Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella, Oseleta
75cl * Vegan * 15.0% ABV * Valpolicella Classico, Veneto, Italy
Founded by Giacomo Tommasi in 1902, the Tommasi estate lies in the heart of the historic ‘Classico’ region of Piedmonte and is still owned and managed by fourth generation Tommasi members. The first official vintage of Tommasi Amarone Classico was created in 1959. Every vintage since then has developed to produce better wine, while remaining faithful to the winemaking principles of Giacomo.
The grapes for their Amarone come from sunny hillside vineyards in the Valpolicella Classico area; Conca d’Oro and La Groletta, located at 290-330metres above sea level. The very best grape bunches were carefully selected and hand-picked. In classic Amarone style, the grapes were then laid out in boxes of 5-6 kg and naturally dried in the fruttaio (a large room with natural air circulation) for four months. After this ‘appassimento’ drying process, the grapes were gently pressed the following January. A skin maceration and fermentation took place in wooden vats over 40 days. After fermentation, the wine was matured for 30 months in large Slavonian oak barrels before bottling. The wines is then aged for a further year in bottles before release.
Deep ruby in colour, the wine has complex aromas of ripe cherry, black fruit, wild berries and warm spices. The palate is concentrated with excellent structure and flavours of ripe black and red fruits, leather and dark chocolate. There is a persisting and perfumed, velvety finish. The wine will pair with beef, game, lamb and blue cheeses and will benefit from at least an hour of decanting.
93/100 points - James Suckling