Dark, tannic Amarone from the Negrar valley, with flavours of blackberry, dark chocolate, dry thyme and espresso.

This Amarone comes from the northern edge of the Classico area. In this part of the Negrar valley, vines climb steep slopes of the Venetian Prealps.

This “big” wine is made in the traditional style, and needs time to be enjoyed properly. The blend is dominated by the powerful, thick-skinned Corvinone. This think-skinned grape is ideally suited for appassimento, and it’s also why this wine is very dark and tannic. This is the sort of wine that deserves to be drank in front of a crackling fire, with a copy of “Meditations” in hand.

Winemaking

Blend: 40% Corvinone, 35% Corvina, 20% Rondinella, 5% Oseleta

Corte Volponi follows the traditional winemaking process, which respects the tradition and history of Amarone. Only the best grapes are carefully picked by hand, in the last week of September. After that, they go through the drying process – appassimento – for a remarkable 100 – 120 days. The juice is fermented for a whole month, in stainless steel tanks at a controlled temperature of 24- 26° C. During fermentation, the wine stays in contact with the grape skins for three weeks. This is a rather long period, and is quite typical for Italy’s best “big” wines.

50% of the newly made wine spends the next two years in French oak barriques, gaining sweet and spicy notes. The remaining 50% is aged in large Slavonian casks, so that the wine is not overly oaky.

Tasting notes

Dark and very powerful, the Corte Volponi Amarone Classico opens with juicy flavours of blackberry, frutti di bosco, and spicy notes of cinnamon and dark chocolate. But it soon shows its dark side, with steely and bitter notes of a dark Alpine forest: cedar wood, dry thyme and juniper berry. It leads to a long finish of chocolate brownie and dark roast espresso.

Awards

5StarWines 2022 – 93 points (2016 vintage) | Wine Enthusiast – 89 points (2017 vintage) | James Suckling – 91 points (2017 vintage)