talking about passionate people... on our last trip to italy, we visited corte sant'alda in the valpolicella wine region just 1/2 hour north of verona. what a passionate woman that is marinella camerani who is firmly in charge of this family estate.

although established in the early 80s, they have been growing organically for the past 4 years and bio-dynamically for the last 3. they absolutely believe in the work of nature so much so that marinella is now considering using horses instead of machines in the vineyards. their philosophy is simply to produce the best possible wines which will represent their "terroir" and purest typicity of each styles on wines.

when we visited, we tasted their whole range except, to my infinite sadness, their recioto which i had had at another occasion.

the "amarone della valpolicella 2004" was absolutely stunning so was their "valpolicella superior "mithas" 2004"which is made only when the best possible conditions exists in one of their very best vineyards, which by the way are all individually named and personally known and cherished by marinella as if they are her children.

unfortunately, it is not available in hong kong but it is possible to order by internet or, if you go to venice, stop by one of their best wine shop called vino e vini in castello (tel. 041 521 0184) where i bought my 1st bottle a few years ago.

here is the note on the "amarone della valpolicella corte sant alda 2004":

clear & bright deep ruby color with much viscosity (legs) on the bowl. intense, concentrated prunes, dark cherries, blueberries, blackberries, dark chocolate, vanilla, liquorice. with a medium (+) tannin, a smooth texture and long lenght of after-taste. an excellent and super tasty wine to drink now with a nice hearty meal, possibly rosted lamb served on rosemary jus and roasted potatoes. to keep for 10-15 years and improve most of this time.

needless to say, we bought a few cases to bring back and age in our cellar back in franco's house.