Amarone della Valpolicella DOC Classico 2004
Wine Description
Bertani's Amarone della Valpolicella Classico is one of the reference bottles of the appellation, made in the same patient way for generations. The fruit is Corvina Veronese 80% and Rondinella 20% from Tenuta Novare in Arbizzano di Negrar; the bunches dry in the estate lofts for around 78 days, then ferment slowly in concrete for some 45 days, and the wine ages seven years in Slavonian oak casks of 50 to 100 hectolitres before a final rest in bottle. It belongs to the dry, savoury school of Amarone: morello cherry, plum and dried cherry over tea leaf, licorice and soft spice, with firm acidity and fine tannins in place of sheer weight. The 2004 is now at a mature stage, its fruit shading toward dried cherry, cocoa and leather while the tannins have turned soft. Give it a short decant to separate any sediment and serve at 16 to 18 °C beside braised meats, roast game or aged Monte Veronese; in Venice it also sits well with castradina.
Winery
Bertani was founded in 1857 and stands among the oldest names in Verona wine. Its home is Tenuta Novare in Arbizzano di Negrar, an estate of vineyards, olive groves and deep cellars in the heart of the Valpolicella Classica, with further vineyards in the Valpantena valley northeast of the city. The house style has never chased fashion: patient fermentations, long aging in large Slavonian oak casks and wines that stay dry and fresh, built on Corvina Veronese. Its Amarone Classico, released only after years in cask and bottle, remains a reference point for the whole appellation.
