TN: La Dama Amarone della Valpolicella Classico DOCG 2016

[Waiters Friend]

G'day

I first discovered Valpolicella (and especially its Amarone) on my first trip to Verona in 2014. A return trip in 2023 reinforced the interest - however, in between these journeys I seem to have acquired a few more bottles. I found three bottles of this in my cellar, and this is the first one. I believe 2016 was a very good vintage in most of Italy.

Decanted 2 hours before service.This is purple black and a massive 16.5% alcohol! A rich and ripe nose, with raisined dark and red cherries and plums, dark chocolate, some coffee grounds,vanilla, oak-derived spices, a little leather and tobacco. Surprisingly, the nose is not showing much in the way of alcohol heat - just a faint spirit-like touch.

The palate is surprisingly soft, while still being powerful - no harsh edges here. More raisined cherries and plums on the palate, and quite a bit more chocolate / mocha. The palate is velvety without being overly viscous, and the mouthfeel is one of the highlights of the wine. Considerable length, good supporting acid, and noticeable tannins that don't dominante the fruits.

Given the raisined fruit, I would normally expect that this is reaching full development. However, given the method of drying and concentrating of the grapes before fermentation, the wine should show a little raisining on release. With this in mind, I suggest this still has a few years to go, and I am very glad there's two more in the cellar. I've had Valpolicella Amarones at 15 years of age that are singing nicely.

Cheers
Allan

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