How to Choose a Good Valpolicella for Sunday Lunch

Why Valpolicella Works So Well on a Sunday

Valpolicella is one of those Italian wines that quietly does everything a British Sunday asks of it. It is rarely as heavy as a big New World Shiraz, nor so delicate that it vanishes beside a slab of roast beef. The best bottles carry sour cherry, dried herbs, a hint of bitter almond and a fine, dusty tannin that slices through gravy and crackling without shouting over the conversation.

The catch is that "Valpolicella" covers a very wide spectrum. At one end sits a pale, cherry-scented wine you would drink lightly chilled in a Veronese trattoria. At the other sits Amarone: dense, dried-fruit-rich and powerful enough to be the main event in its own right. Choosing well simply means matching the style on the label to the plate in front of you.

Learn the Styles Before You Buy

Organic, family-run and cooperative producers all work the same hills, but the wine in the bottle depends on which of these categories it falls into.

• Valpolicella DOC — the lightest, freshest style. Bright red cherry, violets, a whisper of almond. Serve it cool, around 14°C, and treat it as a lunchtime red rather than a cellar trophy.
• Valpolicella Superiore — a step up in depth, with at least a year's ageing and slightly higher alcohol. Expect darker fruit, a pinch of spice and more grip on the finish.
• Valpolicella Ripasso — the great all-rounder. The wine is passed over the skins left from Amarone production, which adds colour, body and a lovely dried-cherry richness. This is the sweet spot for Sunday lunch.
• Amarone della Valpolicella — made from grapes dried for months before pressing. Dry, intense, with notes of dried figs, cocoa, leather and bitter cherry. It is a wine to linger over.
• Recioto della Valpolicella — the sweet version, historically the region's original wine. Serve it in small glasses with dark chocolate or almond biscuits instead of pudding.

The grapes to look for on the back label are Corvina and Corvinone, supported by Rondinella — a blend that gives the wines their distinctive sour-cherry bite.

Matching the Bottle to the Menu

Think about weight first, then flavour. You want the wine to be roughly as substantial as the food, and preferably with a touch more acidity than you think you need.

• Roast lamb with rosemary and garlic — a good Ripasso, or a fuller Superiore from a warm vintage. The herbal note in the wine echoes the rosemary beautifully.
• Roast beef and horseradish — Amarone, or the richest Ripasso you can find. The tannin stands up to the meat; the dried-fruit sweetness softens the heat of the horseradish.
• Roast chicken, pork with crackling, or a simple roast turkey — a Valpolicella Classico Superiore. Fresh, cherry-led and forgiving; it will not overwhelm white meat.
• Nut roast, mushroom wellington or a vegetarian pie — an elegant Superiore with restraint in the oak. Earthy mushroom flavours and savoury Valpolicella are a genuinely fine pairing.
• Lasagne, ragù or a slow-cooked risotto — Ripasso. Tomato and dried cherry get on famously.
• The cheese board — Amarone with aged Monte Veronese, Grana Padano or a mature British hard cheese. Skip anything blue; it fights the bitterness.

Serving: Temperature, Glassware and a Little Air

More Valpolicella is ruined by serving temperature than by anything else. A light Valpolicella straight from a warm kitchen is dull and flabby; chill it for twenty minutes in the fridge and it comes alive. Aim for 14–16°C for the lighter styles and 16–18°C for Ripasso and Amarone — cellar cool, not room warm.

Use a decent, tulip-shaped glass rather than a small tumbler. Ripasso and Amarone benefit from being opened an hour ahead, or poured into a jug and back into the bottle to give them air. Light Valpolicella needs none of this; treat it like a white wine with a red coat and drink it young.

Reading the Label: A Practical Shortcut

Three words do most of the work for you. Classico means the wine comes from the historic heart of the zone — Fumane, Marano, Negrar, San Pietro in Cariano and Sant'Ambrogio — where limestone and marl soils give fragrance and freshness. Valpantena, to the east, tends to produce fuller, more savoury wines. And a stated vintage matters more here than in many regions: 2016, 2019 and 2021 were excellent, while a weaker year will taste thinner.

As a rough guide, expect to pay £10–14 for a decent entry-level bottle, £15–22 for a good Ripasso, and £30 upwards for a serious Amarone. Independents and Italian specialists will usually steer you better than a supermarket shelf, so ask what they have open.

Planning a Vineyard Trip

For UK readers, Valpolicella is one of the easiest wine regions in Europe to visit. Fly into Verona, or take the train from Milan or Venice to Verona Porta Nuova, and you are twenty to thirty minutes from the vines. Hiring a car gives you the freedom to climb into the hills, though a local driver for the day is a sensible option if you plan to taste seriously.

Base yourself in Verona and day-trip out, or stay in one of the villages — Negrar, Fumane and Sant'Ambrogio all have small hotels and agriturismi among the cypresses. Book tastings in advance, particularly in September and October when the vendemmia is underway and the drying lofts are filling with grapes for Amarone. Spring is quieter, greener and just as lovely.

Build in time for the food as well as the wine: a plate of sopressa and Monte Veronese cheese with a glass of Classico in a village piazza, or a long lunch of risotto all'Amarone in the hills. Go home with two or three bottles you have actually tasted, and next Sunday's lunch will look after itself.