Claudio and Elena Farina are cousins and the third generation of the family to run this small winery. Before the second world war, the family were sharecroppers in Valpolicella, farming wheat and grapes and keeping cattle. Italy’s economic revolution of the 1950s and 1960 allowed them to buy their farmhouse and specialize in growing grapes, a business they proved to be very good at. Today, Farina turns 45 hectares of vineyard into a dizzying range of wines, but one of the most important is this everyday red, the Valpolicella Classico, made from the classic blend of Corvina, Corvinonae, Rondinella and Molinara, aged in stainless tanks. The result is the essential Valpolicella red, with vibrant and bright aromas of red cherry, cranberry, marmalade and roses before a crunchy palate with tea-leaf tannins and red berries throughout with a touch of dried orange peel. Fans of Valpolicella will immediately recognize the easy, quaffable-yet-satisfying note the wine always seems to strike. Serve with mushrooms, sausages, polenta, and cannellini dishes.