I love the adventure of a new wine & where the first sip transports me.
A good Pinot Noir will usually take me to a calm state of mind with with its smooth flavor and just enough complexity to make the experience pleasurable. But sometimes I want a more intense experience in a wine - fast, fun, extremely complex and packed with flavor. When you want this roller coaster of a ride in a wine try Amarone (ah-ma-ROH-neh)!
It's not a typical wine because it's not made like most red wines. Amarone starts out as a bunch of Corviana grapes and a few other varietals from Valpolicella (val-po-lee-CHAY-lah), the most famous red wine district in northeastern Italy's Veneto wine region. When these grapes are picked at ripeness they produce wine named Valpolicella, after their district. What makes Amarone different is the process called appassimento where the grapes are picked late in the season, usually mid October. They are allowed to shrivel on the vine where their flavor is intensified, they are picked and dried out on racks over the winter months where their flavors become more concentrated and water in the grapes evaporates by 30%. This process creates more sugar for a higher alcohol content in addition to more flavor. YAY! This is what separates Amarone from other wines.
It's a roller coaster ride of aromas and flavors. Your first whiff should be filled with jammy berries and hints of ripe stone fruit. You may be expecting a too sweet drink, but upon first taste it's not sweet it's fruit forward with smooth tannin's, and flavors of plum and cherry. But as the wine travels around your mouth the ride continues with flavors of port like raisins, figs, brown sugar, smoke and chocolate. This is one complex wine! The only draw back is it's price. It's more expensive because it takes more grapes to create this wine and the wine making process is more entailed.
Amarone is one wine you can drink on it's own, it doesn't need food to help balance it, but it pairs exceptionally well with a charcuterie board, good steak, lasagna, anything Italian or a digestif!
I have two favorites...
My favorite expensive Amarone at Total Wine - $63.99
ZENATO AMARONE, 2015
Wine Spectator-Valpolicella, Veneto, Italy-
"This is well-balanced and medium- to full-bodied,
layering creamy tannins with a juicy profile of ripe black raspberry and currant fruit,
woodsy spice, minerally graphite and smoke notes. Accessible and elegant."
My Favorite less expensive at Trader Joe's - $19.99
Pasqua Amarone
Trader Joe’s Pasqua Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG “Black Label”.
65% Corvina, 25% Rondinella, 5% Corvinone and 5% Negrara from Valpantena, Veneto, Italy. The grapes are dried for 3 months, losing 25-30% of their weight, before being pressed. The wine is aged for 18 months in French oak barrels and has 9.5 g/L of residual sugar.
It's not a Trader Joe’s exclusive, but other have it priced at least 50% more.
Amarone wine flight at All Amarone in Venice Italy.
Charcuterie board with Amarone wine flight.
When you want to buy a bottle or have a glass of Amarone do a little research first because this wine has a large range of tastes! My husband Mike and I did an Amarone wine flight when we were in Venice this past summer from a wine shop called All Amarone. All of the wines were good but some were defiantly better than others and they were all from the same Veneto wine region.
While you are out picking up a bottle of Amarone pick up a bottle of Valpolicella (same grapes but processed the same as most wines), a great way to do your own flight and compare the differences.
Ready for an adventure, try Amarone!
Cheers - Carrie