Winemaker Notes
A deep ruby red wine with great character and personality. The scent is broad and enveloping, with hints of blackcurrant, spicy notes of juniper and black pepper, combined with hints of tobacco and coffee. It is fresh and intense on the palate, with superb aromatic persistence.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Intense nose with black chocolate, dark raspberries, dried orange and sweet blueberries. Rich and intense with a juicy, full-bodied palate, coated by plenty of fine, silky tannins. Tight, long and racy. Sustainable. Drink now or hold.
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Wine Enthusiast
This is a lot of wine in the best possible way. Luscious aromas of blackberries, blueberry compote and baking spices define the wine (currently). The palate is rich, full in body, with savory spices, black plums and vanilla. The tannins are taut and elegant with a mouthwatering finish. This bold wine is fun today but will be great over the next 10 years Drink from 2023–2032.
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Wine Spectator
A fresh red, with macerated black cherry, blackberry paste and wild strawberry fruit flavors set in an elegant, medium-bodied frame trimmed by light, taut tannins. Reveals hints of bay leaf, dried thyme, milled pepper and smoke-tinged mineral that wind through the fruit profile and linger on the finish. Corvina and Oseleta.
The chief variety in Valpolicella and Amarone della Valpolicella of the Veneto region of Italy, Corvina contributes intense red cherry and blackberry along with a touch of tartness and tannins to the blend. It is especially well suited to the drying process required to make Amarone. Corvina is also the main grape variety in Bardolino, a light red from the southeastern side of Lake Garda, also in Veneto. Somm Secret—Because of the dark and almost black coloring of its grape berries, Corvina takes its name from the Italian word, corvo, a local, jet-black raven.
Producing every style of wine and with great success, the Veneto is one of the most multi-faceted wine regions of Italy.
Veneto's appellation called Valpolicella (meaning “valley of cellars” in Italian) is a series of north to south valleys and is the source of the region’s best red wine with the same name. Valpolicella—the wine—is juicy, spicy, tart and packed full of red cherry flavors. Corvina makes up the backbone of the blend with Rondinella, Molinara, Croatina and others playing supporting roles. Amarone, a dry red, and Recioto, a sweet wine, follow the same blending patterns but are made from grapes left to dry for a few months before pressing. The drying process results in intense, full-bodied, heady and often, quite cerebral wines.
Soave, based on the indigenous Garganega grape, is the famous white here—made ultra popular in the 1970s at a time when quantity was more important than quality. Today one can find great values on whites from Soave, making it a perfect choice as an everyday sipper! But the more recent local, increased focus on low yields and high quality winemaking in the original Soave zone, now called Soave Classico, gives the real gems of the area. A fine Soave Classico will exhibit a round palate full of flavors such as ripe pear, yellow peach, melon or orange zest and have smoky and floral aromas and a sapid, fresh, mineral-driven finish.
Much of Italy’s Pinot grigio hails from the Veneto, where the crisp and refreshing style is easy to maintain; the ultra-popular sparkling wine, Prosecco, comes from here as well.