Cellar candidate in Valpolicella

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Contemplative · Elegant

The single-vineyard Fieramonte takes Allegrini's Amarone to the highest level: a single hill block in the Classico zone with extreme concentration, the Oseleta component adding signature pepper warmth to the cedar-espresso complex.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Contemplative

Intense ruby with garnet reflections, complex in raisin, blackberry, blueberry and plum with tobacco, black pepper, liquorice and coffee, then dry, warm and soft with evident but pleasant tannins, a well-turned robust mouth and balsamic and cherry-chocolate notes on a spiced finish. Austere, rigid and deep.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Elegant · Contemplative

Deep ruby with garnet reflections, intense and complex in dried flowers, sour cherry and wild cherry conserve, sweet spice, cherry chocolate, china bark and forest-flower honey with faint vine bark and green olive, and typically Marano on the palate for its piercing acidity and finesse: dry, at the edge of off-dry, warm and soft with velvety tannins.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Contemplative

Garnet red with an intense, ethereal and spiced nose, from bunches chosen twice over, first in the vineyard for ripeness and loose berries, then in the fruttaio for integrity and health.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Contemplative · Bold

The estate's Riserva, garnet red with an intense, ethereal and spiced nose and a minimum of four years of ageing behind it, from the double-selected bunches of the Monte Cà Bianca site.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Savoury

Brilliant red, with clean red cherry and berry aromas lifted by a floral touch, then an initially sweet, glyceric mouthfeel followed by a slightly bitter note and a notable tannic bite over lively red-fruit flavours.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Contemplative · Bold

A cellar selection rather than a single site: after about four years of maturation the casks that show the longest ageing potential are isolated and left longer, so every Riserva is unique to its vintage and to the vineyards behind it.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Elegant · Contemplative

Intense ruby, with red and forest fruits, floral violet and rose, hints of aromatic herbs and a fine mineral thread, then enveloping and velvety but held up by live freshness, closing long on citrus and saline echoes that turn towards liquorice and earth with age.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Elegant · Savoury

Garnet red, with red plum and small red fruits alongside withered violets, light mineral notes and balsamic spice, then elegant, round and slender with a red-fruit weave held by lively acidity and a long, pleasantly bittersweet, saline close.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Bold · Contemplative

Il Vegro is Brigaldara's prestige single-vineyard Amarone from the Il Vegro parcel; higher Oseleta concentration and extended ageing in a mix of small and large casks produce a richer, spicier expression than the estate Classico, with excellent concentration and structure.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Contemplative · Rustic

Castel Caina is Ca' La Bionda's premium single-vineyard selection from the highest Marano valley plots at the foot of the ancient Caina hill; the volcanic soils produce even greater mineral depth and acidity than the estate Classico, with outstanding ageing potential.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Bold · Contemplative

Intense garnet red, with intense and complex scents of cherry and red fruits well married to pleasant spiced notes from the wood, and a round, structured palate carrying what the estate calls an extraordinary freshness and the potential for long evolution.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Contemplative

Garnet red, intensely scented of sour cherry preserved in spirit, wild berries and spice, with a full, dry, velvety mouth built on three months of drying and two years in wood.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Contemplative

The estate's Riserva, garnet red with an intense nose of cooked fruit, dried prunes, sour cherries in spirit, tobacco and assorted spice including ginger, from a small, well-exposed cru at Castelrotto.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Contemplative · Funky

Made by Demeter-certified biodynamic winemaker Marinella Camerani, Mithas reflects Demeter estate viticulture in its earthy complexity, mineral precision and high acidity, evolving with bottle age.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Contemplative · Bold

The estate's longest-aged Amarone, first made in 2016, drawn from hand-selected fruit and given the extended ageing the Riserva category requires.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Contemplative

Costa Arente's flagship expression of the Valpantena, hand-picked and hand-selected at Grezzana and first made in 2013.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Bold · Contemplative

A great concentration of scents recalling the cherry typical of the Marano valley, then an enveloping palate with a long and persistent aftertaste, from grapes that lose about forty percent of their weight in the drying room.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Contemplative · Elegant

A Valpolicella Superiore held ten years in 1000-litre oak vats before release, with clear spice and small undergrowth fruits on the nose and a palate that has kept remarkable freshness through the long ageing.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Contemplative · Elegant

