Amarone production begins in the vineyard, where Pergola and Guyot-trained vines are carefully managed to produce flawless bunches of fruit. Only the best fruit, strictly selected to eliminate damaged bunches, is used. That fruit rests for around 120 days in a drying room, humidity-controlled room to avoid botrytis. In January, months after harvest, the concentrated fruit is vinified over 15 days.

Brigaldara’s goal is to produce Amarone with body, freshness, and drinkability upon release, with no oxidation. Their wine is a departure from old-style Amarone made from dried, often botrytized, fruit fermented over a 40-day period. It spent one year in barriques, then two years in large 25 hectolitre oak vessels prior to bottling.

A Corvinone-dominant blend featuring Corvina and Rondinella, this is a sumptuous Amarone with a spicy, perfumed bouquet of black cherry and vanilla. The palate reveals a ripe core of bitter chocolate and spiced fruit cake, with complex flavours of Mirabelle plum and coffee. An attractive note of black tea persists through the finish. Alcohol, often a determining quality for Amarone-lovers, is nicely balanced by the wine’s density and velvety texture. It’s a powerful wine, yet elegant and graceful.

“The 2018 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico opens slowly with a blend of dried cherries, wild herbs and crushed ashen stone. Its textures are silky and pure, with mineral underpinning that excite the senses as spicy red fruits cascade across the palate. A salty flourish creates a distinctly savory style through the finish, as grippy tannins add youthful poise. Drink 2024-2034.”
93 points, Eric Guido, Vinous Media, December 2022