Drink Amarone della Valpolicella before you die! Why?
Because this wine was an accident. It was never supposed to exist. Yet, it’s a celebration of the senses. Profound, hedonistic, and impressive.
Like some other classic wines, such as Champagne and Palo Cortado Sherry, Amarone was something of an accident. The winemakers’ intention was to make something else but then something went wrong and the resulting wine was ... actually, pretty good! And, hey presto!, a new wine style is born.
Amarone, you see, was supposed to be a recioto. A Recioto della Valpolicella to be precise. Recioto is an Italian word used for a sweet wine made from dried grapes. Just about every region in Italy makes one. The problem in Valpolicella was that sometimes the yeast would ferment all of the sugar leaving a dry, concentrated, alcoholic red wine rather than the lusciously sweet one expected.
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| Grapes destined for Amarone drying on racks | © linomax / www.stock.adobe.com |
When winemakers were tasting through the barrels of sweet smooth recioto a failed recioto would stand out like sore thumb and would have tasted decidedly bitter compared to the deliciously sweet wines in the other barrels. These vinous aberrations were initially referred to as recioto scapata—meaning an escaped recioto! However, it was the moniker Amarone that stuck. In English, Amarone translates to '[the] big bitter [one]', coming from the Italian amaro meaning bitter and the suffix -one which, when applied to a noun, means big or great.
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| Bottles of Zeni Amarone della Valpolicella Classico wine | © Irik Bik / www.stock.adobe.com |
But, when tasting alone, Amarone can actually taste a little bit sweet. This can be from the perception of sweetness created by the rich concentrated fruit flavors and the elevated level of alcohol (legally it has to be above 14% but is usually well above 15%). Despite being a ‘dry’ wine there is often still a little bit of residual sugar. Legally this has to be below 12g/L, which is the same for a Champagne calling itself dry (although, the term brut is often used instead of dry when it comes to sparkling wine).
Amarone can be profound, hedonistic, and impressive. Everyone should have this on their wine bucket list. It’s a celebration of the senses. An extraordinarily deep ruby color, overflowing with soft warm alluring fragrances—dried cherries, ripe plums, raspberries, violets, and wisps of cinnamon-like spices—and powerful, dense, and concentrated on the palate.
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