About this wine
Vineyard and terroir
The grapes come from three of the estate's vineyards, Calcarole, Pojega and Rovereti, which give the wine its name. Soils are clay-limestone. All grapes come from the estate's own organically farmed vineyards.
Grapes
Corvina leads the blend, bringing fresh acidity, cherry notes and a deep ruby-red colour. Rondinella gives body and highlights Corvina's gentle spice. Corvinone and Barbera add aromatic touches, balance and depth.
Vinification
The grapes are harvested by hand and carefully sorted. They are then left to dry in special drying rooms, laid out on well-ventilated surfaces, which concentrates the juice and raises its sugar content. Drying time varies with the vintage but is usually around 3 months. The grapes are gently pressed and undergo a very long fermentation in stainless-steel tanks at a controlled 25–30 °C. Malolactic fermentation follows in barriques. The high alcohol comes from fermenting dried grapes, not from added spirit.
Ageing
12 months in 2.25-hectolitre oak barrels, then a further 24 months in 25-hectolitre barrels. After bottling the wine continues to mature for a time in the winery's cellars.
Tasting profile
A refined dry red with a deep ruby-red colour, cherry notes, fresh acidity and gentle spice, with aromatic touches, balance and depth from the other varieties. The aroma is lovely and the flavour memorable.
Serving and pairing
Best decanted for 1–2 hours before serving. It can be kept for more than 10 years.
Label / history
The name "3 Cru" refers to the three vineyards. Amarone is said, according to legend, to have arisen by accident: a winemaker let grapes intended for Recioto dry for too long and forgot the wine in the fermentation room. The sugar fermented out fully, giving a bitter rather than sweet wine; "amaro" means "bitter" in Italian. Amarone is made in much the same way as Recioto.
Guerrieri Rizzardi was formed through the union of two Veronese families: the Counts Guerrieri, with a centuries-old estate in Bardolino, and the Counts Rizzardi, who bought vineyards in Negrar in 1678 and built the Pojega cellar soon afterwards. The Guerrieri family also owned the small Dolcè estate in Valdadige and an estate in Soave, with vineyards and a cellar in Costeggiola bought in 1970. The estate now belongs to the Rizzardi family and owns vineyards in four Classico areas, producing Bardolino, Valpolicella, Soave and Valdadige. Its office is in Bardolino, in a building held by the Guerrieri family since 1450. Each region has its own winemaking cellar.
