Dal Forno Romano Amarone della Valpolicella 2017

Details

The Dal Forno Family are legends of the Italy wine industry, producing wines that are regarded as some of the best in Veneto.

Romano Del Forno began making wine in 1983, over just 8 hectares of land, after he persuaded legendary winemaker Giuseppe Quintarelli to tutor him. He planted indigenous varieties of corvina, rondinella, croatina and oseleta and is now he and Giuseppe are considered the top two wine makers in Veneto. The winery was built in 1990 and resembles a 19th century farmhouse and villa.

The style of Dal Forno is best known for their opulence and often intense Amarone and Valpolicella, which utilises a process called appassimento where the grapes are dried before they undergo fermentation. The Valpolicella is dried for 1 and ½ months which gives it a distinct difference when compared to other traditional Valpolicella. The Amarone is dried for 3 months. For a single bottle of Valpolicella seven full vines are required, for Amarone it’s a whopping thirteen. After the drying process the wine is pressed and then fermented under temperature control. The wines then spend two years in French oak, followed by another 4 more years in bottle before release.

This wine was purchased directly from the importer on release and has been stored in a temperature-controlled cabinet since arrival in Sydney.

"The malty oak is evident, yet operates as a welcome adjunct to corral and compress the swashbuckle of coffee grinds, beef bouillon, mint, leather varnish and saturated dark cherry liqueur, into a sheath of tension as much as sheer power. This may seem obvious initially, but as one works it out in the glass and across the inner gums, the multitudinous layers become evident. A wine that shape-shifts and beguiles, as much it wrestles with the senses."
98 points, Ned Goodwin MW, James Suckling.

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