese varieties — in this case a blend of extraordinary rarity: Corvina and Corvinone at 50%, combined with an equal 50% of Saccola, Pontedarola and Segreta — three ancient local varieties whose very names most wine lovers have never encountered, because most producers abandoned them decades ago in pursuit of higher yields and more commercial styles. Garbole made the opposite choice: to recover, preserve and valorise these rare varieties as part of an ampelographic heritage that belongs to the Veronese territory and risked disappearing forever. The presence of Saccola, Pontedarola and Segreta in a wine at this level is not a curiosity — it is a declaration of identity and an act of cultural preservation.

The production approach is total artisan commitment: late manual harvest, rigorous selection, spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts, long macerations and 100 days of appassimento — over three months of natural concentration that brings the grapes to an extreme level of sugar and aromatic density. Then comes the most striking technical detail of this wine: 9 years of ageing in new French oak barriques — a period that is almost without precedent in the Valpolicella and that transforms the wine completely, integrating the tannins of the dried grapes and the oak into a complex, layered and utterly unique whole — followed by 6 months of bottle ageing before release. The 2015 vintage was released after more than a decade of total ageing — a commitment to time that speaks louder than any marketing claim.

On the nose it is overwhelming and impossible to categorise — just like the Oseleta, Saccola and the other wild varieties that do not easily allow themselves to be tamed: dark wild red fruits, citrus spice, black pepper, Alpine herbs, tobacco, damp earth, resin and an almost metallic ferrous minerality recalling the rocks of the Negrar hills. On the palate it is tense and cutting, with dense and lively tannins that with time evolve towards surprising finesse, a vibrant acidity and a long, austere and persistent finish that resembles no other Veronese wine. A wine for those who are not afraid to be surprised — and who are prepared to wait.

1,500 bottles. Vintage 2015. Over a decade in the making.