2012 Garbole Hatteso Amarone della Valpolicella Riserva

The godfathers of the Amarone are without a doubt Quintarelli, the legendary Romano Dal Forno and now Garbole boutique winery. These are the undisputed toppers among the Valpolicella and Amarone wines. At Garbole wine is made in an almost manical way where it is only about quality and not quantity. The entire process in the vineyard takes place completely manually and grape by grape is checked and only the top goes into their wines and the non-selected grapes are used as (very expensive) fertilizer for the vineyard.

The Hatteso Amarone is made from Corvina, Rondinella, and Molinara. After manual picking, the grapes are placed in small wooden crates of around 4 – 5 Kg each to ensure that the grapes are not crushed. The grapes are then dried in a special room for a period of about 90 – 100 days. The grapes lose about 50% to 60% of their weight. So super concentrated. The wine then stays in new oak for 36 months and then receives at least another 2 years of bottle aging and then the wine is released in dribs and drabs and only to strictly selected sellers (such as Grand Cru wines). Now we want to be careful not to compare these types of top wines because they are unique, but here you can taste the style of Quintarelli and Dal Forno Romano.

The Hatteso has an intense ruby red color tending to garnet with hints of plum, cherry jam, vanilla, coffee, chocolate, almond and a hint of fresh mint. Very complex wine. Wine with body and therefore powerful, but on the other hand wonderfully smooth, soft, fresh and round.

97/100 points Luca Maroni