Velluto Valpolicella Classico Superiore Meroni 2015

Meroni Velluto Valpolicella Superiore, opulent, rich, sensual red wine made using grapes dried for 30 days. It is almost a baby Amarone (the Amarone grapes are generally dried for 120 days). It has a fantastic mature fruit character, almost porty in aroma with notes of prune, fig, spice and liquorice. Velluto means velvet after a poem written about the Meroni wine during the second world war, ‘Il Sant Ambrogio fatto di Velluto’, the Sant Ambrogio wine made of velvet! The opulence of the wine makes for a hedonistic delight and is perfect with wine rich sauces for game or roast meat. Also try at the end of a meal with a slice of Gorgonzola!

Carlo Meroni took over from his father and continued the family legacy of producing traditional Valpolicella wines with minimum intervention from their ancient soils in the birth place of Amarone, Sant Ambrogio.

Meroni wines are not for the faint hearted. They posess an honesty and authenticity that is not all that common in a region where industrialisation has taken hold and modernism has had a profound effect on wine styles. Valpolicella, Ripasso, Amarone are often blockbuster wines now and the demand is high but many lack the personality to be truly authentic. In many cases the wines are 'too precise' to be real. Meroni on the other hand strives for honesty rather than perfection. The wines oscillate between aromas of old barrels and earth, spices and tobacco mingle with forest floor, raisins, prunes soaked in grappa and and an old dusty cellar type aroma, all of which is wrapped up in a hedonistic mix of alcohol and mature fruit. Serious wines which can be enjoyed simplistically. These are the wines of the Poet and artist and when you see Carlo around town (you can't miss the guy, trust me!), you understand this family winery has the soul of an artist. And the name Velluto, where does it come from? Well there is nice story there. During the second world war, the Poet Berto Berberani was passing through the Valpolicella and after drinking the Meroni wine in Sant Ambrogio, he wrote a Poem....it is below with translation.Meroni Caro, abbiamo ricevutoil S. Ambrogio fatto di velluto / e che alla tua saluta abbiamo bevuto... / In queste universali parapiglie, ti auguriamo che le tue bottiglie, / sono la farmacia delle famiglie!Dear Meroni, we received the S. Ambrogio wine made of Velvet / and we have drunk it to your health... / I must say that in this time of universal turmoil / your wine is like a good medicine to all of us!