Dal Forno Romano Valpolicella Superiore 2014

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 is a blend of 70% corvina and corvina grossa, 20% rondinella, 5% croatina, and 5% oseleta.

"A beautiful, polished red with dried-berry, plum, floral and cedar aromas. Full body and a flavorful finish. Extremely refined and polished, more so than many past vintages. Already gorgeous, but needs a year or two to come together. Better after 2022."
95 points, James Suckling.

"The 2014 is a unique rendition of Dal Forno’s Valpolicella Superiore Monte Lodoletta. It's a remarkably pretty wine, displaying crushed ripe strawberries and plums with cinnamon, clove, vanilla bean and a cooling hint of mint. The textures are velvety, coating all that they touch in glycerol fruit concentration, yet somehow coming across as zesty and spry, contrasting weight with saturating notes of tart blackberry and savory spice. There’s a bit of a lull in the midpalate, yet it hardly takes away from the experience...Eric Guido, February 2021"
94 points, Vinous.

Specifications