The single-hill Amarone: complex on nose and palate, opening on pepper and dried tobacco and evolving towards sour cherries in spirit and balsamic notes, with the freshness and elegance the estate says the soil gives its ageing wines.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Contemplative · Elegant

Made only in the vintages when optimal ripeness coincides with the acidity that guarantees longevity. What strikes the estate about the wine is its elegance and finesse.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Contemplative · Bold

A heavily concentrated, oak-driven Amarone: tiny yields, four-month drying, four years in small French oak. Layers of dried fruit, dark chocolate and iron. Built for multi-decade cellaring.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Bold · Contemplative

Ruby red with violet reflections, with the territory clearly marked on the nose in marasca, plum and undergrowth fruit alongside consistently refined notes of cocoa and tobacco, then a full mouth of great structure, velvet and roundness with a persistent close.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Contemplative · Bold

A deep ruby red of important structure and a fullness of aroma the estate calls immediately recognisable for complexity and elegance, with a share of Oseleta giving forest-fruit aromatics and pronounced tannin.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Contemplative

Made from the best hand-picked bunches dried three to four months in plateaux, which raises the sugar concentration by twenty-five to thirty percent, then fermented about twenty-five to thirty days and aged two to three years in barrique.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Contemplative

The estate's named Amarone, from the best bunches hand-picked and dried three to four months, pressed in January, fermented twenty-five to thirty days and matured in barrique for two to three years.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Contemplative · Bold

Quintarelli's Bordeaux varieties treated to the Valpolicella appassimento method: dried Cabernet and Merlot producing extraordinary density, graphite-inflected fruit and a long finish.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Contemplative · Elegant

A long-aged Amarone built around multi-variety appassimento, with concentration of dried fruit, leather and tobacco, firm but resolved tannins and a long finish.

Sweet · Full-bodied · Medium tannin · Medium acidity · Contemplative · Romantic

The sweet passito counterpart to Quintarelli's Amarone: residual sugar balanced by firm tannins and high acidity producing a luscious yet structured dessert red with decades-long ageing potential.

Dry · Full-bodied · Medium tannin · High acidity · Savoury · Bold

An intense, complex Amarone of traditional school: fruit conserve and small red fruits with the pleasantly vegetal, aromatic-herb notes the estate credits to altitude, then chocolate, black pepper and vanilla from the wood, sapid with soft balanced tannin.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Contemplative · Elegant

Grown at 550 metres on fossil marl: the clay component gives force and sapidity, the limestone gives elegance and freshness, in a ruby-red wine of considerable structure.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Contemplative

Intense and extraordinarily powerful, with a concentrate of sour cherry conserve, dense and harmonious in the mouth, rich and dry with tannins built for a long development in bottle.

Dry · Full-bodied · High tannin · Medium acidity · Contemplative · Bold

Extremely powerful and intense with a concentrated flavour of black cherry conserve, dense and very mature yet still velvety, full and dry, with the tannin load for a long life in bottle.

Dry · Full-bodied · High tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Elegant

Intense and extraordinarily powerful, still rich in tannin, with black cherry on the nose and a warm, strong, full and velvety palate carrying an agreeably bitter edge, elegant and well balanced.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Contemplative · Rustic

Pergole Vece is from Le Salette's century-old pergola-trained Corvina vines at 450m elevation in Fumane, producing an Amarone of particular freshness and aromatic complexity; high altitude preserves acidity while old vines add concentration.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Contemplative · Rustic

Begali's Monte Ca' Bianca is a traditional-school Amarone from very old Corvina vines; deep mineral iron note and high acidity give it a distinctive, food-friendly profile within the Classico zone.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Contemplative

The Squarano estate's Amarone, from a Corvina and Corvinone base with Rondinella, dried in the traditional appassimento and matured in the family's historic cellars.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Contemplative · Bold

Octavius is the Fumanelli Riserva, blending Corvina and Corvinone with Rondinella and a tenth of other native Valpolicella varieties, and given the longest cask time of the range.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Elegant · Contemplative

The elegant cru of the Masi range, impenetrable ruby, intense and complex in cooked fruit and cinnamon, then rich, warm and round with ripe cherries and marasca, cooked plums and a rounded bitter-almond signature.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Contemplative · Bold

