German wines
Tedeschi, it would appear, is Italian for “German.” So, confusedly, pointed out my father when I presented the suggested wine for Christmas Day lunch. I unhelpfully explained the origin of the wine: I’d been at a graduate recruitment event a number of years ago and – at the end of the drinks reception afterwards – I was the first person to take up the offer of making off with the unopened bottle of wine from the cellars of Downing College.
Perhaps more helpfully, the Tedeschi family have owned vineyards in the Valpolicella since at least 1824 and possible even since 1630. The particular bottle of their wine I had – a 2001 Amarone della Valpolicella DOC Classico – retails at around £20, and the vintage is rated “very good.”
The wine itself is a blend – 30% Corvina, 30% Corvinone, 30% Rondinella, and 10% Rossignola, Oseleta, Negrara, and Dindarella. It’s an amazing colour: the very dark red of the cherries and berries that are so evident in both the nose and flavour. It’s heavy – at 15% – but incredibly drinkable and really rather delicious. A good steal!