Community Tasting Note

forceberry wrote:

Saturday, January 29, 2022 - 16% alcohol. Tasted blind.

Dense, extracted and fully opaque deep dark red color with an evolved maroon hue. Very rich, sweet and moderately evolved nose with concentrated aromas of raisins and dried figs, some wizened black cherries, a little bit of old leather, light oaky nuances, a hint of jammy dark berries and a touch of dried dates. Despite showing some age, the overall feel is more raisiny-sweet due to the combination of hot vintage and appassimento process rather due to the age. The wine is dense, chewy and extracted on the palate with a very full body and bold flavors of raisins, dried figs and prunes, some oaky cocoa tones, a little bit of marmaladey sweetness, light notes of wizened red cherries and a hint of extracted woody bitterness. The high alcohol lends some very obvious heat to the palate while the ample, assertive tannins bring some welcome mouth-drying firmness to the palate. The acidity seems to be a bit on the soft side. The finish is rich, off-dry and quite concentrated with pronounced tannic grip and intense flavors of dried dates, some pruney dark fruit, a little bit of mocha oak, light sweet figgy tones and a hint of tobacco. The high alcohol makes the wine end on a somewhat hot note.

An impressively big, concentrated and tannic Amarone, but also one that feels a bit clumsy and awkward compared to Tedeschi's Monte Olmi Amarone. While Monte Olmi is often surprisingly harmonious, dry and balanced effort for an Amarone, this entry-level take on the same style feels a bit cumbersome with more pronounced sweetness and surprisingly heavy-handed oak influence that accentuates the already rather sweet dried-fruit nuances with the chocolatey undertones. The assertive tannins are surprisingly ample for the style, but not at all out of place when it comes to the balance - the wine is a bit too low in acidity for such a concentrated, big-bodied wine, so at least the tannins manage to take care some of that structure which otherwise would've been left wanting. Nevertheless, I found the wine quite enjoyable for such a big wine, but ultimately nothing too remarkable. It's just too heavy, sweet and oaky for my preference; I hope the wine loses some of that weight (and oak) as it ages. Priced more or less according to its quality at approx. 40€.

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