Comparative DOC & IGT Wine Tasting with Local Pairings at Paolo Cottini in Fumane

Paolo Cottini puts his own name on a wine, so it's fair to start with the man. This tasting sets his estate-defining DOC and DOCG bottles beside the freer IGT labels he makes when he wants to experiment, letting you decide where the appellation rules help and where they get in the way.

You will be welcomed by a member of the Paolo Cottini team and begin the tour inside the winery at Fumane, in the Valpolicella Classica area. The visit includes a guided look at the drying loft where the grapes for Amarone rest, the cellar, and the barrel room. Afterwards, in the tasting room, you will taste five wines, poured in this order:

- 3° Vino: A still, aromatic white from 90% Chardonnay with a small percentage of Riesling, Gewürztraminer, and Garganega. The grapes come from a high plot at around 800 meters, and the wine is Paolo's case that Chardonnay can be expressed differently here.
- Valpolicella Ripasso DOC Classico Superiore: A red made with equal parts Valpolicella Classico and the Amarone skins it re-ferments on. Two years in French oak barriques leave a light note of wood.
- PaCo: The wine that carries Paolo Cottini's own name. It's a different way to think about Ripasso: a Valpolicella DOC Classico base that re-ferments on 15% dried Syrah, then ages two years in French oak.
- Castrum: 100% Corvina, made to show what that single grape can do on its own. The name is a nod to the medieval castle that once stood at Castelrotto, a small Valpolicella hamlet that matters to Paolo.
- Amarone della Valpolicella Classico DOCG: The region's benchmark red, from native Corvina, Corvinone, and Rondinella. Sixty percent ages in first-passage French oak, the rest in second- and third-passage barrels.

Alongside the tasting comes a board of local cheese and cured meats: Sant'Andrea mezzano, a cow's-milk cheese from a local deli, and a garlic-free salame nostrano from Trentin, in Cerea.