Amarone Classico DOCG 1964, Bertani

Made from Corvina and Rondinella grapes from the slopes around Villa Novare in the Valpolicella Classica area. To the east, the soils are calcareous marls, whilst the western part of the vineyard has a thin layer of topsoil over limestone. The vines are guyot trained with a density of 5,000 plants per hectare. The harvest takes place around the second week of September; grapes are picked by hand to maintain whole bunches. A selection of the best, perfectly ripe and healthy bunches is then transported to the drying loft under the winery eaves and laid out on cane mats (“aréle”) for drying (“appassimento”). After about 120 days, the grapes become denser, the flavours gain complexity and the sugars reach 17% potential alcohol. In mid-January the grapes are picked off the bunches and crushed. There is a pre-fermentation maceration at 4/5C for a few days, followed by a period at 18C and around 50 days of post-fermentation maceration. This confers very high levels of glycerine and consequently extremely soft and silky palate feel. Ageing in wood takes around six years in large Slavonian oak casks. After bottling, the wines are stored for at least another year before release. To summarise the production philosophy: “it is very easy to make a so-called impressive Amarone, but very difficult to make one like this which uses absolutely no modern cellar technology. This is faithful to its terroir. We do not drive the winemaking, we let the wine drive us.”