2022 Amarone Valpantena DOCG, Bertani

Bertani have been making Amarone since 1936, and this is their Valpantena bottling — the fresher, more lifted sibling to their famously long-lived Classico. Valpantena is a narrow valley on the eastern side of Valpolicella, north of Verona, where marl and limestone slopes give wines a little more perfume and a little less brute weight.

The blend is 80% Corvina Veronese and 20% Rondinella. What makes Amarone Amarone is the appassimento: the bunches are laid out on bamboo racks and left to dry until the beginning of January, losing water and concentrating everything that remains. Only then are they pressed. The wine then spends two years in large Slavonian oak — casks of 30, 54 and 75 hectolitres, big enough that the oak lends structure rather than flavour — followed by at least six months in bottle.

The colour is deep ruby. The nose leads with very ripe cherry and blackberry, then dried rose, cinnamon and black pepper, with the nutty, faintly bitter edge that marks out Valpantena fruit. Tobacco and leather sit underneath. On the palate it is soft and creamy rather than jammy, the sweetness of the dried fruit held in check by fine tannin and a savoury, almost bitter twist on the close — amarone means bitter, and the name is earned. The finish is long and persistent.

This is a wine for the end of the evening and for cold weather. It is drinking well now and will hold comfortably for a decade.

How to Serve

Serve at 16–18°C in a large bowled glass. Decant an hour ahead. At around 15% alcohol, pour smaller measures than you think you want.

Where to Drink It

The River Cafe, for northern Italian cooking with the confidence to match it. Bocca di Lupo in Soho for regional dishes. Boisdale if you want it alongside game and a fire.

Food Pairings

Braised beef in Amarone is the Veronese answer and hard to beat. Otherwise a wedge of well-aged Monte Veronese or Parmigiano — the salt and the sweetness of the fruit do good things to each other.