In a little village not far from Verona, tucked into the romantic hills of Valpolicella, you will find the estate of one of the best Amarone producers in Italia - Giuseppe Lonardi. “Bepi,” as his wife likes to call him, is a fourth-generation winemaker, and he leads a beautiful, streamlined life. On average, he hand-crafts just a few hundred cases per year of each of his finest wines. Marilena smiles fondly when you ask her about her husband: “He’s a workaholic. He basically sleeps with the wine.” Matching his stride and making wine right beside him is Giuseppe’s daughter, Silvia, who additionally runs “Corte Lonardi”, the family’s cozy, four-room inn. Over the years, she has gradually taken on more and more responsibility in the cellar and is now a formidable producer in her own right!

What sets Giuseppe and Silvia apart from so many others is their ongoing devotion to old-fashioned Amarone and Ripasso. Far from being sweet and cloying, their wines display endless layers of fruit, earthy tannins, and admirable acidity, and they’re often designed to cellar for decades. Structure-driven, yet full of nuance and grace, even their Amarone maintains its poise even after a 100-day, appassimento drying process. Without a doubt, altitude plays a large role in Lonardi’s ability to maintain this classical approach. Located in Marano, the loftiest of 8 hilltop villages comprising the region’s “green heart”, Lonardi’s is the highest single estate in all Valpolicella Classico. In an era of warming temperatures, their cooler clime plays a huge role when it comes to controlling ripeness. Intent is the other half of that coin: rather than harvest their grapes for Amarone later in the season, Giuseppe and Silvia hand pick the best fruit for their top wine first (usually in early September), so that the port-like flavors of Amarone stay concentrated after drying, but the sugar content remains modest and sophisticated.