Villalta XIX Amarone della Valpolicella

Amarone della Valpolicella (or simply known as Amarone) is one of Italy’s great red wines and pretty much one of those must-try-before-you-die styles for the wine loving hardcore.

It ain’t cheap and you’re lucky to find much under $100. But it’s difficult to produce, goes through a meticulous ageing method and it’s pretty scarce. But far out it’s worth it!

From Veneto in the north-west of Italy – an area best known for producing the world famous Valpolicella red wine. Amarone Della Valpolicella is one of the top wines of Italy and a style that follows an Ancient Roman technique of grape drying (called “appassimento”). The best grapes are picked and laid on racks in special air-conditioned lofts and left to dry for 4-5 months. By this stage the grapes have lost 35% of their original weight and have highly concentrated sugars.

Villalta XIX Amarone della Valpolicella is aged for a further 2-3 years in oak cask before release – although this is a style of red that can easily cellar for 10 years. This is a big, full bodied red full of dried red fruit flavours, vanilla and spice and velvety smooth tannins. An absolute delight!

This Amarone is made by the historic winery Villalta and the XIX (the number 19 in Roman numerals) represents the ‘nineteen Comuni’ (the villages of the Valpolicella DOC area) that are exclusively allowed to produce this iconic wine.

Pair it with braised meats and aged cheese.