Italy · Valpolicella & Bardolino (Verona hills)

Società Agricola Ripa della Volta S.r.l.

Ripa della Volta is an organically certified Valpantena estate founded in 2015, farming 15 hectares of native varieties at altitude and producing a Corvina-led Ripasso that reads dry and fresh for the category.

The producer

Ripa della Volta was founded in 2015 by Andrea Pernigo, a Veronese entrepreneur who set out to make wines that speak for a specific valley: Valpantena, a sub-valley of Valpolicella a few kilometres north of Verona. The estate owns and farms all 15 hectares directly, grows only native varieties at elevations between 350 and 550 metres, holds organic certification across the entire holding, and produces around 60,000 bottles a year through hand harvesting and parcel-level attention.

The Valpolicella Ripasso DOC is the anchor wine, a Corvina-dominant blend refermented over Amarone pomace for ten days and aged two years in large Slavonian-oak casks and French barrique. The altitude and limestone soils keep the acidity alive through the pomace contact and oak time, producing a Ripasso that finishes dry and lifted rather than heavy or sweet. In 2025, a decade in, the estate added a Valpolicella Superiore and a Soave Classico from 100% Garganega, its first white wine and first move beyond the Valpolicella red zone. Forbes Italia named the winery among Italy's emerging producers the same year.

Known for

Valpolicella Ripasso DOC from the Valpantena sub-valley, certified organic, altitude viticulture on marly limestone soils.

Notable facts

The story

Two New Labels and a Forbes Mention

In June 2025, Ripa della Volta arrived at a wine event with two bottles that had not existed twelve months earlier. The Valpolicella Superiore from the 2023 harvest was the expected step for an estate that had spent a decade refining its Ripasso. The Soave Classico from 100% Garganega was not. Soave and Valpolicella sit in different valley systems east and west of Verona, sharing a denomination region but not a soil type, a grape, or a winemaking tradition. Adding a white wine from Garganega, a variety the estate had not previously worked with, is a larger move than the label suggests. Forbes Italia named the winery among Italy's emerging producers in the same month. A ten-year-old estate with a single flagship had, in a matter of weeks, a new appellation on its labels and its first citation in the financial press.

From the atlas

Ripa della Volta

At A Glance

LocationValpantena, Valpolicella, Veneto
Founded2015
FounderAndrea Pernigo
Vineyards15 hectares, 350 to 550 metres elevation
FarmingCertified organic
GrapesCorvina, Corvinone, Rondinella, Oseleta, Spigamonte, Turchetta
FlagshipValpolicella Ripasso DOC
ProductionApproximately 60,000 bottles per year

The Producer

Ripa della Volta was founded in 2015 by Andrea Pernigo, a Veronese entrepreneur who set out to make wines that speak for a specific valley: Valpantena. The estate owns and farms all 15 hectares of its vineyards directly, grows only native varieties, and holds organic certification across the entire holding. Around 60,000 bottles leave the cellar each year, a deliberately limited output for an estate with a stated commitment to hand-harvesting and parcel-level attention.

The Ripasso is the wine the estate built its reputation on, a Corvina-led blend refermented over Amarone pomace and aged in large Slavonian oak and French barrique. It remains the anchor of the range and the wine most widely found in export markets. In 2025, a decade after the founding, the estate released two new labels simultaneously: a Valpolicella Superiore from the 2023 harvest and a Soave Classico from 100% Garganega, moving into a white-wine appellation for the first time. Forbes Italia named the winery among Italy's emerging producers in the same year.

The cellar approach is unusually systematic for an estate of this size. Pernigo's team uses the Bigot Index for agronomic monitoring across parcels, builds a parcel-specific pied de cuve for each plot before fermentation begins, and tracks spontaneous fermentations with microbiological support. The combination of certified organic viticulture and a data-led scientific approach is the house signature.

Place

Valpantena is a sub-valley of the wider Valpolicella zone, running roughly north from Verona toward the Lessini Mountains. It sits a few kilometres from the city and carries its own distinct character within the Valpolicella DOC framework. On the label, wines from here may carry the Valpolicella designation with or without the Valpantena sub-zone name depending on the classification.

The valley's microclimate is Mediterranean in character, moderated by breezes descending from the Lessini Mountains above. At the elevations where Ripa della Volta farms, between 350 and 550 metres, these conditions translate into a longer, cooler ripening period than the lower Valpolicella floor delivers. For the Ripasso, that difference matters. A wine refermented over Amarone pomace and aged two years in oak might easily turn heavy or sweet; altitude-grown Corvina carries enough natural acidity and freshness to hold its line through the pomace contact and the oak ageing.

Soil And Site

The soils across the estate's 15 hectares are marly and rich in limestone. Marl, a mix of clay and calcium carbonate, holds moisture without waterlogging and adds a mineral quality to wines grown in it. The limestone component supports the acidity that keeps Ripa della Volta's Ripasso dry and lifted. The vineyard parcels are farmed organically without synthetic inputs, and yields are kept deliberately low through hand selection.

Story

Andrea Pernigo founded the estate in 2015 with a specific brief: everything would come from Valpantena, and the vineyards would be farmed directly rather than sourced. That second decision shaped the estate from the start. Direct vineyard management at altitude, with organic certification and a systematic parcel programme, requires more time and investment than buying grapes or contracting vineyards; it also means every farming decision feeds directly back into the winemaking record.

