Ruby red in colour, this Ripasso opens with a concentrated nose full of red fruits and dried cherries. Full-bodied on the palate, it shows lovely balance between an opulent cherry-pie character and supple structure. The finish is long with a mouthwatering bitter-cherry twist.

Alpha Zeta was started in 1999 when Liberty Wines, working with leading New Zealand winemaker Matt Thomson, set out to produce a range of modern, fruit driven wines from the hills outside Verona. Our aim was to work with growers (rather than buy bulk wine, which is standard among most wines from Verona at this price) to obtain ripe grapes (by reducing yields and picking later) and then, using Matt's expertise, preserve these flavours in the finished wines. The result is a realisation of the potential inherent in Veronese viniculture.

The vineyards are situated on flatter sites in the hills around Verona, planted between 100-300 meters above the sea level. The soils here are marl and limestone, and the vines are Guyot trained. Cool currents blow down the valley from the foothills of the Dolomites, which helps to moderate the climate, enabling the grapes to ripen slowly.

Vintage 2020 started with a cool and wet spring, which allowed a good flowering. Summer was not too warm. There were two cases of hail at the beginning of harvest but luckily, most of the vines were unaffected. At harvest grapes were at a perfect level of ripening, with a great colour. The production was on average in terms of quantity..

This wine was made using a modern variation on the traditional Veronese practice known as "ripasso". Traditionally, the young wine was re-fermented on the skins of the Amarone grapes once they had finished fermenting in March. The modern approach is to ferment the young wine together with dried grapes in the January following the vintage, giving the wine more body and depth. Following fermentation, this Ripasso was aged for 12 months in oak prior to bottling. This blend of modern and traditional winemaking produces a wine with a combination of freshness, structure and depth that is fairly rare among Ripasso wines.