2007 Giuseppe Campagnola Amarone della Valpolicella

Happy Independence Day eve!  Yes, summer is in full swing and the fireworks are blazing, but it's also the first Saturday in July, which means this is Cellar Saturday!  I will open a bottle of something at least a decade in the making and share it with you.  Tonight I've dug out a nice Italian wine (I'm convinced that the big wines of Italy are best when they are allowed to mature for at least a decade), one that I'm not sure where I bought it, the 2007 Giuseppe Campagnola Amarone della Valpolicella.  Amarone is a special wine from the north of Italy, where the grapes are allowed to dry before pressing, revealing a fabulous concentration of flavor.  So let's see how this one is tasting!

The wine is a deep, inky purple in the glass with lovely garnet along the edges, making this look more like a Cabernet than a Valpolicella.  After letting this one breathe for an hour or so, a quick swirl in the glass reveals rustic aromas of leather, anise, green grass and mulberry.  Take a sip and you get unexpected flavors of strawberry, ripe cherry and plum that transition easily to some earthy notes of peat and dusty limestone midpalate.  The tannins are nicely structured to provide a great base for the long dry finish, with a quick burst of acidity at the end.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 9, as it has certainly come into its own over the past 14 years.  This wine would be ideal with lamb, wild mushroom risotto, or a hearty steak.  Tonight I am enjoying this wine with a prime tomahawk ribeye grilled Pittsburgh rare, topped with some of the last of the season's garlic scapes and some grilled asparagus. Cheers!

2007 Lena di Mezzo Amarone della Valpolicella

Happy Valentine's Day!  I have to admit that this holiday always reminds me of the wonderful Italian Amarone, a wonderfully robust and intense wine made from the Valpolicella grape, dried on mats and pressed to extract the concentrated juice that becomes a most wonderful wine.  Like a lot of the great Italian wines, I am convinced that they really don't reach their prime until at least a decade after harvest, which is why I'm happy to be opening this 2007 Lena di Mezzo Amarone della Valpolicella.  So let's see how it tastes.

The wine is a beautifully deep ruby color in the glass.  The nose just overflows from the glass, spreading aromas reminiscent of an old Italian kitchen around the room, notes of dried Italian herbs, anise, peppery spice, ripe blackberry and kirsch that just feel classically old world.  The taste is delightfully complex, with a rush of blackberry, prune and kirsch that transitions to some spice notes and tart cherry midpalate.  The finish is just delightful, with structured tannins providing a base for the long, smooth and voluptuous finish.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, as it's somewhat less fruit forward and sweet than the traditional Amarone, but one which I really enjoy.  This wine would be ideal with a variety of hard cheeses, wild mushroom risotto, or just about any classic Italian dish.  Tonight I am enjoying this wine with a more simple dinner of fusilli topped with a spicy Italian sausage marinara.  The rich black fruit of the wine is a perfect foil for the spicy sauce.  As one of my favorite TV chefs, Lidia Bastianich would say, tutti a tavola a mangiare!

2011 Brunelli Pa' Riondo Valpolicella Ripasso

Happy Thursday!  I had a fairly productive day today, got a lot done at work, got a haircut after work, then went to the gym, and then stopped at the store on the way home to get something for dinner.  And now that I'm cooking, it's time to open a nice bottle of wine to complement the food, so tonight it's the 2011 Brunelli Pa' Riondo Valpolicella Ripasso.  As a refresher, this is more of a poor man's Amarone, as it's the second pressing of the dried Valpolicella grapes that are used to make Amarone, so it gives you a lot of the concentrated flavor and punch of an Amarone but often for a third or less of the price!

The wine is a beautiful bright ruby color in the glass with great clarity.  The nose presents beautiful aromas of leather, plum, anise and dried herbs.  The taste is at first a bit tight, with some tart cherry at the outset that gives way to some smoother fruit flavors of ripe plum and cassis midpalate.  The tannins are still a bit young on this wine, but they still provide a nice base for the long, smooth and somewhat fruity finish.

Overall, I rate this wine a solid 7.5, it's not quite at the level of baby Amarone, but still a pleasant drinking wine in its own right, and it was a nice value at just $13 from Wines Till Sold Out.  Tonight I am enjoying this wine with a simple tortellini prima vera, we have such nice produce right now, it's just a pleasure to toss some red onions, green peppers, yellow squash and broccoli rabe in with a light cream sauce over some fresh cheese tortellini, delicious!  Salut!

2004 Bussola Ca' del Laito Valpolicella Superiore Ripasso

Well, it's the first Saturday in December, which of course means it's Cellar Saturday, that special day when I dig deep into the cellar and find a nice bottle a bit more mature just for the heck of it.  Tonight I go back a decade and open a bottle of 2004 Bussola Ca' del Laito Valpolicella Superiore Ripasso.  For those who have read any of my past posts on Amarone, know that the Valpolicella Ripasso is the second pressing of the grapes used to produce Amarone, which themselves are dried before pressing, creating a much more concentrated flavor that is just a joy to drink.  The only problem with Amarone is the price, hence the ripasso is a more value oriented offering which we are enjoying tonight!

The wine is a bright ruby color in the glass, with just the faintest hint of amber along the edges.  The nose is quite nice, with earthy notes of cedar, leather and fresh herbs over concentrated fruit notes of ripe plum and raisin.  The taste is sublime, with a burst of sweet cherry and anise at the outset, which transitions to some espresso and white pepper notes midpalate.  The tannins are well integrated and nicely structured, supporting a long, velvety dry finish.

Overall I would rate this wine a solid  8.5, it's drinking exceedingly well after it's first decade, and it was a great value at just $25, or about a third of the cost of a comparable Amarone.  Tonight I am enjoying this wine with a classic big dinner to go with the big wine, a rare grilled prime New York strip, a big baked potato with butter and sour cream and some steamed broccoli.  The fruit and spice in this wine just play remarkably well with a charred steak, tutti a tavola a mangiare!