Raisins Into Gold: Amarone

Amarone is Italy’s superstar. And has been for 2000 years.

Famous for a method known as appassimento—”drying of the grapes”—Amarone delivers wines of extraordinary body, complexity, and concentration. Bottles of great Amarone are like the greatest loves. You remember them all your life.

In the nineteenth century, powerful red wines from the Veneto made from the juice of half-dried grapes were referred to by a Paris auction catalogue as the “Supreme Wines of Italy” and “better than any Bordeaux or Hermitage.” Records of these kinds of wines trace back through the ship manifests of Sixteenth-century Venice, all the way to the Latin poet Catullus, who wrote about “the wine called Acinaticum,” which was made by drying grapes “until their juices turned delicately sweet.”

More than 2,000 years later, this expensive and painstaking way to make wine is how Amarone is made. Grapes are selected and transported to the winery in single layers, dried and monitored to prevent rot (producing half the juice they have the capacity to render), and aged for years before release.

We’d love to show you what Amarone is all about! Join us, and we’ll explore the Valpolicella region and the specific kinds of grapes that make Amarone, as well as the stylistic variations on how the wine is made. And because we’re Waterford, we’ll taste great bottles of Amarone. The supreme wines of Italy. The kinds of wines you’ll remember all your life.

Wines to be tasted:

2019 Tentua Sant' Antonio Amarone "Antonio Castagnedi" $60.99
2022 Scaia Corvina $16.99
2022 Masi Campofiorin $21.99

2019 Allegrini Amarone della Valpolicella Classico $93.99
2019 Speri Amarone della Valpolicella Classicio Sant' Urbano $100.99
2019 Buglioni Amarone della Valpolicella Classico $99.99 

2019 Tomassso Bussola Amarone della Valpolicella Classico $114.99
2019 Torre d'Orti Amarone della Valpolicella $55.99
2019 Tenuta Santa Maria Amarone Classico Riserva $116.99

All prices listed shown are regular retail. Significant discounts offered on all wines at the tasting.

Due to the their highly allocated nature, some wines may change without notice.