2004 Amarone della Valpolicella DOC

Fruity, strong and rounded wine. If you like a well-structured red with enduring flavour this is for you to try.

Tasting Notes
Strong ruby red; clear and transparent. Bouquet notes of vanilla and ethereal airs depending on the period of ageing in the barrel; notes of sweet fruits such as currants, blueberries, cherries depending on the varieties of grape.
Strong, rounded and warm structure. This is a well-balanced wine. After-taste confirms the notes in the bouquet. It has an enduring and persistent flavour.

Food Matching
Red meat, mature cheese.
Serve at 16-18°C.

Winemaking Notes
Grape varieties 30% Corvina - 30% Corvinone - 30% Rondinella - 10% Molinara, Rossignola, Oseleta, Negrara, Dindarella.
Grapes are harvested by hand at the end of September/beginning of October, and are placed in wooden or plastic trays for drying. Drying is done in fruit storage structures at controlled humidity and temperature. This prevents transformation of Botrytis cinerea into gray mold. During the drying process, bunches lose 30% of their weight. Sugar concentration reaches 25% by weight. Bunches must be in good health at the end of the drying process (after about 4 months). To ensure this they must be periodically inspected during the drying period and especially during the first month. Grapes are more humid at the start of the process and consequently more subject to attack by mold. During January the grapes are gently pressed by a roller press. Fermentation takes place in steel vessels at a temperature of 15°C and with slow 40-day steeping. The wine does not perform malolactic fermentation. At the end of fermentation the wine is put into Slavonian oak barrels where it remains for two years. At the end of this period of ageing in the barrel the wine is bottled and refined further in the bottle for 6 months before it is sold.

It can be preserved for a long period (15 years from the vintage year).