01/16/2025
L’Arco (Valpolicella)
Solano Cellars
Thursday, January 16th
5-8pm
Flight of 5 wines for $25 ($15 club)
At only 47 years old, Luca Fedrigo has been one of the most masterful producers in Valpolicella for almost three decades under the L’Arco label. How is it possible for a winemaker to have that wealth of experience before hitting the half-century mark?
First, you fall madly in love with the granddaughter of the most iconic producer in Valpolicella, Giuseppe Quintarelli, so much so that you abandon your burgeoning career as a Ducati driver, follow her to her family’s farm, and begin to adopt their more agrarian lifestyle. Second, when Quintarelli offers you an apprenticeship, you accept, eventually spending a decade in his cellar and vineyards learning the traditional winemaking techniques and indigenous varieties of the region. And third, you purchase a small plot of land a short walk from the Quintarelli property, in the Negrar zone of Valpolicella, a few years into your stint as assistant winemaker, and a few years later, release your inaugural vintage.
Fedrigo’s time under Quintarelli’s tutelage no doubt served him well: L’Arco’s Amarone is dark, brooding, and lushly textured, with an almost ethereal elegance quite rarely, if ever, seen in its peers; the Ripasso is likewise elegant, all concentrated fruit with savory etchings; their Rosso di Veronese offers a youthful expression of the region’s chief varieties, lithe and lively; and their Rubeo is a captivating blend of those native varieties and techniques with Cabernet Franc.
On Thursday, we’ll taste them all (+ the perfectly balanced sweetness of their Passito Bianco) with our friend Nick Dazzi of Alluvial Wine. A perfect lineup to warm up on a chilly evening!
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