Valpolicella is a red wine region, and Amarone is what happens when it stops pretending to be one. V. Girardi makes this in the Veneto hills north of Verona, from Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara, the three grapes the appellation allows.
- Corvina, Rondinella, Molinara — the permitted blend.
- Amarone della Valpolicella, Veneto, northern Italy.
- 2019 vintage, 15% alcohol, dry.
- Full body, high tannin, medium acidity.
How it is made
The grapes are picked early and laid out to dry through the winter, losing water and concentrating sugar, flavour and colour. By the time they are pressed, what is left is dense enough to ferment into a dry wine at 15% alcohol. Amarone is the dry version of that process; the same grapes pressed sweet make Recioto.
How it tastes
Dried cherry and roasted plum, dark chocolate, leather and tobacco, with firm tannins holding it all together. The fruit is concentrated rather than fresh, closer to a dried fig than a cherry off the branch, and the finish is long and warm.
Good to know
The name means "the great bitter" in Veronese dialect, given to the dry wine that came out of a barrel of Recioto that had fermented further than intended. The appellation requires the wine to age at least two years before release, and a Riserva at least four.
Contains alcohol.
