To tell you the truth I have not had an Amarone in such a long time I forgot how good they could be. Some are excellent and can be quite pricy at $60 and up. The Capitel de' Roari Amarone cost me $20 so I figured I give it a whirl with some baked chicken. Amarone is made in the Veneto region of Italy and is made from primarily a little unknown grape called Corvina. This wine is a blend of Corvina and another unknown grape which I forgot (I'll look it up_)Made from carefully selected grape bunches, hand harvested from top vineyards in the hills of Valpantena. These are left to dry on traditional straw mats called "arelle", a process which raisins the grapes and concentrates the natural sugars. After aroudn 120 days, the grapes are pressed and fermented slowly until all the sugars have been completely converted to alcohol. The nose is dense and deep, with aromas of raisins, ripe cherries, wild berries and spice. A dry, full bodied and well structured palate with vibrant red fruit flavours, soft supple tannins and a memorable finish.
The Amarone I just popped and poured and it was very drinkable. I did a little research before drinking this baby and found that this is not a heavy weight but a good solid Amarone. Just nothing fancy and nothing to write home about.
In the glass it had a deep red color with aromas of spicy pepper and dried raisin. In the mouth I tasted chocolate and raisin. Amarones can be dry and have a high alcohol content, but don't be afraid. This one had a 15% A/V content and was a little hot when first tasting. IT seemed to balance out nicely as the evening wore on.The finish was surprisingly long with a nice weight in the mouth. For $20/bottle this wine had a great QPR, so I'm the hunt for it again!
So now as you can tell I'm getting a little bit more adventurous and laying off my Cabs. I'm deciding if I should go for a little bit pricer version of Amorone and see if I can tell the difference. This could be hard for me since my buds are so in tune to California Cabs but I'm up to the challenge.
Would I buy this again?
. I liked the wine wine but I'm not running out to get it. If I find it on the shelf I'll pick up a bottle or two. Just too many other wines in the "wine universe" to explore.
Country: Italy, Veneto
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Grape:Corvina blend
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