Marion, Valpoicella Superiore 2017
The Wine
“The 2017 Valpolicella Superiore is dark and woodsy in character, with wild herbs, crushed rocks and soil tones giving way to shaved cedar and dried strawberries. It’s silky and finessed with a purity of fruit that captivates, as red berries and spice are complemented by sweet mineral tones. This finishes with a staining of red currant and rosy inner florals. The 2017 is such a pretty yet characterful Valpolicella.” - Vinous
In keeping with Marion’s philosophy this wine is 100% made from indigenous varieties from the region, something Stefano is staunchly passionate about. The other key note on this wine is they never use the term ‘Mini Amarone’, a catch phrase often used by producers to promote their second wines of the estate, often using the Ripasso method to boost the concentration of the wine. The Superiore only has a small % of the dried grapes in the blend, see later notes. Stefano only uses the Appassimento method at Marion and it’s important to know the portion of this wine made from these dried grapes are strictly fermented and aged separately from the ‘normal’ fermented grapes. Approx 40 days drying the grapes for the apassimento. These grapes singled out for drying are picked easier than the rest of the harvest to retain a higher acidity.
Composed primarily of Corvina & Corvinone with small amounts of Rondinella. These components are fermented together in stainless steel then transferred into barrel for 36 months or so. Only 10% now sees small barrel (500ltr) with the rest in 3000ltr, all Slovenian oak. The final blend is assembled on the blending bench starting at 30% appasimento as a general rule then tweaking the blend depending on the vintage. To be honest each time I visit these past years it seems the dried grape component is getting smaller, more bordering between 10% and 15% now due to the balance between Marion’s vision of elegance in their wines vs global warming. There is Zero residual sugar left in this wine.
The Details
Variety - Corvina and Corvinone with Rondinella
Country - Italy
Region - Veneto
Sub Region - Valpolicella
Extra - Cork
Year - 2017
Volume - 750ml
About the Wine Maker 
The Marion Farm, located in the unspoilt Marcellise valley east of Verona, is a small family run property managed by Stefano Campedelli, his wife Nicoletta. Acquired in the late 80’s the first task the Campedeli family set about to change was the over all vineyard health and lower yields all with the goal of improving overall fruit quality, during this period fruit was sold to local co-ops until 1993 when Stefano met Celestino Gaspari, under the guidance of the ex-cellar master at Guiseppe Quintarelli, Marion was born.
Recent notes from a visit to Marion from Vinous
"Looking back, these wines, and the way the vineyards were worked, were strongly influenced by Celestino Gaspari, a more modern-thinking disciple of Giuseppe Quintarelli, who is today the owner and winemaker of Zyme. There was a time when Campedelli was still learning his craft, and Gaspari was his guiding hand. However, the more bold and concentrated style that was created as a result never sat well with him. His vision was to make Valpolicella reds that were inspired by the likes of Burgundy and Barolo. Elegant, finessed, pure, low residual sugars and with the ability to be enjoyed both with or without meal; hence the style of the house today” - Vinous - January 2022