Le Bignele

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Le Bignele is a beautiful winery in Valpolicella. This Venetian DOC produces large quantities of wine, with varying quality – but Le Bignele produces some stunning wines.

lebignele_06-1The Winery

The history of the winery Aldrighetti begins in 1818 with the purchase of some lots around the locality “Bignele”, a place surounded by the nature of the classic Valpolicella hills, near a then small country village called Valgatara (which is now an outlying suburb hamlet of Marano di Valpolicella).
From time our family has been of paesant traditions and has tilled the land with passion and devotion for years. Our winary strechs on a hilly land, with 8 hectars of vineyards, located at about 300 meters above sea level, and is runned by the two brothers Luigi and Angelo Aldrighetti together with their children Nicola and Silvia.
To keep up with our traditions, our firm is still a family-run business, where work is overseen exclusively by the members of our family; for this reason in our winery everyone performs different lebignele_04duties according to the needs of the period, trying, nevertheless, to do the works that mostly thrills her/him: Angelo is dedicated to the care of the vineyards and of the land, in particular by supervising each grapevine’s phase, whereas in the cellar his brother Luigi takes care of the wine pouring from one cask to another, and he verifyes both the wine level inside the different barrels and makes sure that each type of wine exceeds the most discriminating tastes. Besides the work in the vineyard and in the cellar, Nicola is engaged in the bottling and labeling of each bottle, whilst Silvia is in charge of the commercial and administrative part.
In short, everyone has got one’s share of work, but during the most demanding part of the year, the lebignele_03grape-harvest time, we are all joined together in order to offer the best of experience, tradition and technic in the production of Classic Valpolicella wines.
During vintage, the selected bunches are hand-picked, layed down in wooden cases and dried in the orchard for almost 120 days (according to vintage).
Only after the pressing of these fine grapes, we produce Amarone and Recioto Classico della Valpolicella.

Our Wines

Each wine and each vintage has got its own story and its particular processing, but all wines always have something in common. As a matter of fact, we produce at present only red wines, by using grape varieties such as Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella and Molinara.

le-bignele-amarone AMARONE CLASSICO DELLA VALPOLICELLA – DOCG – 2011

BOTTLE SIZE: 750 ml
TYPE: Dry red wine
VINES OR GRAPES: 70% Corvina and Corvinone, 25% Rondinella, 5% Molinara

THE VINEYARD
DESCRIPTION OF THE VINEYARD: Marano di Valpolicella, hilly area at 300m above sea level, limestone and clay soil.
AGE OF VINES: 15-30 years
TRAINING SYSTEM: Umbrella-shaped arbor.
YIELD PER HECTARE: 60 hl

PRODUCTION
HARVESTING: Manual harvesting, between the middle and the end of September. It is a meticulous selection of only the best grapes. The grapes are then left in wooden boxes for 120 days for drying.
WINEMAKING: The grapes are destemmed and pressed during the winter months, between the end of December and the end of January. The fermentation is controlled and we make some delastage in steel tanks.
AGEING: 2 years in large oak barrels (25 or 38 hl) and 6 months in the bottle.

CHARACTERISTICS
COLOR: Intense garnet red.
FRAGRANCE: spiced and ethereal, with notes of dried fruits, such as cherries.
TASTE: Full bodied and velvety palate.
ALCOHOL CONTENT: 15.00% by vol.

GASTRONOMIC PAIRINGS & STORAGE
STORAGE: The bottles should be stored lying down at a temperature of 15°C, void of light.
SERVING METHOD: at 18°-20°C into large glasses.
PAIRINGS: It pairs very well with game, barbecued meat, roasts, braised meat and aged cheeses. Wonderful as an end of meal wine.

Download Le Bignele Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 2011 Specification PDF

 

le-bignele-ripassoVALPOLICELLA CLASSICO SUPERIORE “RIPASSO” – DOC – 2013

SPECIFICATIONS: Dry garnet-red wine with a strong bouquet with hints of red fruits and black cherries, rich and velvet-smooth flavor.

BOTTLE SIZE: 750 ml
TYPE: Dry red wine
VINES OR GRAPES: 70% Corvina and Corvinone, 25% Rondinella, 5% Molinara

THE VINEYARD
DESCRIPTION OF THE VINEYARD: Marano di Valpolicella, hilly area at 300m above sea level, limestone and clay soil.
AGE OF VINES: 15-30 years
TRAINING SYSTEM: Umbrella-shaped arbor.
YIELD PER HECTARE: 60 hl

PRODUCTION
HARVESTING: Only manual selection of the grapes, between the end of September and the middle of October.
WINEMAKING: The grapes are destemmed and soft pressed. The fermentation is controlled in steel tanks. We decant basic vintage Valpolicella wine undergoes a second fermentation on raisened grape skins which have been used for Amarone (typically 15-20 days).
REFINEMENT: 1 – 2 years in oak barrels. This type of wine is rested in oak casks with the pomace of Amarone.
AGING: 6 months in oak barrels.

CHARACTERISTICS
COLOR: Intense garnet red.
FRAGRANCE: complex with notes of spice.
TASTE: Good bodied wine with sweet fruity notes, supple and dry on the palate.
ALCOHOLIC CONTENT: 14.00% by vol.

GASTRONOMIC PAIRINGS & STORAGE
STORAGE: The bottles should be stored lying down at a temperature of 14-15°C,
void of light.
SERVING TEMP.: 16° – 18°C.
PAIRINGS: It pairs very well with meat, game, barbecued meat and roasts.
This is a full-bodied and structured wine; for this reason it is a fine companion for game dishes, roasts, and grilled or braised meats. We want to propose it combined with a roast enriched by boiled vegetables.

Download Le Bignele Valpolicella Ripasso Classico Superiore 2013 Specification PDF

 

le-bignele-valpolicellaVALPOLICELLA CLASSICO SUPERIORE – DOC – 2014

BOTTLE SIZE: 750 ml
TYPE: Dry red wine
VINES OR GRAPES: 70% Corvina and Corvinone, 25% Rondinella, 5% Molinara

THE VINEYARD
DESCRIPTION OF THE VINEYARD: Marano di Valpolicella, hilly area at 300m. above sea level, limestoneand clay soil.
AGE OF VINES: 15-30 years
TRAINING SYSTEM: Trentina double pergola.
YIELD PER HECTARE: 120 hl

PRODUCTION
HARVESTING: Manual, between the end of September and the middle of October.
WINEMAKING: The grapes are destemmed and pressed. The fermentation is controlled in steel tanks.
AGING: 6 months in large Slavonian oak barrels.

CHARACTERISTICS
COLOR: Vivid ruby red color.
FRAGRANCE: Elegant and fine, it has an intense nose that is reminiscent of small red fruits.
TASTE: Full bodied with a dry, supple and vinous palate.
ALCOHOLIC CONTENT: 13.00% by vol.

GASTRONOMIC PAIRINGS AND STORAGE
STORAGE: The bottles should be stored lying down at a temperature of 14-15°C, void of light.
SERVING TEMP.: 16°-18°C.
GASTRONOMIC PAIRINGS: This wine can be paired with pasta dishes, meats as well as with aged cheeses. Lending themselves to many combinations of first and second courses we offer it to you this way, with a simple plate of pasta with meat sauce.

Download Le Bignele Valpolicella Classico Superiore 2014 Specification PDF