Amarone from Famiglie Storiche in the glass, at Vinitaly, to toast the future of Valpolicella

Thirteen wines and 9 vintages: a tasting of Amarone that demonstrates - once again - how well the “king” of Valpolicella in the Famiglie Storiche’s interpretation is able to age, respecting the fine wine criteria recognized worldwide and positioning itself at the same time among the contemporary wines that the market demands. The tasting-conducted by international wine writer and educator Michaela Morris-was attended by the association’s 13 wineries (Allegrini, Begali, Brigaldara, Masi, Musella, Speri, Tedeschi, Tenuta Sant’Antonio, Tommasi, Torre d’Orti, Venturini, Villa Rizzardi and Zenato), now led by Pierangelo Tommasi, which together can count on 800 total hectares of Amarone and 2, 3 million bottles sold (representing 15% of the total Amarone della Valpolicella sold), with a value of 81 million euros (23% of the Amarone della Valpolicella market) and an average price per bottle of 35.20 euros, 68.5% of which is exported (to the United States, Canada, Germany, Scandinavian countries and the United Kingdom) and the remainder to Italy. Families that, as WineNews learns, are getting closer and closer to “peace” with the Consorzio Vini della Valpolicella, after the frictions experienced in recent years, which also ended up in court, in a framework that neither side seems to want to pursue any longer, and with a more relaxed atmosphere between the two interlocutors, helped by the passage of time and evidently due to the mutual recognition of roles within the denomination.
An important piece of Valpolicella, the one represented by the Association of Families, which was founded in 2009 with the desire to become the promoter of a territory in which it has been operating for years at the family level, which it has helped to grow and become known in the world. Trying to remain as faithful as possible to respect the traditions handed down by previous generations and trying, at the same time, to innovate and support its work with current scientific knowledge.
To be promoters of Valpolicella, its wines of excellence, its culture and its radical agricultural and economic transformation that has taken place in the last 40 years, is a goal that the Historic Families and the Consortium ultimately share and can jointly pursue for the good of the territory itself. On the strength of a wine like Amarone, which fully meets the criteria of contemporaneity and fine wine according to parameters shared by top wine experts. Contemporaneity is guaranteed by time, the time it takes for the grapes to acquire all the characteristics necessary to become such a structured wine, and by balance, that which manages to reproduce in the mouth a perfectly balanced sip between structure, fruit and acidity. Sustainability and respect for the environment are also parameters that make Amarone a contemporary wine, a criterion also required by a fine wine, along with the producer-territory relationship, recognizability, the ability to arouse emotions and possess balance, harmony and complexity.
These characteristics-with the inevitable strengths and weaknesses due to the influence of vintages and human interpretation-were recognizable in the wines of the tasting, tasted in this order: Guerrieri Rizzardi, Amarone della Valpolicella Clasicco Villa Rizzardi Riserva 2016; Torre d’Orti, Amarone della Valpolicella 2015; Tenuta Sant’Antonio, Amarone della Valpolicella Lilium Est Riserva 2012; Allegrini, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Fieramonte Riserva 2012; Masi, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Campolongo di Torbe 2011; Tommasi, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico De Buris Riserva 2010; Musella, Amarone della Valpolicella Riserva 2010; Begali, Amarone della Valpolicella Monte Classico Cà Bianca 2009; Venturini, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva 2009; Brigaldara, Amarone della Valpolicella Riserva 2007; Zenato, Amarone della Valpolicella Sergio Zenato Riserva 2007; Tedeschi, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Capitel Monte Olmi 2005; and Speri, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Sant’Urbano 2004.