2019 Torre del Falasco Amarone della Valpolicella, Cantina Valpantena
£36.00
“After drying, the grapes for this cooperative-made Amarone are fermented in stainless steel tanks then aged for two years in oak. Rich, grippy and meaty, it nonetheless has lovely freshness to balance its structure. Ripe red fruits overlay a creamy, textured background of vanilla, pepper and wood. Complex and moreish.”
Run by Luca Degani since 1995, the Cantina Valpantena is now one of Italy’s best cooperative wineries, with 700 hectares of vineyard producing excellent quality fruit. Matt Thomson of Blank Canvas, who also makes some of the Alpha Zeta wines here, has worked closely with Luca at Cantina Valpantena since 1999.
Known as the ‘valley of god’ to the ancient Greeks, the Valpantena is well known for its quality red wines, due partly to the limestone soils, but also because of the cool breeze that blows down the valley from the foothills of the Dolomites.