Bertani - Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 2012 (750ml)
James Suckling: 98 Points
Wow. Such a complex nose, with a base of dried cherry, spruced up with hints of mild coffee and walnuts. Then there are dried flowers, wild herbs and spices, such as tarragon and cloves. Subtle hints of dried banana and apricot, too. The palate is full, super sleek, intense and well-balanced, with tight, spice-coated tannins that drive everything forward. Long, long finish. Lovely to taste now, but this already almost ten-year-old will sit comfortably in your cellar for a long while yet.
Wine Enthusiast: 95 Points
This wine is pure in its fruit, earnestness and joy. It opens with aromas of vibrant red plum, macerated red cherries and raspberries followed by cocoa powder, oolong tea and dried violets. Each sniff of the glass brings a new aroma. The wine is earth-driven on the palate, with tobacco and dried red and black fruits blending well with mixed herbs, savory spices and elegant tannins, all leading to a fresh acidity that makes the wine pop on the finish.
Wine Spectator: 93 Points
An elegant version, fresh and medium- to full-bodied, with crisp definition from fine-grained tannins, a rich, minerally baseline of fresh earth and iron, and a pleasing range of plumped cherry, raspberry paste, Earl Grey tea leaf and sandalwood notes that linger on the finish. Corvina and Rondinella.
Vinous: 93 Points
The 2012 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico takes its time opening in the glass, slowly evolving with a rich blend of crushed black cherries complemented by dusty violet florals and exotic spice. This coasts across the palate, silky-smooth yet with cooling minerality and brisk acids that add an energetic feel as a saturation of red fruits and fine tannins collect toward the close. The 2012 finishes lightly structured with a resonance of balsamic spice and bitter hints of cocoa that linger on and on - a fantastic and genuinely harmonious rendition of Bertani's Amarone Classico.