Mazzano is Masi's most powerful and concentrated single-vineyard Amarone, from the high-altitude Mazzano hill in the S. Ambrogio zone. More opulent and riper than Campolongo, with a chocolatey, rich palate and remarkable ageing potential.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Contemplative

Impenetrable dark red, intense with over-ripe red fruit, cinnamon and vanilla, then warm and persuasive on the palate with cooked fruit, sweet spices and cloves and a long, dry finish.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Contemplative · Elegant

Vaio Armaron is the prestige Amarone from the historic Serego Alighieri estate, owned by descendants of Dante Alighieri, managed in partnership with Masi; the wine reflects the S. Ambrogio di Valpolicella hill terroir with a refined tobacco-cedar complexity and long cellaring potential.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Medium tannin · High acidity · Elegant · Refreshing

From white marl and flint at 400 to 500 metres: ruby, with spice, balsamic notes and mint on the nose, and a dry, persistent palate that finishes fresh, with what the estate calls great elegance and finesse.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Contemplative · Savoury

Intense red with wide legs in the glass from the higher alcohols, recalling dried grapes on the nose with shifting, articulated scents closing on refined spice and balsamic notes, then fleshy, enveloping and extremely persistent in the mouth.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Bold · Contemplative

A Demeter-certified Amarone from grapes that lose forty percent of their weight in the drying room, soft pressed in February and fermented at a natural 13 to 17 degrees with a long maceration for maximum fruit extraction.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Contemplative · Bold

The estate's Riserva, from grapes dried until they lose at least thirty-five percent of their weight, pressed in January and fermented cool at 13 to 17 degrees with a long maceration, then given at least two years across tonneau and large cask.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Contemplative · Funky

The estate's attempt to vinify Amarone in the most natural and traditional way possible: a hundred days of drying, hand destemming and crushing, indigenous-yeast fermentation in an oak truncated-cone vat with daily hand punch-downs, then five years in untoasted 700-litre oak with no filtration and no fining.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Contemplative · Savoury

Deep ruby red, complex, harmonious and elegant with dried fruit, conserve, undergrowth, walnut husk and leather, then balanced, rich, delicate, austere and persistent on the palate.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Contemplative · Bold

Ambrosan is the single-parcel selection from Nicolis's oldest vines on the Villa Girardi estate, given an extra year in large Slavonian casks compared to the estate Amarone; a more concentrated and austere expression of tobacco-cedar style with excellent ageing potential.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Contemplative · Elegant

Intense garnet, rich and marked with dried flowers and fruit, balsamic herbs, cloves, tobacco, cocoa and leather, then full, structured, velvety and persistent, with what the estate calls a three-dimensional progression on the palate.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Contemplative

A deep garnet Amarone with an intense nose of black cherries and cherries carrying the notes of the drying process, spicy dark chocolate and tobacco, plus goudron from ageing, and a generous, velvety, highly extracted palate marked by an intense mineral hint.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Contemplative · Bold

The Riserva from the Le Balze cru: deep garnet, intense in ripe red fruit and jam with the marks of appassimento, spice, coffee, dark chocolate, tobacco and goudron, and a generous, velvety, sapid palate closing on almond and cherry jam.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Contemplative · Elegant

A very intense ruby Amarone of great structure and softness, with cherry, small red fruits, plum, spice, tobacco and aromatic herbs on the nose and the same aromas returning in the mouth, where the tannins are very sweet but present and give the wine length and depth.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Elegant · Savoury

Built from roughly seventy percent fresh grapes and thirty percent lightly dried, a fine and complex Valpolicella the estate calls ambitious, with real character and the frame to improve in bottle.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Contemplative

Deep ruby tending to garnet, with very clean scents of berry fruit, jam and cherries in spirit, and flavours of vanilla, spice, liquorice and bitter almonds.

