Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG Classico 2015
Wine Advocate 96Vinous 94
Wine Description
Quintarelli's Amarone is the wine every producer in Valpolicella measures itself against, made the slow way in the family cellar at Cerè di Negrar since the 1950s. The blend is led by Corvina and Corvinone with Rondinella and small parts of other varieties, from grapes dried for several months, well past what most cellars allow, then fermented and left to rest for at least seven years in large Slavonian oak botti before release. Quintarelli bottles Amarone only in the vintages that deserve it; in lesser years the wine is declassified to Rosso del Bepi, which is why every release carries weight.
In the glass the 2015 shows the house style: dried cherry and plum, orange peel, sweet spice and balsamic depth, with a palate that is dense yet never heavy and a finish that keeps unfolding for minutes. It asks for slow food and time: braised beef cheek, aged Monte Veronese, or an hour of quiet after dinner. Decant it and serve around 18 °C; there is no hurry, in the bottle or in the glass.
Winery
Giuseppe Quintarelli turned a small hillside farm at Cerè di Negrar, about 500 metres up the eastern slope of the Negrar valley, into the most respected cellar in Valpolicella. Since his passing in 2012 the estate has been run by his daughter Fiorenza with Giampaolo Grigoli and grandsons Francesco and Lorenzo, who keep the same handwritten labels, the same long appassimento and the same patient years in botti. Nothing here is rushed and nothing is released early, which is exactly why these bottles are so hard to find.
