Cà dei Maghi, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico, Italy
At £40 a bottle this Cà dei Maghi, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico from Italy is not cheap but its flipping great, there’s plenty of red fruit with notes of chocolate, oak, vanilla, dried fruit, raisins and cherry. It’s on the sweet side but there’s boldness and smoothness overflowing with great length.
Cantina Negrar, Vigneti Di Roccolo, Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico, Italy
There are many Amarone’s out there and this Vigneti Di Roccolo from Cantina Negrar is one of the best Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico wines I have tasted in many years
There is just so much going on, sure it’s bold, it’s also quite smooth. It’s not overly dry and there’s definite softness on the texture. You’ve got cherry, raspberry, redcurrant, you got some plum, BlackBerry, there’s chocolate and tobacco. Hints of coffee and there’s some smokiness and in a bit of earthiness in there as well, which just complement each other superbly.
The only sad thing is that with spring upon us there will be probably be less opportunity to drink Amarone, you really want to drink this in front of the fire or with a hearty stew. We did have it with homemade pizza which which was probably quite decadent. At £25 a bottle it’s actually good value for Amarone, sure it’s £25, but it’s Amarone.
Gamba, Campedel, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico, Italy
There are Amarone’s and there are Amarone’s and this one from Gamba is a great Amarone wine. Made with the Corvina, Rondinella, Croatina and Corvinone grapes, its a dry red that has great length and is smooth with well integrated tannins. There are plenty of flavours of red and black fruits, notes of tobacco, leather and chocolate, a bit of earthiness brings this back from being in heaven to a reality that this is just wine but great wine at that. Its a Bentley of the wine world.
The down side to this is the price of £30 a bottle, but thats Amarone for you.