Allegrini is one of Italy's top producers. Their Amarone is a top red wine. It is produced in the Veneto region of North Eastern Italy from dried grapes. The drying process increases the concentration of sugars in the grapes. It also concentrates the flavour. The grapes are dried on straw mats. Amarone is usually strong in alcohol: our was 14%.
Amarone is made primarily from the Corvina and Rondinella grapes. Some of the grapes are late harvested and are subjected to noble rot. This increases the complexity of the wine but reduces fresh fruit flavours.
We drank our wine with roast duck. In my mind you should not drink Amarone without food.
As our wine was 25 years old, it was well matured and had turned a Burgundy colour. It smelt of dried fruits with a very slight oxidised character reminiscent of Port. There were also hints of oak. The smell was powerful and the wine smelt as if it was fully mature and ready for drinking.
On the palate the wine was of full body with softening tannin. It was bone dry, it was strong in alcohol but not hot. The wine was warming just like Port. There were no fresh fruit favours and it tasted of stewed fruits. It also tasted a little like aged vintage Port but very dry and a little sour from the acidity. The wine was concentrated and complex and you could tell it had been matured in oak barrels. It had exceptionally long length on the palate. It had all the hallmarks of a great wine.
Drink it now and decant it as it throws lots of sediment which is harmless.
One of our friends who is a wine enthusiast was suitably impressed and so was I.
Formerly, Amarone would have been given the name Recioto della Valpolicella Amarone or Amarone della Valpolicella but this is a bit of a mouthful so now it allowed the much simpler name.
Wine drinkers will recognise the name Valpolicella which is a lesser quality red wine and once upon a time it was derided as garbage by an influential wine writer. Valpolicella is much improved and is now a quality wine with lots of fruit.
One of my favourite wines is Valpolicella Ripasso which is matured on the lees of Recioto or dried grape wines.
These wines are best enjoyed with food especially Italian. Good Amarone is simply wonderful.
http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/allegrini+docg+amarone+della+valpolicella+cls+veneto+italy/1990
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