Italy is the source of an astounding diversity of wines, with something suitable for every meal and every occasion, yet only a small glimpse of this world is available to kosher consumers. Thankfully, the newest kosher Italian wine to hit the market is both a step in the right direction, and a very big deal. The newly released Aura di Valerie, Amarone della Valpolicella, DOCG Classico, 2017 ($75)—courtesy of The River Wine, a small but critically successful New York-based importer, distributor and producer of kosher wines—isn’t merely one new Italian kosher wine, but the first-ever kosher Amarone.
“Amarone is one of the most notable Italian wines,” said Larissa Nahari, the marketing director of The River Wine. “Its popularity around the world has grown recently, and for the kosher world to be able enjoy this unusual wine is very significant and extremely exciting.” The wine comes from the Valpolicella region of Italy, situated between Verona—to the west—and Venice—to the east.
Kosher productions of prestige wines are always a big deal, of course, but Amarone makes for an especially cool “first” for the market of quality-driven kosher wines from Italy. “Amarone is one of the biggest, most intense wines made in Italy,” said Nahari. Amarone is, in fact, one of the world’s truly great red wines, and easily the most distinctive of the top echelon of “great” wines.
The grape varieties used for Amarone, all local to the Valpolicella area, are the Corvine, Corvinone Veronese and Rondinella. Amarone is the only serious, full-bodied, top-flight, dry red wine in the world vinified from grapes that have been purposefully dried. Known in Italian as appassimento or rasinate (to dry and shrivel), the process entails air-drying the grapes after they have been harvested—traditionally on straw mats in special drying sheds—so that their remaining juices have become highly concentrated essences of the original grapes.
“As the cool breezes blows over the grapes,” explained Nahari, “they gradually lose water, leaving sweeter and sweeter juice behind.” The resulting wine produced from such dried grapes tends to not only have higher alcoholic content than most red wines, but usually also results in a wine with more residual sugar too.
According to Nahari, the Aura di Valerie, Amarone della Valpolicella, DOCG Classico, 2017 is “jammy,” with flavors of dried fruit, chocolate, vanilla, cherry and plum.” Also, “the drying of the grapes for 120 days creates interesting, rich flavors such as toasted almond and chocolate, but also an unexpected level of freshness and amazing complexity and finesse.”
Since Amarone is subject to the myriad rules associated with the local protected and regulated wine zone, The River Wine had to navigate both these regional rules of production and the logistically difficult and expensive rules of kashrut. As Nahari pointed out, “It was difficult to find a winery that would be willing to deal with all the kosher requirements, and to be dependent on mashgiach visitations and other constraints.”
This new kosher Aura di Valerie was produced and imported by The River Wine in partnership with Cristian Tombacco, of Vinicola Tombacco, at the well-regarded Guiseppe Campagnola winery (established in 1907), and under the strict supervision of Rabbi Akiva Osher Padwa, senior certification consultant with the Kashrut Division of the London Beth Din (KLBD).
“Producing this wine was challenging throughout,” noted Nahari, “but we had the ongoing support of Rabbi Padwa, Cristian Tombacco and the winery, who all understood the magnitude of this wine and its place in history.”
Italians conventionally serve Amarone della Valpolicella to accompany a course of strong, old cheeses, but its legions of fans have successfully argued for pairing Amarone with the main course. Such dishes have to be appropriately big to pair well, however. As Nahari put it, “It needs to be paired with big, flavorful foods—so, steaks and heavy meats, but also if you are having dairy, with pastas in rich cream sauces, as well as spicy dishes.”
The new Aura di Valerie will be released in 200-case batches every six months for the next three years. “We didn’t want Amarone fans to buy it all up immediately,” explained Nahari, “and we wanted to make sure there would be enough Amarone available for everyone to have a chance to taste and experience this new and unique kosher wine.” This emphasis on market accessibility also helps explain the price. For while the price-tag may seem expensive to those unfamiliar with Amarone, it actually represents substantial value: “The wine could have been sold for over $150, but we decided to price it to allow as many people to try it as possible.”
Since $75 is still a premium price for most kosher consumers, The River Wine decided to go with a premium presentation as well, starting with an “impressive label.” And each bottle—which is “large and heavy”—is individually boxed and comes with an explanatory booklet to educate consumers and thereby further enhance the drinking experience.
Over the years there have been multiple attempts by others to produce kosher Amarone, but it seems rather fitting that The River Wine is the first to actually succeed in doing so. For one thing, The River Wine was actually established in 2010 by Ami and Larissa Nahari specifically to introduce new wines to the kosher market.
While The River’s portfolio has popular wines from Israel and around the world, their primary goal is to introduce unique wines—such as their Twin Suns Mourvedre from Paso Robles, California, and their Italian Gavi Di Gavi, to name but two examples. Word is that The River is working on a variety of other exciting wines too, such a Super Tuscan, a Barolo and a Brunello, among others. While all of those will undoubtedly be pretty cool too, for now one need look no further for excitement than the world’s first kosher certified Amarone. L’Chaim!
By Joshua E. London
