Riccardo Pasqua is challenging traditions in Italian wine
“We are an independent family business, and we plan to stay that way.” Riccardo Pasqua, CEO of Pasqua Wines in the heart of the Valpolicella region of northeast Italy, is firm in his desire to maintain the family business that celebrated its centenary last year.
“We have a lot of history, going back over three generations, but we don’t let that history hold us back from making progress.” With a wine called ‘Hey French – You could have made this yourself but didn’t’, a fondness for multi-vintage blends of top quality wines and an association with Charles Smith, one of the wild child winemakers of Washington State, this is a company that is definitely taking a different approach to marketing its products. But they are not neglecting their own history. There is still the excellent range of Soave, Valpolicella and Amarone wines, making sure that there are plenty of classic labels and tastes amongst the more adventurous ones.
“I like risk-taking and innovation”, said Riccardo, when I eventually caught up with him in a historic and packed Verona wine bar where almost every other person seemed to know him. “I spent seven years living in New York and that is where I learnt that it is important to challenge the way that things are done, to innovate and introduce a little disruption into a business.”
So how did the other staid and traditional producers of this historic region view the changes and the new range of wines that Pasqua has been making in recent years? “At first, they were sceptical, perhaps they thought I was a little crazy, but now we are getting better comments, more conversation. We may have set a trend for the region,” Riccardo said with a smile.
The Pasqua company was started by Riccardo’s grandfather, also called Riccardo, who was based in Verona for his military service. He started selling wine from his home region in Puglia, into local restaurants. Soon he was selling so much wine that he asked his brothers to help and in 1925 they bought a deconsecrated convent close to Verona where they started making wine. Fast forward to the present day and the company sells wine globally with a particular emphasis on the States. Now based in an elegant modern building with barrel storage and the winery on the same site, they also have a fruitaio, where grapes for amarone are dried in trays to develop the complex flavours of this famous wine.
With substantial vineyards of their own spread across the Valpolicella and Soave regions, plus many contracts with growers, Pasqua have the ability to select particular parcels of wine for their slightly unconventional wines.
Cecilia Pasqua, in charge of exports to Europe and Asia took me through some of the range.
Hey French – You could have made this but didn’t. Majestic £30 on mix six: The name hardly rolls off the tongue, so it is shortened to Hey French and because it is a blend of vintages, it is defined by its Edition, rather than a year.
The Garganega grapes for this wine come from the high altitude, volcanic hill of Monte Calvarina. Rather than selling the wine as Soave, Pasqua have blended the grapes with just 10% each of Pinot Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc which come from a vineyard slightly higher up the slope. Then comes the unusual aspect of winemaking – blending the wine across several vintages. This is not a way of rolling one vintage on to another. It is a deliberate blending of different characters from each vintage to create one magnificent wine. Majestic currently has Edition Four containing wines from seven vintages, creating a multilayered flavour profile that brings peach, tropical fruits, camomile, almonds and citrus to your glass.
11 Minutes Rosé 2025, Veneto Majestic £16 on mix six: A wine as pale as Provence but with more texture and flavour. It is made from the classic grapes of the region, including Corvina and Trebbiano along with a small amount of Syrah and Carménère which were planted many decades ago. To get such a pale colour, the grapes are left on their skins for just 11 minutes to extract a delicate shade of pink, while also building light red fruit flavours and a silky texture.
Pasqua Smith Pinot Noir: This is a new wine, made in collaboration with Charkes Smith. It brings together the flavours of old-world Pinot Noir grapes, grown on a cool high-altitude site, with the winemaking skills of Smith who makes excellent Pinots in Washington State. This wine, launched earlier this year, is gradually making its way into shops. This is also a multi-vintage wine.
Cecilia Beretta Amarone Classico Terre de Cariano Riserva 2018 Hic! £48: A wine from the classic range, I tasted the 2018 and 2017 vintages at the estate, but Hic! still has stocks of the 2016 which is probably even more delicious. Grapes for this wine come from an estate just east of the town of Valpolicella and the name Cecilia Beretta is in homage to the original owners of the estate. The grapes, mainly Corvino with Rondinello and Corvinone are picked and gently laid into shallow crates and taken to the fruitaio where, in controlled conditions of temperature and humidity, they are allowed to gently dry to concentrate the flavours. It is vital that the grapes are in perfect condition when they start the process”, said Giovanni Nordera, winemaker and the man in charge of all things technical at Pasqua. “Just one split in a grape will allow juice to escape and then it will go mouldy and spread to other grapes.” There is also a small amount of Oseleta, an ancient local grape that ripens late and has tiny grapes which add acidity, tannin and a layer of complexity to the wine. The whole process can take several months, after which the grapes are crushed, fermented and oak aged. The wine shines with dark, rich cherry, plum and hints of prune and chocolate, with a lift of freshness that makes it a terrific partner to lamb, and game.