February 2023
2018 Ca’ La Bionda Classico Ravazzol – Very fresh and expressive, the style winemaker Alessandro Castellani delivers with his terroir-focused wines, reminiscent of the terroir-focus of other world renowned wine regions, such as Burgundy. After spending some time in their vineyards and tasting a representative sample of vintages from the past two decades, I’m impressed with what I’m seeing in their vineyards and wines and the over arching focus on quality and elegance.
Ca’ La Bionda’s organic terraced vineyards are situated in the Marano Valley of the Classico region of Valpolicella, and since 2015 they’ve been picking a couple weeks earlier than most (as early as mid-August) to ensure the retention of that bright acidity in their wines, which is critical in support of their winemaking vision of producing terroir-focused wines with great freshness, complexity, and drinkability. 2018 Ravazzol shows delicious dried fruit, fig, cherry, spice, and tobacco on the nose. The palate is equally layered and complex, with great structure, freshness, and elegance. A premium Amarone to make room for in your cellar, every vintage. Enjoy now and over the next two plus decades. 94+ points.
(note, I also tasted the following vintages of Ca’ La Bionda Amarone della Valpolicella: 2001 (96 points), 2007 (93), 2011 (96+), 2012 (93), 2013 (95), 2015 (94), 2016 (94), and 2017 (94) and each vintage showed beautifully, with Ca’ La Bionda’s stylistic hallmarks of freshness, complexity, and drinkability apparent in each of the wines. Consistently 93 to 96+ points over two decades, affirmation of the great wines they’re producing each vintage. Although not the focus of this article, I must draw attention to Ca’ La Bionda’s Valpolicella Superiore wines which are bright, complex, and showing the greatness possible in this style of accessible and versatile Valpolicella wines. Highly recommended.
Quercus Vino 
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