Sometimes you taste a good wine, decide to buy it – and that’s that. And sometimes, well, sometimes you change flights, rent a car, cancel several meetings, and get lost in the hills of Valpolicella in order to taste some wines that you just have a feeling about. Robin’s instinctive pursuit of Nicola’s wines was an adventure in itself - and one that was entirely worth it. Formerly an assistant to the legendary Valpolicella producer Giusseppe Quintarelli, Nicola Ferrari now makes (far too little of) his own wine from 3ha of organically farmed vines in Fumane. Production is very small, and we often hit the limits of our allocation far earlier than we’d like. But it’s so worth it. Nicola’s Valpols and Amarones remind us of the very great wines of this region’s past. There’s none of the insipid sweetness that you find with the more modern versions – instead these demand attention, and reward it with complexity and proper depth.
