Why it matters
The producer
Ca' del Sette sits in Gambellara, a town in the Veneto hills where the land tilts toward the Lessini Mountains to the north and Lake Garda to the west. The estate was founded in 1865 and has remained in family hands through five generations. Matteo Pontalto now leads the operation, and the working philosophy has held constant across those generations: wine quality begins in the vineyard, not the cellar.
The lead wine is Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG, made from Corvina, Rondinella, and Corvinone, the three native red grapes of the Valpolicella zone east of Verona. Alongside the Amarone, the estate produces Prosecco DOC from 100% Glera and a Primitivo IGT from Puglia.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Gambellara sits at the western edge of the Veneto, close enough to Lake Garda to feel its thermal softening and high enough on the Lessini foothills to get genuine diurnal temperature variation. Lake Garda holds warmth into autumn, moderating the risk of early frost and extending the ripening window for late-harvested grapes. The Lessini Mountains push cooler air down the slopes at night, slowing accumulation of sugar and preserving acidity through the growing season.
That combination shapes what appassimento, the drying method behind Amarone, can achieve here. Grapes harvested for Amarone spend several months drying on bamboo racks before pressing. Warm days and cool nights during that drying phase concentrate aromas without tipping the fruit toward overripe or jammy territory. The result, at 15.5% ABV in the Appassionante 2018, is a wine of full weight that still carries red fruit rather than stewed fruit at the centre.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
Appassimento is the cellar technique that defines Amarone, and it begins in the vineyard with the harvest decision. Bunches selected for the Amarone must be loose-clustered and fully healthy: tight, damp clusters rot rather than dry cleanly during the months on the bamboo racks. The drying concentrates sugars, phenolics, and aromatic compounds across three to four months. When the dried grapes are pressed and fermented, the elevated sugar load drives alcohol to the range of 15% and above, and the tannin concentration from dried skins gives the wine its characteristic grip.
The in-house laboratory allows continuous monitoring of the fermentation, and the estate's approach is grounded in the premise that cellar intervention corrects problems rather than creates character.
Wines to know
The range in view
The Amarone della Valpolicella Appassionante is the lead bottle. Blended from Corvina, Rondinella, and Corvinone in proportions that reflect each harvest, the 2018 vintage opens with intense ruby-red colour, aromas of ripe cherries and wild fruits, and a finish of cocoa and cinnamon. At 15.5% ABV, the wine carries the weight expected of Amarone while the balance is firm rather than heavy. Tannins from the dried Corvina skins frame the palate without overwhelming the fruit.
Filacorta Prosecco Oro is a millesimato (vintage-dated) Prosecco DOC, produced from Glera with fine, persistent bubbles and a nose of ripe apples, white flowers, and a thread of citrus. The mousse is described as creamy rather than sharp, suggesting a longer secondary fermentation contact on the lees.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
The Amarone della Valpolicella Appassionante is the bottle that places Ca' del Sette clearly. It is a full-weight red built from three native Veneto grapes dried for months before fermentation, a process that concentrates the fruit to a point where 15.5% ABV still feels balanced rather than hot. Ripe cherries and wild fruit lead, cocoa and cinnamon arrive on the finish, and the tannins from the dried Corvina skins hold the palate together without pulling the wine apart. Start here for the combination of Valpolicella geography, native grapes, and the appassimento method behind Amarone from Ca' del Sette.