The 2016 Amarone Della Valpolicella is a sleeping giant, wafting up with a hauntingly dark and layered display of crushed stone, black cherry, lavender, dusty earth, animal musk and hints of Indian curry. It’s deeply textural and velvety, yet light on its feet, with penetrating dark fruits offset by zesty spiced orange and minerals, as fine tannins slowly saturate. It finishes structured with cheek-puckering tension, resonating on notes of red currant with hints of baker’s chocolate. There’s so much power here and depths unseen, which will take time to fully emerge. If tasted blind, you’d be hard-pressed to call this out as Amarone, and I mean that in the best possible way.

This bottle is the standard 750ml. If you are looking for the Magnum 1.5L bottle, you can find it here.