Dry · Full-bodied · High tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Contemplative

The barrique-only Riserva, deep ruby tending to garnet with very clean scents of berry fruit, jam and cherries in spirit, delivering vanilla, spice, liquorice and bitter almond.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Contemplative · Bold

Force and balance together: ruby with garnet reflections, sour cherry, plum and spice on the nose, complex, enveloping and dry on the palate, harmonious and elegant and made to age.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Contemplative · Elegant

Monte Sant'Urbano is Speri's flagship single-vineyard Amarone from the historic cru on the Fumane hillside; traditional large-cask ageing preserves freshness alongside the dried-fruit concentration, producing one of the Classico zone's most elegant and age-worthy Amarone.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Contemplative · Elegant

Intense garnet red with an ethereal scent of dried fruit, then full, warm, enveloping and dry on the palate, a wine the estate describes as important and of rare elegance that lends itself well to ageing.

Dry · Full-bodied · Medium tannin · Medium acidity · Elegant · Savoury

Intense ruby red with a broad, enveloping bouquet of fruit and aromatic herbs, then spiced notes and a solid, decisive palate that is at the same time soft and elegant.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Contemplative · Elegant

Capitel Monte Olmi is Tedeschi's single-vineyard prestige Amarone, from the Monte Olmi hill above San Pietro in Cariano, with exceptional concentration and finesse, reflecting one of the oldest family estates in Valpolicella.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Contemplative · Rustic

La Fabriseria (old Venetian dialect for the forge) is Tedeschi's second single-vineyard Amarone from a plot on the Monte Olmi hillside; greater tobacco-iron concentration than the Capitel Monte Olmi, with a more austere, mineral-forward character.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Bold · Contemplative

Produced at 500 metres on the soil of very ancient disintegrating lavas in the sub-zone the estate calls Purano, a dry wine that takes its name from the bitter vein that characterises it, full-bodied, alcoholic and of great flavour.

Dry · Full-bodied · High tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Savoury

Deep ruby, with cherry conserve, vanilla, liquorice and tobacco on the nose and a warm, soft, intensely tannic palate, from organically farmed Corvina and Rondinella dried in a fruttaio at low temperature and controlled humidity.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Contemplative · Bold

Dark garnet red, with sour cherries in spirit, graphite and chocolate on the nose, then excellent freshness and a decisive but velvety tannin, from a September hand selection into crates and six years in the estate cellar.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Contemplative · Bold

Ca' Florian is Tommasi's single-vineyard flagship Amarone from the old Ca' Florian hillside in the Classico zone, showing dense, chocolatey concentration with elegant tannin structure and long mineral finish.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Contemplative · Elegant

Intense garnet with orange reflections, an intense and elegant nose of cherry and plum in spirit with ethereal notes and a spiced finish of chocolate, cinnamon and tobacco, then a balanced, dry palate with elegant, soft tannins that the estate says never feels excessive despite the alcohol.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Elegant · Contemplative

Made from Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella dried a minimum of ninety days, the estate's Amarone keeps a dry and refined style, balanced on the nose and harmonious in the mouth.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Elegant

Garnet red, intense with the characteristic cherry note made complex by spice, and elegantly tannic on the palate, well balanced and powerful.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Contemplative

An impenetrable garnet, intense in red fruit under spirit of cherry and plum well amalgamated with noble spiced notes, and on the palate a wine of real fabric with decisive, elegant tannin, balanced and persistent.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Contemplative · Elegant

Impenetrable garnet, intense in red fruit under spirit amalgamated with noble and persistent spice, and of notable gustatory concentration on the palate, persistent and balanced by an elegant, velvety tannin.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Contemplative · Bold

Full-bodied, intense and elegant, holding the character of grapes picked at altitude: aromatic herbs and wild flowers, dry and carried by real power.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Contemplative · Rustic

Campo Morar (meadow of mulberries) is Viviani's single-vineyard Amarone from the highest plots on the Mazzano ridge in Negrar, at over 400 metres elevation; the altitude confers remarkable freshness and acidity to the dried-fruit concentration, producing a wine of particular precision and longevity.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Elegant · Savoury

Dark, dense and brooding in colour, with cassis and blackberry over floral lift, then a full palate that shades into tobacco and almond and closes velvety, soft and fresh.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Contemplative · Elegant

A luminous ruby Amarone whose nose runs from fleshy sour cherry and blackberry conserve through withered rose petals and sweet spice into eucalyptus, liquorice and chocolate shavings, then turns to noble chocolate and velvety coffee on a palate that is warm, soft and extraordinarily long.