Amarone della Valpolicella DOC Classico Riserva “Costasera” 2006
Wine Description
Riserva Costasera is the deeper reading of Masi's Costasera, an Amarone riserva from the same west facing slopes of the Valpolicella Classica with one important change: a share of Oseleta is added to Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara. Oseleta, the small berried Veronese grape Masi brought back from near extinction, darkens the color and firms the tannin, and the riserva is held longer before release than the classic bottling.
Expect black cherry and plum in spirits, dark chocolate, clove and a firmer grip under the velvet, with the balance to age for decades. The 2006 has reached a fully mature stage; stand the bottle upright beforehand, decant briefly and gently, and drink it on the day it is opened. Serve at 18 °C beside braised game, pastissada de caval or a piece of long aged Monte Veronese; in Venice we pour it with the cheese board at the end of dinner.
Winery
Masi takes its name from the Vaio dei Masi, the small valley in the Valpolicella Classica bought by the Boscaini family at the end of the eighteenth century, and it is still family run after seven generations. The house built its name on appassimento, the winter drying of grapes for Amarone and Recioto, which its technical group has studied and refined for decades, and on the recovery of old Veronese varieties such as Oseleta. Alongside the widely exported Costasera it bottles two historic cru Amarones, Campolongo di Torbe and Mazzano, and tends the vineyards of the Serego Alighieri estate, home of the descendants of the poet Dante.
