Amarone (Blind)

I love me some Amarone. I've been wanting to share my love for Amarone with friends for a while, and since the wine was recently awarded DOCG status just a few weeks prior, I figured now was a good time. The string of sub freezing high temperatures really made me want to just curl up with a big Amarone, so here it went. All wines were served blind (to me as well), as all I knew was vintage and tried to order accordingly.

• 1982 Mazzi Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Punta di Villa 89 Points

  Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico

  Opened three hours before event, kept in bottle, and double decanted to remove sediment right before serving. Fairly crisp red, with only a hint of brown in it. The nose is fairly light in texture, but very deep and interesting. It shows a bit of funkified fruity candy, some dirty cranberry, soil, graphite, and even light apple. On the palate it's medium bodied, and there's this really odd metallic situation that reminds me of playing with tools in the garage. It also displays some light berries on the palate. The finish shows very light raisins, plums, and feels gravely. What lingers is spoiled plums. Very interesting experience as some of the typical Amarone flavors are there, but they're not nearly as thick as what a modern, young Amarone displays. Interesting, but not necessarily all that tasty to drink.

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• 1997 Conte di Bregonzo Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 88 Points

  Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico

  Popped an hour before tasting. Nose shows a distinct burning match aroma, but without the sulphurous tip... just the burning wood. There's also some light sense of soft (near rotting) plums that have been smashed up. Fairly bright red fruits with funk building on the palate, as tannins build and this gets fairly gritty. Slightly funky manure and fairly drying on the finish. Fairly straight forward overall but pretty good, with surprising tannins holding strong for this older TJ's special.

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• 1999 Farina Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 87 Points

  Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico

  Solid core of dark red, but also light browning at the edge. Some stewed fruits on the nose, spicy plum, cracked pepper, and some coffee aromas coming through. It's very slightly funky. Soft (though not silky) and a bit restrained on the palate, showing graphite, light black pepper, light blackberry, and tannins build. A initial kick of funk on the finish, followed by dusty plums, sulferated apricots, and alcohol begins to build on the finish. The alcohol is the biggest thing left lingering on this wine and the thing that really brings it down a few notches for me. Interesting otherwise.

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• 2000 G. Poggi Amarone della Valpolicella Corte Saibante 88 Points

  Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Amarone della Valpolicella

  Much younger smelling than the previous three wines, and much more exuberant. Dark berries, blackberry, some plums, and lots of swiss miss hot chocolate mix. Very sweet palate, showing red fruits, quite delicious and soft, with building tannins. Finish is quite grippy, with big tannins, and it's definitely tasty, but it's very monolithic. Tight tannic berries linger for some time, but never evolve. There's a lack of acidity that allows the tannins to over power the palate.

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• 2001 Masi Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Campolongo di Torbe 86 Points

  Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico

  Very deep dark color. Much fresher nose, not as stewed and plummy. This shows light dried berries, and big time tomato. The nose was much deeper the night of the tasting, but the next morning it had smoothed out quite a bit and was very pretty, almost floral, with some crushed graphite. Palate was lush, but a bit harsh... kind of boring and light. Next day it was similar, but did show a bit of Amarone styled fruit rollup. Tannins build into the finish, but lots of alcohol comes through. In fact, that's primarily all that's on the finish, with a burn that just builds before finally dissipating, leaving a sense of chili flakes on the palate. Surprised how much the alcohol overtakes the palate on the finish. If it weren't for that alcoholic zing, this would be a few points higher, because the rest is tasty, even if light.

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• 2004 Masi Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Costasera Flawed

  Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico

  Corked through and through. Like a dead, rotting animal.

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• 2006 Conte di Bregonzo Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 88 Points

  Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico

  Decanted for three hours. Light, pretty, soft nose. Totally different than the others. Very soft, almost like cranberry sauce, strawberry glaze, red apple, graphite, and light cracked pepper. Mid-palate is rich, but fairly light in texture, with plenty of tart candied berry fruit building. Very fresh, without much resemblance to Amarone body. Finish is very bright berry fruit, nice acid, and quite a bit lighter than what I usually seek in an Amarone. However, this is very tasty. Everyone agreed this didn't feel much at all like an Amarone, but everyone also liked it. 88+

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• 2004 Mazzi Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Punta di Villa 88 Points

  Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico

  Decanted 4 hours before tasting. Nose is very light, and definitely young smelling. Quite light strawberry, a twig, and a slight bit of alcohol and oak. Mid-palate is definitely smooth, but some light booziness coming through, but this is balanced with nice acidity and a hint of spice. Not much fruit really presenting itself, but there is that sharp acidity. Tasty, and lots of blueberries develop and linger for 20+ seconds. Overall a let down, especially considering the 10 bottles I have left. This definitely seems to have been drinking better, with more complexity, last year.

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• 2005 Vaona Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 88 Points

  Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico

  Wow, lots of smoke on the nose of this one, but also some light oak. There's some pretty intense cigarette butt soaked from a heavy rain on the nose as well... Very interesting, almost seemed flawed at first, but I kind of liked it. Mid-palate shows some brocholi, celery, and definitely seems a bit bretty. More dingy wet wood cask stuff on the finish, but it's very interesting and I'd even say tasty. It may be brett, but it's kind of balanced... I could totally drink this.

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• 2003 Nicolis Angelo e figli Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 90 Points

  Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico

  Most certainly the most forward wine of the night. Tasty, almost some candy, tons of fruit, figs, and blackberry seed on the nose. Hugely exuberant fruit on the mid-palate, very delicious... but that's all it is, huge red fruit. Almost a modern bomb, but in a pleasingly tasty way. Good apple on the finish, berry, and an overall fruit explosion. Amazing that this was the wine of the night for me...

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• 2003 Le Ragose Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 88 Points

  Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico

  Totally crazy nose... smells like a bunch of tomato slices pan fried in oil, and I've never done that. I also get the meaty component Chas mentions. Some more tomato on the palate, but also some stomach acid, with some dried fruits building. A bit off putting palate. Certain funk on the finish, but mainly just big tannins covering up what may lie beneath.

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Overall, this tasting was a bit of a let down for me. Every time I have explored a bottle of Amarone by my self or with friends it has been fantastic. Amarone's richness and character generally can not be matched. Tonight though, the wines just didn't show well. Even wines that I've had in the past I didn't enjoy as much tonight. I wonder if there's just something about these massive wines that makes it difficult to jump from one to the next, and in doing so, you never properly delve into the wine. I suppose thinking back, our love for a particular bottle of Amarone on a given night has always only improved as the night wares on... Whatever it was, I was disappointed in the showing. Considering reviews, many of these wines should have performed way better than they did. I know one thing, I'll certainly be drinking only one bottle of Amarone at a time from here on out.

Regardless, I had a fun time, and these are always fun gatherings... in 2010, I plan on stepping up the frequency, and hopefully we'll have some better showings.