Ca ’Botta Cajo Amarone DOCG 2016

Ca’Botta is based in the Valpolicella DOC region about half an hour from Verona and makes wine exclusively from dried grapes. In normal winemaking a kilo of grapes makes roughly one bottle of wine. Even their ‘entry level’ wines like the Rubicondo are produced from dried grapes – 1.2kg’s per bottle. At the other end of the spectrum, each bottle of the massive and supremely concentrated Il Priore contains 4.3 kgs of fruit. Ca’Botta has just 20 hectares of high altitude vineyards overlooking the Squaranto Valley (350-550m above sea level) This high altitude enables them to make Valpolicella, Ripasso, Amarone and other wines of a higher than normal body, acidity and intensity of flavour. They are blessed with 3 distinct soil types, Volcanic, white limestone and red Veronese marble soil. Their plantings are primarily of the typical Amarone varieties, Corvina, Rondinella, Molinara and Corvinone but they also use Turchetta, Croatina, Teroldego, Oseletta and Cabernet Sauvignon. In addition to making regional specialties like Amarone, Ca’Botta also produce concept wines … using grapes not allowed by the Valpolicella DOC … IE the Il Priore, made in a super concentrated Amarone style after 130 days of drying the grapes contains 25% Teroldego. As Teroldego is not an official grape of the region, they cannot call the Il Priore Amarone, but the Teroldego’s naturally high acidity and tannin counterbalance the density and concentration achieved by the extended drying process – the end result being a super concentrated and rich wine which still retains balance. Ca’Botta have also received a patent for a maceration/fermentation tank they developed which facilitates maximum extraction of tannins, richness, colour and flavour from their grapes.