The cellar programme that followed reflects that commitment. Rather than applying a standard fermentation protocol across all parcels, the team builds a separate pied de cuve, a small pre-fermentation culture drawn from the parcel's own yeasts, for each plot before harvest. The Bigot Index provides an agronomic benchmark across the growing season. The team builds a separate pied de cuve for each plot before harvest and monitors fermentations with microbiological support.

Ten years in, the estate moved. The 2025 release of a Valpolicella Superiore and a Soave Classico from Garganega marked a deliberate expansion beyond the single-flagship model. The Soave Classico is made from 100% Garganega in the 2024 vintage.

Vineyards And Cellar

All 15 hectares are farmed organically and planted to six native varieties: Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella, Oseleta, Spigamonte and Turchetta. Spigamonte and Turchetta are minor indigenous varieties rarely seen in commercial blends; their presence indicates a commitment to planting the valley's full native palette rather than only the commercially standard trio of Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella. Grapes are harvested and selected by hand.

In the cellar, the Ripasso is made in two stages. The first fermentation splits between temperature-controlled stainless steel and wood. The wine is then passed over Amarone pomace, the partially dried skins and seeds left from Amarone production, and undergoes a second fermentation lasting approximately ten days. This is the ripasso method: it adds body, colour and dried-fruit depth without the full drying process used for Amarone. After the pomace contact, the wine ages for approximately two years in 25-hectolitre Slavonian-oak casks and French-oak barriques, giving further grip and integration without masking the freshness from altitude.

Across all wines, the estate monitors fermentations with microbiological support, tracking the populations of native yeasts through each fermentation and using that data to inform subsequent vintages.

Wines

The range as of 2025 has three anchors.

The Valpolicella Ripasso DOC is the estate's flagship and the wine that defines the house character. The blend is vintage-dependent: the 2021 used 70% Corvina and 20% Corvinone, with Rondinella, Oseleta and Turchetta completing the blend. The wine ferments partly in steel and partly in wood before ten days on Amarone pomace, then ages two years in large Slavonian-oak casks and French barrique. It reads dry, with red fruit, lifted floral notes from altitude-grown Corvina, and firm tannin from the pomace contact and oak time. Acidity is the defining thread: it runs from the first pour through to a clean, dry finish.

The Valpolicella Superiore DOC debuted with the 2023 vintage in 2025. Superiore is a DOC category requiring higher minimum alcohol and longer ageing than standard Valpolicella; the specific élevage for Ripa della Volta's version has not been fully detailed in available sources.

The Soave Classico, made from 100% Garganega grapes in the 2024 vintage, is the most significant departure from the estate's original red-wine focus. Garganega, the principal grape of Soave, gives white wines with stone fruit, almond and citrus character, and the Classico denomination applies to the historic heart of the Soave zone. Its blend and cellar detail have not been published.

In The Glass

The Valpolicella Ripasso is the wine to read first, and its register is drier and fresher than most expectations for the category. From the glass, red cherry and morello rise first, with a floral lift, violet or dried rose, that marks Corvina grown at altitude. The pomace refermentation adds weight and a hint of dried-fruit depth, but the wine does not tip into the liqueur-ish sweetness that lower-altitude Ripasso can reach. In the mouth, the tannins are firm, the body is medium to full, and the acidity threads through to keep the finish clean. Two years of oak ageing contributes grip and a faint spice, but the elevation-grown fruit stays in front.

The Corvinone in the blend, typically around 20%, softens the Corvina's angular tannin and adds a rounder mid-palate. The minor varieties, Rondinella, Oseleta and Turchetta, contribute colour depth and a faint savouriness that holds the wine together on the finish.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with the Valpolicella Ripasso DOC. It is the wine the estate was designed to make and the one that demonstrates the Valpantena character most directly: Corvina-dominant, grown at altitude on limestone-rich marl, refermented on Amarone pomace for ten days and aged two years in large oak. The combination should produce a heavy wine. It does not. The altitude and the limestone keep the acidity alive, the organic farming keeps the fruit clear, and the Ripasso tastes like a red wine that happened to spend time on pomace rather than a pomace wine that happens to be red. Firm tannin, dry finish, red cherry and violet on the nose, and enough weight to sit with food.

Anecdote

In June 2025, Ripa della Volta arrived at a wine event with two bottles that had not existed twelve months earlier. The Valpolicella Superiore from the 2023 harvest was expected; a Superiore is a natural step for an estate that had been making Ripasso for nearly a decade. The Soave Classico from 100% Garganega was not. Soave and Valpolicella sit in different valley systems east and west of Verona, sharing a denomination region but not a soil type, a grape, or a winemaking tradition. Adding a white wine from Garganega, an entirely separate variety the estate had not previously planted, is a bigger move than the label suggests. Forbes Italia named the winery among Italy's emerging producers in the same month. A ten-year-old estate with a single flagship had, in a matter of weeks, a new appellation on its labels and its first citation in the financial press.

Final Word

Ripa della Volta is a young estate with a specific argument: that Valpantena, a sub-valley most wine buyers have never heard of, produces Ripasso with a freshness and dryness that the Valpolicella zone as a whole does not always deliver. The organic certification, the parcel programme and the altitude all point in the same direction. The Ripasso is the evidence. It is dry where many are sweet, lifted where many are heavy, and made from grapes farmed organically at 350 to 550 metres. The 2025 expansion into Superiore and Soave Classico suggests the estate is growing past its founding brief; for now, the Ripasso remains the clearest statement of what Pernigo built.

Sources

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