Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG Riserva “Lilium Est” 2012
Falstaff 96Wine Enthusiast 90
Wine Description
Lilium Est is the Amarone Riserva of Tenuta Sant'Antonio, made only when the year allows and held back far longer than the rest of the range. The blend is Corvina and Corvinone 70%, Rondinella 20%, Croatina 5% and Oseleta 5%. After the traditional drying the wine spends three years in new Bordeaux barrels built from staves seasoned outdoors for over 36 months, then at least four more years in bottle before release. At 16% it is dense yet composed: balsamic, almost iodine notes over ripe cherry and plum, then star anise, cinnamon, black pepper, cocoa, toasted hazelnut and pipe tobacco, with rich flavour and rounded tannin held together by clear acidity. James Suckling rated the 2012 at 97 points; it sits in a fine drinking window now and will hold for years. Decant about an hour and serve at 16 to 18 °C with braised beef, game birds or aged Monte Veronese; in Venice, castradina is its natural partner.
Winery
Tenuta Sant'Antonio is the estate of the four Castagnedi brothers, built on hill vineyards east of Verona between the Valpolicella and Soave zones. The brothers keep the work in their own hands, from farming to cellar, and favour full ripeness, careful drying and generous but polished wines that speak of each single site. The range runs from the Monti Garbi ripasso and the Valpolicella Superiore La Bandina to a series of Amarones: the selection that carries their father's name, Antonio Castagnedi, the single vineyard Campo dei Gigli and the riserva Lilium Est.
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