Amarone, Amarone

Bussola 2005 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico (Veneto) – Clean, restrained prune and concentrated grape. Not a very complex Amarone (though it’s young), but surprisingly light despite its obvious dried, skin-dominated characteristics. Much freer of volatile acidity than these things usually are, and with no apparent botrytis influence, I’d be interested to see how this develops. Probably much like overdriven New World pinot noir, its organoleptic cousin... (9/11)

Bony Amarone

Masi 1990 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico (Veneto) – Prune and roasted meat, but “balanced” in the context of this very particular style. There’s a bit of offputting rot, but it doesn’t really distract. Nor does the expected VA. What I’d like is a little more complexity, but that’s not easily found in Amarone. (9/08)

Vini, vidi, Vece

Le Salette 1999 Amarone “Pergole Vece” (Veneto) – Prunes. Structured and balanced, with a gorgeous purity of immensity. Just terrific. (2/07)