I have been aware of Bronco Wines for quite some time, but I never realized they sold wines from other countries. This one is made in Verona, Italy, the 2019 Poggio Della Robinie Superiore Valpolicello Ripasso.
This wine is a blend of four rather unusual grapes. The corporate website shows that the breakdown is 60% Corvina, 20% Rondinella, 10% Corvinone and 10% Negrara. I have seen other sites dropping the last two grapes and substituting 20% Molinara. Whatever grapes they were, they were vinified using the Ripasso technique. The Ripasso method of making wine involves fermenting on the dried skins of the grapes, then putting the wine away for a year in oaken barrels. The dried grapes bring a rich and deep flavor to the wine. Alcohol tips in here at 13.5% abv and I paid $20 for a bottle at my neighborhood Whole Foods Market.
The winery offers tasting notes that give wild cherry as one of the flavors. That assessment is right on the money. The red fruit - cherry, red currant - is bright and complex, with a dark, earthy edge pushing in from the side. It's a darkly tinted wine, with a smooth mouthfeel. I paired it with a beef tenderloin for our New Year's feast, and it was great. I also used it in a wine sauce for the meat, and it was superb.
