Bonazzi - Amarone della Valpolicella Riserva

Amarone is one of Italy's oldest wine styles and one of its most demanding: the grapes are dried before they are ever pressed.

Corvinone 50%, Corvina 40%, Rondinella 10%, from hillside vineyards in the heart of Valpolicella, pergola-trained at 100 quintals per hectare. Picked in the last ten days of September, sometimes into late October. The best-exposed bunches, and those most suited to drying, are laid in wooden crates and taken to the drying loft: roughly four months of appassimento in a dry, ventilated space. Then pressing, slow fermentation, and 25 days of skin maceration. Maturation: three years in large casks, 10 to 18 months in barriques, 4 months in bottle.

In the glass — Deep garnet red. Broad, warm and alcoholic on the nose, with flint, hazelnut and oak. Dry on the palate, moderate acidity, a pleasant tannic backdrop, austere and full-bodied.

At the table — Grilled meats, spicy and aged cheeses. Or on its own, for the pleasure of it.

Serving — 16–18°C. 16.5% vol. 75cl.