Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG Classico 2015
Wine Description
Amarone from Monte dei Ragni is a rarity in the plainest sense: Zeno Zignoli's entire production is a few thousand bottles, farmed biodynamically in Fumane with a horse in the rows instead of a tractor. As is traditional for the appellation, the wine rests on Corvina and Corvinone with Rondinella, dried on racks through the winter and fermented without hurry, then raised quietly in wood until Zignoli judges it ready, with no recipe and no timetable.
The 2015 is entering a lovely mature phase: dried cherry and plum with leather, sweet spice and an earthy, floral undertone, dense but never heavy, with the long, quiet finish that makes these bottles disappear from lists. Stand it up the day before, decant gently and serve at 18 °C with braised beef cheeks, pastissada de caval, roast game or aged Monte Veronese; it deserves a table that pays attention.
Winery
Monte dei Ragni is the one man estate of Zeno Zignoli in Fumane, in the Valpolicella Classica, and one of the smallest serious cellars in the zone: six to seven hectares worked by hand and by horse drawn plough, following biodynamic practice without chasing certification. Production never passes about six thousand bottles a year, split between Amarone, Valpolicella Ripasso and tiny amounts of Recioto and white wine. The wines are the opposite of industrial Valpolicella: farmed like a garden, made slowly, and prized for energy, focus and length rather than sheer weight.
