Impress the Sommelier

Ignore the barolos and go for a Valpolicella By [Josh Perilo] I had been sorely missing my good, angry friend Jesse since he and his wife moved to Los Angeles. I knew that I could always rely on him for a good fight or two about everything from the meaningless to the epic. Now, my sparring partner was gone. Then I received a text last week: â??Val and I have reservations at one of L.A."s best Italian joints. I"ve emailed you the wine list. Pick me something sick but not obvious. Don"t disappoint. I immediately dropped what I was doing and took up the case at hand. By God, I was going to find him the greatest, least expected, most diamond-in-the-rough bottle of wine on the list. The kind of wine list pick that makes the sommelier smile and think, â??Ah, they"ve found it. I buried it beneath all of the obvious choices, but these two get it. It was an exhaustive list. It took me 40 minutes to just skim through it once. There were the obvious contenders that I had to knock from the list right away. No barolos. No brunellos. I had to surprise them. Recommending a barolo is like telling a cook, â??Hey, butter might work well in that dish. I had to dig deep. Then it called to me. From page 42, it sang out, â??How could you forget us? ; the wonderful, underrated, and always reliable Valpolicella. Valpolicella comes from the northeastern area of Italy known as the Veneto. Some oenophiles look at Valpolicella as the younger, less accomplished brother of amarone (which hails from the same area), but I think it has a distinction all its own. While amarone is made from dried grapes in order to add a port-like quality to the wine, Valpolicella is made naturally. And if you can find a Valpolicella ripasso, you can get the best of both worlds. In these, the unused skins from amarone production are added to the Valpolicella fermentation process. This adds tannin and gives the alcohol content a slight kick, which also helps bolster the body of the wine. I recommended several Valpolicellas to Jesse and Val, and he sent back his sign of approval: â??Niiiice! Good call on the V-Po. I"ll return with a full report. So today, I will recommend a few Valpolicellas that are available locally so you can experience the delicious northern Italian superstar yourselves. The Michele Castellani Valpolicella Classico Superiore I Castei Costamaran Ripasso 2009 ($19.99 at Morrell and Company, 1 Rockefeller Plz. betw. 48th & 49th Sts., 212-688-9370) is a great example of a Valpolicella that gives the drinker exactly what they should expect from a solid, mid-priced ripasso. The body is visibly more viscous and the coloring is a deep, plummy purple. On the nose there is a massive amount of roasted spice and pipe smoke. The palate has big, attention-grabbing notes of anise and clove up front but mellows to a baked blackberry finish. For something a little lighter on the palate (and even on the pocketbook) try the Tedeschi Valpolicella Classico Lucchine 2009 ($15.99 at 67 Wine and Spirits, 179 Columbus Ave. at 68th St., 212-724-6767). This one is not a ripasso, so it doesn"t have the unctuousness of its more expensive brethren, but for the price this is absolutely the best bang for your buck. There are lots of red berry scents accompanied by hints of cedar right out of the bottle. The palate is simple but bold. There"s more red berry fruit up front, with baked raspberry. A good, hearty, tannic middle gives way to a long finish of coffee and cocoa dust. For a Valpolicella that fires on all cylinders, however, look no further than the Musella Valpolicella Superiore Vigne Nuove 2009 ($20 at Yorkshire Wines and Spirits, 1646 1st Ave. at 85th St., 212-717-5100). â??Superiore indicates that this is a ripasso as well, and it sure behaves like one. Wet earth and burning leaves are the main events in the olfactory department. While there is some baked cherry fruit up front, this is a monster that rips through, front to back, leaving notes of Earl Grey tea, licorice and tar in its wake. A powerhouse wine.