Luigi Righetti
Veneto
We have returned to this estate on the outskirts of Marano many times and always come back with their wines. It is a classic family business that is respected by customers and colleagues alike.
Their flagship wine is the Amarone ‘Capitel de Roari’ (there is another Amarone by Righetti, which is shipped sometimes by other merchants – an error in our opinion). The wine is made from grapes dried over the winter months in the attic of the recently rebuilt Azienda. It is then aged in French barrique and traditional large barrels of Slovenian oak (botti) before being released four years after the vintage. The Campolietti improves every vintage. It is a ‘ripasso’ wine, where the Valpolicella is passed over the skins of the Amarone for a touch more fermentation and enrichment. Not only has this wine been a great hit with our customers, it has also been a great success across the Channel, whoever said the French couldn’t enjoy the finer things in life?
Finally the ‘straightforward wines’ taken from the communes of Bardolino and Custoza: Bardolino is really very similar to Valpolicella, as the grapes are the same, although the land is a bit lower and more stony, making it less fashionable and in consequence more reasonable. For light reds this part of the world is hard to beat. In the past the whites, Soave and Custoza, were made by a family friend. Now, Righetti has brought the Custoza in-house and the style has changed which is proving to be very popular. The fruit is riper and fuller, partly thanks to the vintage. The wine has emerged from its time warp and is now made using modern methods, which is both a good and a bad thing; we may miss the rustic side. Sadly, the Soave and Chiaretto (the rosé) are no longer being made.