Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
iting its interest for farmers). Today it is grown
mainly in the province of Verona (the home of
Valpolicella, Amarone, and Bardolino in
Veneto), but plantings are on the decline (in
2010, less than thirteen hundred hectares were
planted to Molinara).
Vine and Wine to collaborate on studying and
promoting Molinara's exact winemaking poten-
tial. He believes that “we tried a
rosato
in the
past and really liked it; it appeals to all those
looking for something younger and fresher.”
Owner Mariano Buglioni also confi rms that
“our primary objective is to create a safety net
for Molinara; I have come to understand that as
a wine producer, I am not just a businessman,
but one who has to also act as a defender of tra-
ditions and local history. Planting a vineyard is
not just about harvesting grapes and selling a
wine; it is also about maintaining and propa-
gating an area's specifi c culture and way of life;
and here in Valpolicella, Molinara is very much
a part of that.” Attilio Pagli sums it up very
well: “Listen, Molinara is essential in this part
of Italy, where all the red wines are now run-
ning the risk of being very structured and in
need of time in the cellar.”
I can't say I disagree with any of them; for
instance, Amarone wines are now tipping the
scales at 17 percent alcohol and often have tex-
tures you need a knife to slice through. So I
don't think that recent vintages of Amarone
and Valpolicella (especially) have been better
than those made decades ago, with more Moli-
nara in the blend. If anything, all those wines
had better balance and easy-drinking charm.
Unfortunately, since Amarone sells like hot-
cakes, producers have either not paid much
attention to Valpolicella (of which there are an
alarming number of horrifi c examples) or have
tried to beef it up, turning it into a baby Ama-
rone (especially the
ripasso
versions), and that
of course means yanking away even more Moli-
nara. The end result is that Valpolicella sales
are dropping precipitously, as it is no longer the
wine it is supposed to be and that people ask
for. Therein lies a small measure of revenge for
Molinara.
Perhaps the most famous Molinara wine is
by Giuseppe Quintarelli, who sadly passed
away recently and whose wines are cult items.
The greatness of Quintarelli is exemplifi ed by
the fact that his rendition was always “nor-
mal”: pale in color, light and refreshing, with
Which Wines to Choose and Why
Molinara is mainly used in blends such as Val-
policella, Amarone, and Bardolino, the latter
located close to Lake Garda (Italy's biggest lake,
which straddles the Lombardy-Veneto border).
All these wines are blends of Corvina, Cor-
vinone, Rondinella, and Molinara, with possi-
ble smaller additions of Oseleta, Croatina, and/
or even Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. How-
ever, Molinara is being increasingly phased out
in Valpolicella and especially Amarone wines,
for its rosy, light color wine strikes fear in the
hearts of producers looking to make the big-
gest, blackest wines possible. Nowadays it plays
a much more important role in Bardolino,
where it can make up even 40 percent of the
blend, providing Bardolino wines with lovely
freshness, lightness, and a strong saline note.
Rare Molinara monovarietal IGT wines can
be found, but monovarietals are rare: the wine
is always pink in hue, redolent in aromas and
fl avors of small red berries, citrus, and delicate
herbs and spices; it also has mouth-watering
acidity. In fact, a wine made with Molinara
alone is very similar to a
rosato,
so you under-
stand why Amarone producers, especially,
worry about diluting their superconcentrated
(and expensive) juice by including Molinara.
Not everybody is so fearful: Sandro Boscaini of
the world-famous Masi estate adamantly
defends Molinara's virtue: “Are we looking to
turn Amarone into a liqueur?” he asks rhetori-
cally. “If so, fi ne: but if we want people to keep
drinking our wines, then I think Molinara is a
very important part of Amarone's makeup.”
Diego Bertoni, winemaker of Cantine Buglioni
(another high-quality estate in the heart of the
Valpolicella production zone), signed an agree-
ment with the University of Verona's Depart-
ment of Science, Technologies and Markets of
