Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2009 La Poja is one of the most delicious monovarietal expression of Corvina you will ever taste. This tricky indigenous grape has been vinified as if it were a Merlot or a Cabernet Sauvignon (with 20 months in new French oak, followed by eight months in large casks). The wine is released four years after harvest. Granted, this international approach will not appeal to everyone, but there’s no doubting these excellent results. Corvina’s naturally high acidity shines through: The Allegrini family uses the fitting word “crunchy” to describe the mouthfeel. There is a sudden snap for sure, but I’d add words like “supple” and “velvety” to complete the picture. You get the best of both worlds with this wine. Drink 2015-2025.
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Wine Spectator
Well-focused and juicy, featuring a core of black cherry, currant, coffee liqueur and spice notes, with a firm frame of supple tannins. Offers a smoke- and herb-tinged finish.
The chief variety in Valpolicella and Amarone della Valpolicella of the Veneto region of Italy, Corvina contributes intense red cherry and blackberry along with a touch of tartness and tannins to the blend. It is especially well suited to the drying process required to make Amarone. Corvina is also the main grape variety in Bardolino, a light red from the southeastern side of Lake Garda, also in Veneto. Somm Secret—Because of the dark and almost black coloring of its grape berries, Corvina takes its name from the Italian word, corvo, a local, jet-black raven.
Producing every style of wine and with great success, the Veneto is one of the most multi-faceted wine regions of Italy.
Veneto's appellation called Valpolicella (meaning “valley of cellars” in Italian) is a series of north to south valleys and is the source of the region’s best red wine with the same name. Valpolicella—the wine—is juicy, spicy, tart and packed full of red cherry flavors. Corvina makes up the backbone of the blend with Rondinella, Molinara, Croatina and others playing supporting roles. Amarone, a dry red, and Recioto, a sweet wine, follow the same blending patterns but are made from grapes left to dry for a few months before pressing. The drying process results in intense, full-bodied, heady and often, quite cerebral wines.
Soave, based on the indigenous Garganega grape, is the famous white here—made ultra popular in the 1970s at a time when quantity was more important than quality. Today one can find great values on whites from Soave, making it a perfect choice as an everyday sipper! But the more recent local, increased focus on low yields and high quality winemaking in the original Soave zone, now called Soave Classico, gives the real gems of the area. A fine Soave Classico will exhibit a round palate full of flavors such as ripe pear, yellow peach, melon or orange zest and have smoky and floral aromas and a sapid, fresh, mineral-driven finish.
Much of Italy’s Pinot grigio hails from the Veneto, where the crisp and refreshing style is easy to maintain; the ultra-popular sparkling wine, Prosecco, comes from here as well.