My wife and I we're introduced to the Amarone wine from the Veneto region of Italy after reading one of the Hannibal Lector books, and now it's our favorite red wine. But now we're wondering if there are any other red wines that are very similar to it? We're searching in particular for reds that are very smooth yet full bodied, fragrant, but not too harsh or spicy.
We have tried Merlots, but find them a bit too strong overall. Shiraz is a bit too spicy for us sometimes, and Cab Sav doesn't have the complexity or smoothness of the Amarone. Pinot's are too light, and we haven't experimented with much French wines yet (except the Chateauneuf du Pape, which were too strong).
Your message is a paradox of contridictions! You like the immensely rich and concentrated Amarones but thought that Merlot was too strong? Pray tell, exactly which of the two styles did you have?
Amarone is made through a process of drying the grapes Rondinella, Molinara and Corvina on straw mats to create very concentrated and intense juice which is then fermented to dryness. This concentration creates a very rich, lush, almost raisin'y quality unmatched anywhere else. To try and compare it to anything else is an injustice.
There are actually three levels of wine made in Valpolicella, besides some one-offs. First is Valpolicella, which is traditionally made table wine from the 3 grapes named above, plus perhaps a wee bit of Syrah, Sangiovese and/or Negrara. It is stylistically similar to merlot, with a bit more earthiness to it.
Next comes Ripassa, which is made by repeatedly pouring Valpolicella juice over the skins left over after making Amarone. Hence, it is a good middle level wine, with qualities of both Valpolicella and Amarone.
Amarone, as noted above, is made by first drying the grapes and then pressing for the juice. This makes for a very rich, powerful wine that can age beautifully for years.
Some outstanding examples, available in most markets, include Zenato and Allegrini. They make all 3 levels.
Allegrini also makes several other wines in the same region, but because these don't follow the law for percentages or grapes used cannot be labeled as such. Look for La Grola as an outstanding example. It has a bit more Syrah than is allowed, and also doesn't include Molinara.
If you want to venture outside of this region, and try to find something remotely similar then you need to look for some aged Chateauneuf-du-Papes. These can be similar, but they will definitely not be the same.
Have you tried the liver with fava beans and Chianti combination yet? ;^)
But now we're wondering if there are
Amarone is such a unique wine that I'm not sure there's an equivalent to it made anywhere in the world. The closest I can think of would be a late harvest dry Zinfandel, perhaps from the Sierra foothills, Alexander Valley (Geyserville) or Paso Robles. These wines aren't made in the same way or from the same grapes, but they display some of the common characteristics of Amarones (big fruit, high alcohol e.g.).
The DOC Valtellina in Lombardy of Italy produces several big reds. Among these is Sforzato, the most concentrated type, and it is similar to Amarone. I have never found this wine for sale where I live in the US, but I have heard that Rainoldi often make a very good Sforzato. It might be worth checking at wine shops and restaurants in an Italian neighborhood of a major city. If you find some, please let us know were you found it and how you like it.
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Another consideration might be the new method of vinification for a Ripasso type wine called "Palazzo Della Torre." Allegrini is the producer and I think the wine is wonderful. The Amarones are perhaps my favorite wines of all. This is a blurb on the
1999....
------------- 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.
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The best part of this is the price, at least in South Florida. I have been getting it for $12.99 bottle.
And CabFan meant "Ripasso", not "Ripassa". ( I almost corrected that first time round, but realised that my spelling was on shaky ground too, so I would let it past. But since you have decided to pull me up on *my* spelling....)
There is no such combination in the book. That was a perversion of the correct Amarone/beans/liver combination, by a screenwriter that thought that the morons that would be watching the movie wouldn't know what Amarone was, but would probably find Chianti to be a familiar word. Cretin!
That may be overstating the case a bit, Bill, but are you _sure_ that's not the way it was written in the book? I read the book before I saw the movie and remembered that part when I heard it onscreen. If it wasn't Chianti in the book, what was it? Amarone or a specific producer of Amarone?
Sigh. Tom (and anyone else with at least one working finger) - it's called Google.
It takes less than a second, and comes up with things like (from
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):
"An interesting sidenote is that Dr. Lecter never uttered his most famous line in the novels. Although he was excellently portrayed by Anthony Hopkins in the
1991 film version of Silence of the Lambs, the character in the novel never said, "I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti". Dr. Lecter was an oenophile with rarefied tastes, and in the novel he ate human liver with "a big amarone". Fearing that audiences would be confused by the more obscure wine, the makers of the movie decided to change the wine to a more mundane but more easily recognizable chianti."
In the Valtellina, Sforzato or Sfursat are made with a mythology similar to Amarone but with the nebbiolo grape. The Valtellina is in Lombardy north of Milano.
Australia is the place! A similar wine aptly named "Moda Amarone" is produced with the same intensity of flavour. If you dislike the spicy intensity of some Australian Shirazes, try those from the cooler regions with more toned down spiciness.
You are right. The DOCG Valtellina Superiore Sforzato (or Sfursat) is, IMHO the nearest to Amarone among the Italian wines. The species of vine is different (Nebbiolo ), but the process is similar.
e.g. Margaret River. Or you could try a Northern Rhone Syrah e.g. a St. Joseph
Also, Spain has a variety of powerful, aromatic & immediately appealing wines e.g.: fuller bodied Rioja (especially those made with Graciano), Ribera del Duero (Tinta Pais), Priorat (although you said you didn't like Ch.NdP so Grenache may not be your style)
To the best of my knowledge, only one winery in Australia makes an amarone styled wine and that is Primo Estate in South Australia - labelled "Joseph"
Expat Italian owner/winemaker Joe Grilli is very innovative, some may say slightly eccentric.
Grapes used are Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot - partially dried (Moda Amarone) - a big wine, usually about 15% alc.
New Zealand also boasts a winery making this style.
Vin Alto is a very small winery at Clevedon, just out of Auckland city (not main stream vineyard country at all!)
Owner Enzo Bettio is also (Swiss) Italian - he wanted to recreate the methods used for making Amarone and Ripasso style wines - the amarone styled wine he calls Retico (the old Roman name for wine made from dried grapes).
As to availability - I know that both companies do export - but quantities are miniscule.
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