Wine Club: An Italian Classic, Ripasso

One of the great things about Thanksgiving is that there are some many possible wine pairings! Really, the only rules you want to follow are that you want wines that are fresh, with noticeable fruit tones, so offset the ultra savory dishes. This could mean dry Riesling to Malbec, Rosé to Bordeaux stye blends - as long as the wine has balancing acidity and some juiciness to it, it will do the trick.

That said, there are some wines that are perfect. To us, one of those is Ripasso, a style of wine from Veneto, Italy. To make it, winemakers take the leftover pomace from making the more famous Amarone and “re-pass” it through a fresher wine based of Corvina based blended grapes. This imparts flavors, adds complexity, and builds extra structure into the wine, while also keeping the result with amazing drinkability.

This month for Wine Club, we picked two excellent examples of this style. The first, by Famiglie Pasqua, is a blend of Corvina, Rondinella, Corvinone and Negrara. The wine showcases aromas of raspberry jam laced with hints of cinnamon, cloves and baking spices. On the palate, the wine is soft, silky, polished and welcoming.

The second, by Remo Farina, is a blend of Corvina, Rondinella, and Molinara. This single vineyard sits at 1,300 feet above sea level on volcanic, calcareous and granite soils that renders the wine fresh and complex, without sacrificing drinkability. After refermenting with the Amarone skins, the juice sits in Slovenian oak barrels and French barriques to develop notes of leather, caramel and spices. This will pair beautifully with the dark meat of the Turkey, and roasted vegetables.

The release party is a week early this month! Starting at 2pm tomorrow, two local vendors will join us: Trini Pepper Sauce with handcrafted hot sauces, and FILOS Bakery with amazing german-mexican pastries, perfect for Thanksgiving feast!

Stop by to taste many special treats. We also have open some amazing Lugana and Amarone!