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Giuseppe Quintarelli

Region of Production: Valpolicella DOC

Winery Location: Negrar di Valpolicella, Verona

Year Established: 1906

Summary: Giuseppe Quintarelli descended from a sharecropping family. His father, Silvio, had already achieved some recognition for his winemaking talents by the time of his son’s birth in 1927. Around this time, Silvio acquired the Monte Ca’ Paletta estate, where the Quintarelli family continues to operate and cultivate its oldest vines. Giuseppe, called Bepi for short, learned to make wine from his father and, following his military service, returned home in the 1950s to continue the family business. While he initially sold his wines in demijohns, Giuseppe gradually achieved worldwide acclaim for his old-school approach to winemaking, which included practices such as hanging drape nets from the attic rafters to air-dry grapes. Quintarelli bottled its wines by hand until the 1990s, when Giuseppe finally relented in favor of a machine line. Since Giuseppe’s death in 2012, the winery has been run by his daughter Fiorenza, son-in-law Giampaolo, and grandsons Francesco and Lorenzo.

Vineyard Holdings: 10 ha 

Average Total Production: 4,000 cases

Top Wines Produced & Inaugural Vintages:

• Amarone della Valpolicella Classico DOC: Corvina, Corvinone, and Rondinella dried and pressed at the end of January. Aged in Slavonian oak barrels for seven years. Inaugural vintage 1961.
• Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva DOC: Corvina, Corvinone, and Rondinella dried and pressed at the end of January. Aged in Slavonian oak barrels for seven years. Bottled in very select vintages. Inaugural vintage 1971.
• Selezione Giuseppe Quintarelli (Amarone della Valpolicella Classico DOC): Corvina, Corvinone, and Rondinella dried and pressed at the end of January. Aged in a Slavonian oak barrel for seven years. A single-barrel selection produced only once, from the 2000 vintage.
• Rosso del Bepi (Veneto IGT): Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Nebbiolo, Croatina, and Sangiovese dried and pressed at the end of January. Aged seven years in Slavonian oak barrels. Includes grapes declassified in select years when Amarone della Valpolicella is not produced. Inaugural vintage 1994.
• Alzero (Veneto IGT): 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Cabernet Franc, and 20% Merlot dried and pressed in mid-December. Aged in French oak barrels for two to three years and Slavonian oak barrels for four years. Inaugural vintage 1983.
• Recioto della Valpolicella Classico DOC: Corvina, Corvinone, and Rondinella dried and pressed at the end of January. Aged in Slavonian oak barrels for five to six years. Inaugural vintage 1952.
• Amabile del Cerè Bandito (Veneto IGT): Garganega, Trebbiano Toscano, Sauvignon Bianco, Chardonnay, and Saorin dried and pressed in January or February after being affected by noble rot. Aged in French oak barrels for five to six years.

Brief Description of Style & Vinification Techniques: Quintarelli is recognized for its traditional approach to winemaking, which extends from its DOC/G wines to its IGT wines, which are among the most heralded in Italy outside the Super Tuscans. Aging is notably long, and the winery continues to use many old, ornately carved Slavonian oak casks. Giuseppe was a proponent of meticulous fruit sorting. The winery continues to routinely declassify lots, only producing Amarone in select vintages and Riserva when conditions are exceptional. 

Importer Website: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant

Producer Website: N/A