2008 Romano Dal Forno Valpolicella Superiore Vigneto di Monte Lodoletta
Community Tasting Note
forceberry wrote:
Friday, February 25, 2022 - Typically a blend of Corvina (70%), Rondinella (20%), Croatina (5%) and Oseleta (5%). 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% alcohol. Tasted blind.
Dense, extracted and fully opaque blackish-red color that does not permit any light through. Very dense, powerful and toasty nose with aromas of heavily toasted oak, ripe blackcurrants, some minty green tones, a little bit of soot, light evolved notes of wizened blackcurrants, a hint of chocolate milkshake and a touch of alcohol. The overall feel is very powerful and heavily oak-driven. The wine is dense, concentrated and chewy on the palate with a very full body and intense flavors of powerful caramel-driven oak character, some mint chocolate, a little bit of cherry marmalade, light blueberry tones, an evolved hint of wizened forest fruits and a touch of ripe blackcurrant. The wine feels very muscular and tightly-knit with it extracted, noticeably grippy tannins and quite high acidity. The alcohol lends some obvious warmth to the palate. The thick and chewy finish feels powerful, robust and tannic with intense flavors of juicy blackcurrants and overripe blueberries, some toasty oak tones, a little bit of caramel, light cherry marmalade tones, a hint of extracted woody bitterness and a touch of milk chocolate.
A huge, massive blockbuster of a wine that is as far removed from a traditional Valpolicella Superiore as possible - this wine comes across as more Amarone than many Amarones on the market do. On the one hand, it is very impressive how even the lowly entry-level wine is the winery is so massive and impressively concentrated; but on the other, this wine really has nothing to do with Valpolicella whatsoever. With its ridiculously overdone oak, extracted blackcurrant-driven fruit, massive tannins and rather pronounced alcohol, I guessed that this was a 15-yo Tempranillo from Toro (or possibly Ribera del Duero). When I was told it was not a Spanish wine, I thought this was a flagship Cabernet-Shiraz from Australia. Never once I thought of Italy. So, yes, this is an impressively massive wine with lots of everything and then some. However, I really don't "get" the wine - it's just a huge, concentrated fruit bomb that is drenched in new oak character, making me think more of Bourbon than Italian red wine. I'd love to see how these wines perform at +25 years of age, because it seems painfully obvious that these 13 years have not been nearly enough to integrate all that oak character with the fruit.
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3 comments have been posted
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Comment posted by oldwines:
11/16/2022 4:19:00 AM - I do wish I knew what you just described before I bought mine...I never would have gotten any. I thought I was getting a Valpolacella Superiore from an esteemed producer deliberately expecting more finesse and elegance than the Amarone. I should have done more first hand research. For example, Galloni's review only hints at the concentration while calling it "drop-dead gorgeous" ??? I had hoped that the trend toward overdone wines was waning after Parker's retirement but most the the new standard bearer's have continued to push mega scores on mega concentrated, overdone wines... I had a similar experience with the 2018 Penfolds Grange, which was expected to be big, but...wow, nearly undrinkable. Thanks for calling out the truth on some of these monsters!
Comment posted by forceberry:
11/16/2022 5:04:00 AM - Cheers! While I've had some very positive experiences with older Granges, I, too, think a young Grange is nigh undrinkable. To me it's all about super-extracted oak and borderline overripe fruit, nothing of real interest. I wonder if the style has just been so different or if the wines actually magically turn into something more gracious with age?
After all, I've had some positive experiences with dal Forno Valpolicellas as well, once they've past the +20 yo mark. They just need tons of age before they turn from monolithic blockbusters into something actually interesting. So I guess there's still some chance that your dal Forno bottle can turn into something good, if you're just willing to hold onto it for long enough!
Although be warned that even with age dal Forno's Valpolicella is comparable to any other producer's Amarone Classico. :D
Comment posted by oldwines:
11/16/2022 5:47:00 AM - Agreed on most points, with the caveat that the one constant as wine ages is alcohol. Tannin, acidity, fruit all decline, or fall out of solution over decades in the cellar but the alcohol remains and I have found that years on some of these over-ripe, high octane fruit bombs become something very unpleasant to drink in my book. And the heavy handed oak really obscures and changes the varietal characteristics. All these things can be positive attributes when handled judiciously but in too many cases today it is overdone and unfortunately I blame the reviewers who push the scores, ergo the prices to extremes I feel are unwarranted.
Sorry for being long winded on this... Cheers!