Interest piqued by the recent discussion of Amarone, I picked up a lower priced bottle at the store Friday and pulled the cork last night with a dinner of spaghetti marinara with sausage. Probably a poor matchup, since the wine suffered slightly against the hot Italian sausage. Would show much better against a Steak (venison) Diane or Bifsteak Fiorantine.
Giuseppe Campagnolo Amarone della Valpolicella '97: Dark claret color, almost viscous. Big nose of dark cherry, raisin and smoke. Good forward fruit on the tongue, then goes a but musty with leather, tar and smoke on the finish. Better after about an hour.
Clearly a wine with a lot of power and one that will last for several years. A good QPR at $26.49 US. Will buy more.
Ed Rasimus Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret) "When Thunder Rolled" Smithsonian Institution Press ISBN #1-58834-103-8