"How much corvina did you use?” asks Giacomo Bretzel. The photographer is my Valpolicella travel companion, and we’re currently in the Pasqua cellars about to complete the final phase of the winemaker’s new tasting experience.

In the aging room sits a table topped with various tools of the trade: two “wine thieves” (pipettes used to draw small amounts of wine from the casks), two beakers, paper and pens, blank labels, two empty bottles, and two aprons.