Amarone della Valpolicella
Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG for sale on Vinoly: Giuseppe Quintarelli and Romano Dal Forno, the two names that took the Veronese wine to the top. Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella grapes dried for months, powerful and velvety wines for meditation.
What Amarone della Valpolicella is
Amarone is a DOCG red wine from Valpolicella, north of Verona, made from Corvina (45 to 95%), Corvinone and Rondinella grapes left to dry on racks or in drying lofts from September until December or January. Rules require at least two years of ageing from the first of January after harvest; Riserva four. Minimum alcohol 14%, in practice 15-17.
How it is made: the drying
The grapes lose up to 40% of their water and concentrate sugars, acids and aromas. The slow winter fermentation turns almost all the sugar into alcohol: Amarone is dry, unlike Recioto, its sweet sibling. The result is a powerful wine with scents of cherry in spirit, plum, cocoa, spice and tobacco, and a velvety softness that makes it unique among great reds.
Classico and zones
"Classico" marks the historic zone: Negrar, Fumane, Marano, Sant'Ambrogio and San Pietro in Cariano. The "extended" Valpolicella reaches Illasi and Mezzane, where Dal Forno works. Hills, limestone soils and the air of Lake Garda make the difference between an elegant Amarone and a merely powerful one.
Quintarelli and Dal Forno
Giuseppe Quintarelli, in Negrar, is the father of modern Amarone: wines released after seven or eight years, made only in worthy vintages, hand-written labels. Romano Dal Forno, in Illasi, brought extreme density and precision, with tiny yields and long drying. They are the two Valpolicella labels most sought after by collectors, and the ones you find on Vinoly.
How long Amarone lasts
It is ready on release but gains complexity for twenty or thirty years. Reference vintages among those in the catalogue: 2006, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2015.
How to serve it and with what
18 °C, wide glass, an hour in the decanter. Braises, slow-cooked meats, game, aged cheeses such as Monte Veronese and Parmigiano; alone, at the end of a meal, as a meditation wine.
Amarone and Ripasso
Valpolicella Ripasso is a Valpolicella refermented on Amarone skins: lighter, ready sooner, far less expensive. A good way to approach the style, not a substitute.