1995 Romano Dal Forno Valpolicella Superiore Vigneto di Monte Lodoletta

Community Tasting Notes (14) Avg Score: 92.3 points

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  9/22/2022 - forceberry wrote: 92 Points

  Typically a blend of Corvina (70%), Rondinella (20%), Croatina (5%) and Oseleta (5%) from the Monte Lodoletta vineyard. Although the wine is labeled as "Valpolicella Superiore", it's vinified almost like an Amarone: the grapes are dried in a ventilated room for 1,5 months following the harvest. After the grapes have been raisinated, the wine is fermented and macerated in stainless steel for two weeks. Aged in new oak barriques for 24 months, after the wine is filtered and bottled. The wine is not released before aging in bottles for a minimum of three years. 14,5% alcohol. Tasted blind.
  
  Slightly opaque and moderately evolved blackish-red color with a developed maroon hue. The nose feels very rich, intense and slightly lifted with robust aromas of cherry marmalade and ripe black cherries, some dried figs, a little bit of new leather, light toasty oak tones, a hint of minty greenness, a touch of peppery spice and a whiff of ethery VA. The wine is bold, powerful and quite extracted on the palate with a full body and intense, developed flavors of wizened plums and sour cherry bitterness, leathery tones, some savory wood spice, light balsamic tones, a little bit of ferrous blood, a tertiary hint of meat stew and a green touch of minty lift. The overall feel is surprisingly firm and structured despite the big size of the wine, thanks to both the high acidity and the ample and moderately grippy tannins. The finish is dense, extracted and grippy with a long, robust aftertaste of ripe sour cherries, savory notes of meaty umami, a little bit of sour red plum, light earthy notes, a hint of balsamic VA and a sweeter touch of prunes. The wine ends on a somewhat warm note with a streak of herbal amaro bitterness that slowly grows in intensity.
  
  Once again, I guessed this was a modernist Amarone, perhaps Riserva Amarone, around 15-20 years old. Well, it turned out to be Dal Forno Valpolicella, which is a Valpolicella in name only, stylistically much closer to an Amarone than a Valpolicella - so in that sense I was sort of correct. And while I really haven't liked any younger Dal Forno Valpolicellas, as they are just way too "winemaker wines" with their overdone extraction, excessive alcohol and obfuscating new oak influence, they do seem to pick up some complexity and sense of finesse after enough aging - from what I've now seen, this means +20 years. All in all, this was a relatively enjoyable and surprisingly refined effort for a Dal Forno Valpolicella - and so much better than the massively big, porty and rather volatile 1995 Dal Forno Amarone that was tasted at the same time.

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  10/20/2017 - canan wrote: 90 Points

  1997 Amarone Horisontal + Quintarelli (Copenhagen): Light plum-like fruit with a touch of sewer and cabbage. Seems to be well balanced and had started its decline. Lovely none the less but not as good as other vintages.
  There were some discussions about this being corked and based on the other notes on cellartracker it could be correct but when tasting it, it just seemed old to me and not corked.

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  9/27/2016 - Tim Heaton Likes this wine:

  Fully mature. A really complex wine (on the nose), one that takes you on a ride covering many different landscapes - ripe, darker fruits, then a turn in the road and these interesting earthen characteristics of iron and seawater, then yet another turn and it's about autumn leaves and the almost rustic qualities of a decaying forest. More intellectual (i.e. nose) than satisfying (i.e. palate) for me tonight, and glad to have tried it at this stage in its development as I don't see it improving from here. Some may enjoy this because of its mouthfeel and darker fruit tones, but I rather preferred the nose, right through the final glass. Drink now.
  
  Audozed 3 hours, served non-blind.
  
  https://italianwine.blog/

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  2/27/2016 - jsmorris707 Likes this wine: 93 Points

  Double decanted, then recorked for a few hrs, garnet with a rim of brick, dark berries with a touch of spice & a hint of tobacco, little tannin & mod. finish, begun its decline; fortunately, my last bottle.
  
  Amazingly, opened up with time to be much better; nobody in the BB group guessed that it was Italian, but all enjoyed it. I now believe that if it has started to decline, there is no rush to drink. (upped score a point)

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  6/8/2011 - jdabrowski1027 wrote: 92 Points

  Richmond - Enotecca Sogno: Dark fruits, meaty, a touch of barnyard, but it has a certain liveliness to the nose. Velvet mouthfeel, with twizzlers, coffee, dark leaves, and spices. The nose was better than the mouth...

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