Tommasi Amarone della Valpolicella 2013, Veneto, Italy 🇮🇹

🍇 Corvina 50%
🍇 Rondinella 30%
🍇 Corvinone 15%
🍇 Oseleta 5%

🧐 Alcohol 15%

🍁 My Score 93 Points

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What a sensuous nose on this Amarone with aromas of cherries, plums, dried figs, raisins, leather, chocolate and toasty notes. On the mouthfeel, full bodied, rich fruit concentration, luscious texture, smooth tannins and fresh acidity. The finish is long, incredibly flavourful with flavours of ripe cherries, chocolate and raisiny flavours lingering.

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I love Amarone, I don’t know why I don’t drink them more often, they are such a treat. Purchased in March 2017 and tasted sometime in 2018 at a trade tasting. I thought it needed additional time in bottle and my patience provided a show stomping, gorgeous fruity Amarone, so bold and yet so soft and elegant. There are many reasons why this is one of the most popular Amarone in Canada. This is such a perfect match when paired with pizza, there is so much going on in both the pizza and wine. Stunning wine my wine friends. Cheers 🍷

Antolini Morópio Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico 2006, Doc Veneto, Italy

 

 

This wine is a blend of Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella and a small amount of Molinara. The vines are between 30-40 years old, grapes drying process took place over 100 days before pressing, maturation in small barrels and oak barriques and also a small part in cherry wood barrels for about 24 months, alcohol comes in at 16%.

This Amarone opened up with a ripe bouquet of field berries, raisins, mocha covered cherry, vanilla bean and sweet spices. On the mouthfeel, medium-full bodied, luscious entry, juicy and slightly creamy with fresh acidity and well integrated tannins. This wine's finish is very long, silky smooth with rich fruit concentration and sweet and peppery spices. This wine, even with 16% alcohol is well balanced by good acidity (for an Amarone) and generous fruit concentration, lots of everything but no excess. Loved it at first sip, a real treat and awesome value for such a well made Amarone. Score 93 points.

Purchased February 4, 2012 LCBO Vintages New Release (247957) at $34.95 

Michele Castellani Cinque Stelle Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico 2006, Doc Veneto, Italy

This wine is a blend of the usual Amarone suspects of Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara, the grapes go through a drying process of 3-4 months with maturation taking place in 60% Slavonian oak barrels and 40% French barriques for about 3 years and finally, alcohol comes in at 16%.

Oh my! What a lovely maturing exotic bouquet on this Amarone with aromas of dried cherries, prune, raisins, soft leather, cola, clove and vanilla notes. On the mouthfeel, medium-full bodied with a fantastic mid palate richness and weight, low acidity and velvet tannins. This wines finish is long, very smooth, savoury with a silky texture. I think this Amarone is drinking pretty much at its peak right now, slightly verging on oxidation. I paired this wine with a tomato based pasta dish with sausage and it was wonderful. This Amarone is the perfect remedy for a cold winter evening, an absolute beauty. Score 93 points. 

Purchased October 15, 2011 LCBO Vintages New Release (75127) at $54.95

Remo Farina Montefante Riserva Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico 2006, Doc, Veneto, Italy

 

This Amarone is a blend of 70% Corvina, 20% Rondinella, 5% Molinara and 5% Dindarella with maturation taking place in 5 hectolitre Slavonian oak casks for 4 years, plus 1 year in bottle, before its release. The alcohol comes in at a reasonable 15% (for an Amarone).

This wine opened up with aromas of stewed berries, raisin, prune, dried figs, soft leather and savoury spices. On the mouthfeel, medium-full bodied, rich with silky smooth texture, a lot of fruit and alcohol but it is perfectly balanced by crisp acidity and fine tannins. This wine has a very good length and depth on the finish with a hint of chocolate with raisins, red and black fruit flavours with a little heat and very smooth. This Amarone is very tasty and flavourful with lots of everything but no excess. A real treat, very comforting and strongly recommended, score 92 points.

Purchased September 1, 2012 LCBO New Release (63636) at $59.95

i Castei Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico 2006, Veneto Italy

Wow, what an incredable nose on this Amarone. Aromas of dried berries, prune, raisins, fresh dates, soft leather and attractive cedar notes. On the mouthfeel, medium-full bodied (with alcohol coming in at 15.5%), luscious fruit flavours, low acidity and velvet tannins. Very good length on the finish with rich, creamy concentrated flavours. The blend on this wine is 70% Corvina, 20% Rondinella with the remaining 10% a combination of Molinara and other unspecified grapes. Amarone can some times be a little over the top when it comes to sweetness, for me, this one strikes the right balance between sweetness, tannins, alcohol and enough acidity to make it all very enjoyable. Score 91 points. 

Purchased February 5, 2011 LCBO New Release (739979) at $34.95

Pasqua Vigneti Black Label Amarone Della Valpolicella 2007, Veneto, Italy

 

Wow, I love the elegance of this Amarone. I know, usually elegance and Amarone rarely go together, but in this case, the wine is not to sweet and concentrated or extracted. A wonderful aroma of sensous juicy black cherry, blackberry jam, dates, leather, clove and savoury notes. On the palate, even at 15%,  the alcohol is nicely integrated by balanced acidity, refined tannins, rich and creamy texture. This Amarone finish is long, intense, luscious with ripe fruit, black currant and toasty notes lingering. Surprisingly, there are about 450 bottles of this Amarone still available in our Province to be enjoyed. I love (yes, love) this style of Amarone. This is a good example of a smart buy, strongly recommended. Score 90 points.

This wine was purchased October 29, 2011 LCBO New Release at $36.95

Michele Castellani Cinque Stelle Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico 2005, Veneto, Italy

The suggested pairing for our pasta dinner was a Ripasso or an Amarone. Since I didn’t have a Ripossa I opened one of only two Amarone in my cellar. Isn't this a good excuse for opening an Amarone? I think so!  A classic version of Amarone with aromas of prune, fig, dates, dried raisins, stewed fruits, chocolate and leather. This full body mouthfeel of 15.5% alcohol has rich and sweet texture, low acidity and well integrated tannins. Great length and velvet on the finish. The exact blend for this Amarone is 70% Corvina, 20% Rondinella and 10% Molinara. Strongly recommended for fans Amarone and full bodied red. 

This wine was purchased November 27, 2010 LCBO New Release at $54.95.