Talk-A-Vino

This blog post was not planned for today – nope, had totally different ideas in mind. And then the comment arrived on one of my older posts (click here to see it). And the comment was more of a question, which definitely stroke a chord – someone was looking for that perfect Amarone moment, exactly the same way as I was trying to replicate mine…

Yes, I responded to the comment, but I couldn’t miss the opportunity to reflect on the magic of Amarone – and practical impossibility of re-creating that magic “at will”. That full-bodied, perfectly dry but rich, voluptuous and perfectly balanced (you will have to forgive my use of double-perfect wording) which I experienced only once (I’m talking again about 1997 Le Ragose Amarone) – was almost never replicated in any of the wines I had. The only two which come close were 2001 Masi Mazzano Amarone Classico, and believe it or not, 2000 Carlisle Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel. I have one wine on my “must try” list – Giuseppe Quintarelli Amarone – which must be magical based on what the others are saying, but this wine would really require a [very] generous sponsor…

Out of curiosity, I decided to check on the classic Amarone at the Wine Spectator web site – there are only 11 Amarone which have “classic” rating (95-100 points) throughout all the years:

Wine	Vintage	Score	Release Price
Michele Castellani Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Cinque Stelle	2005	96	$105
Romano Dal Forno Amarone della Valpolicella	2004	96	$NA
Lorenzo Begali Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Monte Ca’ Bianca	1997	95	$NA
Lorenzo Begali Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Monte Ca’ Bianca	2004	95	$70
Michele Castellani Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Cinque Stelle	2003	95	$64
Michele Castellani Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Cinque Stelle	2007	95	$75
Romano Dal Forno Amarone della Valpolicella	1998	95	$480
Romano Dal Forno Amarone della Valpolicella	1997	95	$370
Romano Dal Forno Amarone della Valpolicella	2003	95	$425
Masi Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Mazzano	1999	95	$120
Masi Amarone della Valpolicella Classico	1988	95	$NA

As you can see, Wine Spectator is not much of a help…

Have you ever experienced the magic of Amarone? Do you have a favorite? Let me know! Cheers!