Amarone is made primarily from three grape varietals, Corvina, Corvinone, and Rondinella. They are usually picked between the last ten days of September and the first week of October. In order to successfully complete the critical phase of "appassimento" or drying process, the fruit must be fully ripe and in perfect condition. Once picked, the grapes are laid out carefully in a single layer, to allow air to circulate around the bunches, in either wooden or plastic trays or on bamboo cane mats and placed in special drying rooms called "fruttai" located generally over the wine cellars. In this way, grapes are transformed from raisins into gold.
2015 Zenato Amarone della Valpolicella Classico
Sergio Zenato Riserva
98 James Suckling
$94.89/bottle (In Stock Next Week) Buy Now
An Amarone for the future with terrific richness and tannin power, offering dried fruit, figs, blackberries, bark, mushrooms and hints of wood. Full-bodied and very structured with a powerful finish. It needs a lot of time to come around. Try it after 2024. James Suckling