Raisins Into Gold: Amarone

Amarone is Italy’s superstar. And has been for 2000 years.

Famous for a method known as appassimento—”drying of the grapes”—Amarone delivers wines of extraordinary body, complexity, and concentration. Bottles of great Amarone are like the greatest loves. You remember them all your life.

In the nineteenth century, powerful red wines from the Veneto made from the juice of half-dried grapes were referred to by a Paris auction catalogue as the “Supreme Wines of Italy” and “better than any Bordeaux or Hermitage.” Records of these kinds of wines trace back through the ship manifests of Sixteenth-century Venice, all the way to the Latin poet Catullus, who wrote about “the wine called Acinaticum,” which was made by drying grapes “until their juices turned delicately sweet.”

More than 2,000 years later, this expensive and painstaking way to make wine is how Amarone is made. Grapes are selected and transported to the winery in single layers, dried and monitored to prevent rot (producing half the juice they have the capacity to render), and aged for years before release.

We’d love to show you what Amarone is all about! Join us, and we’ll explore the Valpolicella region and the specific kinds of grapes that make Amarone, as well as the stylistic variations on how the wine is made. And because we’re Waterford, we’ll taste great bottles of Amarone. The supreme wines of Italy. The kinds of wines you’ll remember all your life.

Wines to be tasted:

2017 Vigneti di Ettore Valpolicella $18

2016 Tenuta Sant’ Antonio Vapolicella Ripasso Mont Garbi $25

2014 Allegrini Amarone $90

2015 Luigi Righetti Amarone Classico Capitel Roari $55

2015 Speri Valpolicella Classico Sant Urbano $40

2012 Pra Amarone Della Valpolicella $70

2015 Zenato Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico $70

2018 Cavalchina Bianco di Custoza $18

2015 Mazzi Valpolicella Classico Superiore Poiega $40

2013 Tenuta Santa Maria Amarone Reserva 2013 $100

This wine list is representative of tastings in the past. Please stay tuned for an updated list.