2015 Bertani Secco Bertani Original Vintage Edition Verona Veneto 750 ml

It’s a uniquely Italian brand of catastrophe when the wine doesn’t immaculately pair with the food on the table, but it was such a predicament that led to our discovery of the gorgeous 2015 Bertani Secco Original Vintage Edition. 

Initially mistaking this Super Tuscan lookalike for a masterful upsell by our server, we were stunned to learn that our wine of the night was (by far) the least expensive bottle we’d enjoyed on our entire trip to Verona. Long story short, we didn’t leave until we secured enough to share.

Bertani is one of the iconic names in Valpolicella and Verona, yet for all its tradition, this 2015 Secco is remarkably modern in its fruit concentration and polish. Overflowing with smokey Bing cherry, raspberry, violet, lavender, gun flint, and exotic spice, this medium-bodied red has a deep level of complexity we typically associate with its $75+ Super Tuscan peers from farther south.

With its base of 80% Corvina—the same local variety that also goes into the region’s flagship Valpolicella and Amarone—it’s the less traditional balance of Sangiovese Grosso (think Brunello), Syrah, and Cabernet Sauvignon that makes this wine so unique. Yet this iconoclastic red predates any of the styles we recognize from Verona today, just as it does the Super Tuscans that echo its singular style.

Though delightfully reminiscent of a Super Tuscan (in all but price), Verona’s cooler, more northerly location gives this wine a tighter focus with a brighter fruit character that might be even more versatile with food. Aged in large Veronese chestnut and cherry wood casks for 18 months, Bertani’s extended maceration creates extra fine tannins, allowing the seductive spice notes to shine through.