Why it matters
The producer
Tedeschi farms 48 hectares of hillside vines in the Valpolicella hills west of Verona, and the estate's argument is a simple one: Amarone made from a named single vineyard is a different wine from a blended cuvee. Lorenzo Tedeschi made that argument in 1964, when he released Capitel Monte Olmi as a separately vinified Valpolicella Amarone from one parcel on the estate. The rest of the range has grown around that decision ever since.
The company is now led by Antonietta, Sabrina, and Riccardo, the three children of Bruna and Lorenzo Tedeschi. Riccardo is the winemaker, Antonietta manages strategy and the Italian market, and Sabrina handles the estate's international presence. The family traces its connection to this zone to 1630, making Tedeschi one of the longest-rooted estates in the appellation.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Valpolicella is a DOC in the hills north and west of Verona, in Italy's Veneto region. The Classica zone is the western, historically primary part of the appellation, running from the Adige valley up through villages including San Pietro in Cariano and, further west, Pedemonte, where Tedeschi is based. Grapes grown in the Classica hillsides feed the estate's core wines, including Capitel Monte Olmi.
Tedeschi now draws from a second zone, further east. The Maternigo property, acquired in 2006, sits in Valpolicella's DOC zone between the communities of Tregnago and Mezzane di Sotto. The altitude there ranges from 290 to 480 metres above sea level, significantly higher than most Classica vineyards. That elevation shifts ripening: longer growing seasons, cooler nights, and grapes that arrive with more acidity and aromatic lift. The label geography matters because Maternigo wines are structured differently from Classica wines.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
All terroir wines at Tedeschi are made from hillside-grown grapes. Valley-floor fruit is excluded. The distinction matters in Valpolicella, where hillside vineyards have slower ripening, lower yields, and more concentrated, aromatic grapes than flat land.
At Maternigo, the altitude gradient from 290 to 480 metres is significant. Grapes at the upper limit ripen later than those on the valley floor, and the cooler nights preserve acidity in the fruit. The southeast to southwest exposures spread sunlight across the harvest window without building excessive heat.
Wines to know
The range in view
Tedeschi's range moves in clear steps from early-drinking Valpolicella through to three distinct Amarone positions.
Fresh Valpolicella DOC is the entry tier, made from Corvina Veronese, Corvinone, and Rondinella in a straightforward red wine style intended for drinking young. It is light-bodied, with red cherry fruit and soft tannin, and its role in the range is to show the grape character without the concentration of the higher-tier wines.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Capitel Monte Olmi is the bottle to start with. It is an Amarone from a single named vineyard in Valpolicella Classica, made from Corvina Veronese, Corvinone, and Rondinella dried and concentrated after harvest, then aged through a long elevage. In the glass it shows dried cherry and plum, tobacco, dried herbs, and a firm, dry finish with the slightly bitter almond quality that is the Classica hillside's mark. The tannin is present but resolved in older vintages, and the wine has the depth to develop for years further in bottle. Start here to understand what separates a named single-vineyard Amarone from a blended one, and why this parcel has been held apart since 1964.