Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG
Grapes Corvina, Corvinone

2013
95 points. Decanter Tre Bicchieri, Rome 2018

2015
Chocolate orange on the nose, the palate is extraordinary, intense and full, laced with dark chocolate and fig.

Link to Ca' la Bionda producer page

The Corvina and Corvinone vines are between 30 and 70 years old and are planted on the steep terraces of Ravazzol, a historical site (or cru) above the winery. The wine is made from a selection of the best and loosest bunches, these are carried in shallow buckets to the drying room in the attic where they are laid out on wooden slatted crates. At the end of January the grapes are crushed and fermented, they will have lost 40% of their volume during the drying period and undergone a transformation that ensures the unique bouquet and concentration of flavours. After fermentation the wine is aged for 3 years in a new 3000 litre French oak barrel, the result is stratospheric and the production is just 3000 litres a year.
For my taste, this is a substitute for port and is perfect after a meal with almonds and dried figs. It is excellent with very strong dishes such as rib-eye with a reduction of balsamic. It has an enormous window in which to ‘be enjoyed’ because that is the nature of the wine – lovely in it youth and almost indestructible.

2012-Rich black cherry and floral aromas, huge depth of damson and cherry fruit laced with fig, date and aged balsamic. Ripe powerful tannins, with remarkable floral characteristics and a lovely freshness for such a big wine.

Three Red Glasses, Gambero Rosso

91 points Decanter 2012
18/20 Jancis Robinson 2005