Amarone Wines

Well David, you have certainly been given a great opportunity :) Amarone's are one my personal favorites, and certainly one of the most unique in the wine world.

First, some background on the wine itself. The grapes used are predominately Corvina, Rodinella and Molinara. By law they can also use a little bit of Negrara and/or Syrah. After the mature grapes are picked, they are placed on straw mats and air-dryed for up to several months almost to the point of being raisins. Then, they are crushed and the resulting high-density juice is fermented.

Because of the drying process, there is less juice extracted and what is tends to be very rich and complex. You will find a lot of different tastes within the wines themselves, with some of the more common characteristics being raisin (okay, that was a given), leather and black cherry.

Interestingly enough (as a sidebar), in the Valpolicella region of Veneto, they make 4 different wines from the same combination of grapes: Valpolicella (regular table wine), Ripasso (by pouring Valpolicella juice repeatedly over the skins left over from making Amarone), Amarone (described above) and Reciotto (desert style).

As to what to find and try, I learn towards Allegrini and Tommasi. Part of this is because these are the 2 best that are available in my neck of the woods. Allegrini is very consistent; Tommasi tends to be a bit more erratic. In Alabama, they both tend to run about $55-65 depending on the quality of the year. You should be able to find them for less in NYC area. I'm sure there are other great Amarones out there that I haven't been able to partake of, and you will get a lot of great ideas from others in this group.

Good luck, and enjoy!

Cheers, Gary

Gary mentioned Ripasso style and I find this one to be one of my very favorite representations...."Palazzo Della Torre" 1999 Allegrini. I buy it for about $12.99 bottle in Boca Raton Fl, but it typically sells for about $16-17 in the Miami area. This particular producer and year are special. This is a small blurb about it....

--------- Allegrini's Valpolicella Classico is the basic wine, light, fresh and undemanding but with good quality fruit - a sort of Italian Beaujolais, and very pleasantly drinkable. The "serious" version of this is the Palazzo della Torre made with a version of ripasso where whole dried grapes (rather than the residue from making Amarone) are added to the must. This wine is 70% Corvina, 25% Rondinella and 5% Sangiovese and so does not qualify as Valpolicella as it does not contain the requisite 5% of Molinara which Allegrini believe to be a worthless grape. The 1999 is very enjoyable with a slightly cooked fruit quality.

burris

Hi David,

I would recommend the Amarone from Allegrini. The most famous producer is probably Dal Forno, but you'll have to spend about 150 EUR (200 USD) on a single bottle. I love Allegrini ; these wines are splendid, very deep, and so representative to the classical amarone.

Pierre Brussels, Belgium

At the "budget" end of the Amarone scale I've enjoyed: "Villalta" (Fraspe?)

1997 & 98, Zenato 1995, Brigaldera 1997, Vignale 1995 & 98, & Tedeschi 1998, all between 12 & 18 GBP. Masi Costasera (18 GBP) seems to be widely available but I thought a bit dull compared to the others

I only know a little about Amarone - I finally bought a bottle and I really enjoyed. It has a unique taste, but it is not overpowering (but then my palate is not expert...) I had a Tommasi, from 1985 or '6. It's not cheap though, and you would be hard pressed to find a good bottle for much less than $40. I think Tommasi would be right up there in your top 2 or 3 choices in that general price range.

Another reason why I read this group every day. There's so much wine from so many places that even a dedicated drinker needs some help to find the good stuff.

Dinner last night at Biaggi's, a better than average Italian chain. Lo, on the wine list was "Ripasso" Valpolicella by Zenato, 1999 at $35. Bottle turned out to be 2000, but was excellent. Dark purple and almost syrupy. Warm vanilla, leather and black cherry to raisin nose. Great mouthful of fruit with just a tiny bit of funk lingering--which will probably go away after I buy a case and squirrel it away in the basement for a year or two.

Thanks for the lesson on Valpolicella, which I usually avoid as being too light, watery and unsatisfying. There's a lot more to Valpolicella than had previously met my eye.

Ed Rasimus Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret) "When Thunder Rolled" Smithsonian Institution Press ISBN #1-58834-103-8

Wow! These have all been great notes. Thanks, everyone!

David

The days of straw mats and out in the sun are pretty much gone, as near as I can tell. They have been replaced with concrete drying buildings with lots of shuttered windows. Not very romantic.