Origin: Veneto, Italy
Grape: Valpolicella Blend, Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella, and Molinara
Year: 2017
Alcohol: 15%
Price point: $40 in stores, $65 in restaurants
Year Reviewed: 2019
Every day I learn something additional about wine. Enjoying this $65 Amarone at a little Italian restaurant in Bartlett, IL, I was interested in the labelling of protetta on the bottle. Most of us have heard of DOC and DOCG Italian wines, but what about DOP? Well come to know that the DOP consists of all 408 DOCs and DOCGs together.
This elegant structured Amarone has flavors of raisins, figs, mocha and some subtle sweetness. This wine is very intense with a richness. Someone who prefers sweet wines actually enjoyed this Amarone…..growth for everyone. Recall that Amarones are actually the process of drying the grape berries to a concentrated state prior to fermentation. After drying, the grapes in this Amarone are fermented around 20 days. Most of these grapes are hand-picked for the perfect ripeness. Most Amarones are from the Veneto region and consist of a blend of the following three grapes: Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella. This wine is not very fragrant, but I have to tell you that this is the heaviest glass I have ever seen used in winemaking. I actually had to weigh this empty bottle on my scale and it was over 3 lbs of glass.
