Tommaso Bussola, Valpolicella Ripasso, Superiore Ca' del Laito

Italian Wine Scholar Class at the Texas Wine School. Not a Classico at the time of this vintage. Med (+) ruby/ garnet. Med (+) aromas of macerated strawberry, dried black plum, dried fig, milk chocolate, sweet tobacco, clove and other sweet baking spices, smoke, maybe a touch of VA. The nose is developed. Dry, consistent with the nose. Med to med (+) acidity and tannins, with high alcohol (14%). Smooth and rounded, with med to med (+) flavor intensity and …

Delightful Valpolicella, opens with raisins, berries. Light but hints of boldness. Fantastic QPR. End peaking.

PnP, but may have benefited from a half-hour decant as the wine opened and put on some weight in the glass. The palate showed dark red fruits, esp. dark cherry, along with some spice, some oak, and just enough acidity to balance everything. A touch of red cherry "sweetness" on the finish. Definitely needs air now, and should hold to 2020.

A wine of ever evolving personalities. Dense yet light. Full of briary fruit, laced with black licorice, scorched earth, balsamic notes and a distinct herbal character. There are sometimes pronounced graphite and earthy notes in the crisp mid palate. The finish shows a certain sweetness, with cherry flavors coming to the fore.

An average wine, not much complexity, and unbalanced. More layers evolved after a 3 hour decant.

rich dark cherry with a good acidic streak and a hit of refreshing bitterness

Dark rich typical of a ripasso. After opening for half hour developed lots of dark leather, tobacco notes.

Opened three hours before drinking. Excellent body with good spice and character.

Clear dark red. Vegetal nose. Interesting mouth feel - intense flavor without being thick. Black fruit, high acidity, moderate tannin, some funkiness but over all I liked it pretty well.

Not great QPR. A little funk on the aftertaste that makes me want something else at the same price point.

No notes taken. Mint notes and some spice.

Not exceptional. I've had other vintages that were better.

Pleasant, but not special. Had this with rib roast, which completely overwhelmed this wine. Nice mix of dark and red fruit flavoor profile, but not particularly expressive. Ok finish, but this wine is missing the acidity to go well with red meat. The vineyard says: "The Ca’ del Laito Valpolicella is made in a bold, Ripasso style: Corvinone (40%), Corvina Grossa (25%) and Rondinella (20%). Corvinone, in particular, is quite rare today because of its low yields and finicky growing …