March 18, 2024 - Wow! This is a big wine. Aromas range from sweet spices and red fruit (cherry, prune) to more earthy notes (game, coffee, leather, hints of smoke). Great structure in the mouth, with ripe tannins balanced by (perhaps surprisingly) fresh acidity that hide the very high alcohol. Nobody guessed 16.5 abv! But it is the texture that gives it away, with a sticky glycerine mouthfeel that does not cloy the palate. Extremely long, it goes on and on. The best Amarone, defining the style of this wine.
March 17, 2024 - I would say this wine is ready for consumption. Already tawny color but with still impenetrable core. It changes quite a bit on the nose. Some bubble gum and balsamic notes at the outset it reminded my of a barolo (I had it blind). But it was only a whiff. It opened up to other things, defining smoke, very smoky. In the mouth very sappy, sweetness that clearly sent me to amarone. Some violets some salty minerals and all the stuff that Andrea describes below. Balanced acidity supports the sugar and the 16.5 alcoholic degrees. A sharp contrast with the overly engineered and wood assisted Dal Forno. Very pleasant, you drink it, you feel the sappiness but it is natural. That said, not sure if I would buy it given its price.
January 7, 2023 - Utregs Wijnhuis tasting Exclusief (Utregs Wijnhuis, Utrecht, NL): [Tasted blind] Did not land on Amarone, as it is much more elegant than most Amarones. Still not my style, but great to taste this quintessential Amarone. On the nose medium+ acidity with overripe red fruit, black cherry, light raisins, coffee. On the palate stewed black fruit, deep taste. Medium+ aciidty, medium+ tannins, long finish. Amazing how it handles its 16% abv
December 3, 2022 - Amazing wine
June 24, 2022 - Super intense wine but not as much port hints as I disliked in some other vintages. Particularly with a little time quite attractive.
July 7, 2021 - After literally decades of enjoying dozens of Quintarelli wines, the 2007 amarone showed a different hand. It was great, far too young for their wines, but also exhibited a slightly lighter, less raisiny and chocolatey, and a tiny bit more acidic back bone. The prune, deep, moist earth, leather, tar, dark cherry were there, but it was almost as if this were an expression of a turn away from unctuous depth and that pure taste of the soil. Give this another five years at least before deciding whether the secondary and tertiary flavors that make his wines so extraordinary are indeed lingering.
May 7, 2021 - BYO - Erik: Tasted blind and when it was revealed I was very surprised. I have never been a big fan of the new Quintarelli style and this confirmed it.
Don't get me wrong, it is still a lovely wine but to be honest, I miss the dried fruit and depth from the past. It is a "fresh" style of Amarone with lots of acidity and spices.
Overall, a lovely wine. 93-94p
January 17, 2021 - After 90 minute decant drinking magnificently.
September 8, 2019 - Is there any wine that can top with the intensity of a great Barolo from great maker? Yes and we were happy to serve this Amarone after the Barolo. Incredibly complex on the nose with seeet blue, darker fruits and flowers, licorice and roasted herbs. The richness and depth is pretty much off the scale, sensuous mouthfeel and complex, almost opulent finish. What’s most amazing was the balance, freshness, purity, elegance and weightlessness of this 16.5% Amarone. No alcohol heat, not heavy and indiscernible tannin. He is a master, a legend, period.
April 25, 2019 - prettiest of them all among the younger vintages (06,07,09). very inviting and flattering on both nose and palate, yet has execellent aging potential