Tenuta Sant'Antonio Campo dei Gigli Amarone della Valpolicella 2016 Front Bottle Shot
Tenuta Sant'Antonio Campo dei Gigli Amarone della Valpolicella 2016 Front Bottle Shot Tenuta Sant'Antonio Campo dei Gigli Amarone della Valpolicella 2016 Front Label

Winemaker Notes

Campo dei Gigli is Tenuta Sant'Antonio's most important vineyard, the source of the winery's flagship Amarone della Valpolicella wine. In the traditional fashion, the grapes from this vineyard are taken to the winery's drying room for at least 3 months to allow water to evaporate. The raisinated grapes have a high ratio of solids to water and create an Amarone with a classic style, concentrated and with balsamic notes. The vineyard name means "field of lilies," the flower symbol of the winery.

Professional Ratings

  • 96

    The Tenuta Sant'Antonio 2016 Amarone della Valpolicella Campo dei Gigli (packaged in a very heavy eco-unfriendly glass bottle) is a dark and brooding wine packed tight with richly concentrated black fruit delivered in thick and lasting layers. The bouquet peels back to reveal dark plum and baked blackberry, but there is also a major focus on spice, tar, barbecue smoke and teriyaki. The wine makes a wide and large impact on the palate. It shows enormous textural richness and softly integrated tannins. You can age this blend of 70% Corvina and Corvinone, 20% Rondinella, 5% Croatina and 5% Oseleta (that sees three years in barrel) over the long haul.

  • 93
    Very potent aromas of blackcurrants and toasted oak with hints of eucalyptus and black-cherry liqueur, following through to a full palate with firm tannins that drive the fruit on through the long finish. There’s a kind of raw, almost rough-and-ready character to this that’s a bit hard work now. Will even out with bottle age. One for the cellar. Try from 2024.
  • 91
    This wine offers a glimpse of dried cherry and plum flavors before the spectrum quickly shifts to notes of smoked bacon, fig and cardamom. The wine aged for three years in new French-oak tonneaux, developing a complex and decadent style that will appeal to the most ardent Amarone fans.
Tenuta Sant'Antonio

Tenuta Sant'Antonio

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With hundreds of red grape varieties to choose from, winemakers have the freedom to create a virtually endless assortment of blended red wines. In many European regions, strict laws are in place determining the set of varieties that may be used, but in the New World, experimentation is permitted and encouraged resulting in a wide variety of red wine styles. Blending can be utilized to enhance balance or create complexity, lending different layers of flavors and aromas. For example, a red wine blend variety that creates a fruity and full-bodied wine would do well combined with one that is naturally high in acidity and tannins. Sometimes small amounts of a particular variety are added to boost color or aromatics. Blending can take place before or after fermentation, with the latter, more popular option giving more control to the winemaker over the final qualities of the wine.

How to Serve Red Wine

A common piece of advice is to serve red wine at “room temperature,” but this suggestion is imprecise. After all, room temperature in January is likely to be quite different than in August, even considering the possible effect of central heating and air conditioning systems. The proper temperature to aim for is 55° F to 60° F for lighter-bodied reds and 60° F to 65° F for fuller-bodied wines.

How Long Does Red Wine Last?

Once opened and re-corked, a bottle stored in a cool, dark environment (like your fridge) will stay fresh and nicely drinkable for a day or two. There are products available that can extend that period by a couple of days. As for unopened bottles, optimal storage means keeping them on their sides in a moderately humid environment at about 57° F. Red wines stored in this manner will stay good – and possibly improve – for anywhere from one year to multiple decades. Assessing how long to hold on to a bottle is a complicated science. If you are planning long-term storage of your reds, seek the advice of a wine professional.

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Treviso

Veneto, Italy

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The region of Treviso is famous for the origin of the sparkling wines called Prosecco, which are made from its native Glera grape. Within Treviso are the Prosecco de Conegliano Valdobbiadene DOCG and Colli Asolani Prosecco DOCG appellations, which are independent of the more general Prosecco DOC.

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