2014 Azienda Musella Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG Veneto

JS92 Spiced pears and poached plums with cloves and lemon peel. Some volatile acidity. It’s full-bodied with juicy, smooth tannins. Lots of ripe and dried fruit with chocolate on the finish. Drink or hold.
WSI94 When you have a bottle like this gorgeous Amarone at the table, you’ll wish it could be winter all year long. Cozy, comforting, seductive. Chocolate-covered cherries, minerals, cinnamon and cloves, a piping hot plum tart. SO good.
Aromas of leather, cinnamon, cloves, black cherry jam. Textured, velvety; flavors of black cherries, cooked plums. PAIRING SUGGESTIONS: Grilled pork sausages; red-wine based beef stew with herbs; aged sheep’s cheeses; dark chocolate (70%). 45% Corvina, 45% Corvinone, 5% Rondinella, 5% Oseleta VINEYARDS: The estate manages three vineyard areas, named ‘Monte del Drago,’ ‘Il Perlar’ and ‘Palazzina.’ All face west/southwest, and sit at altitude. Soils are varied: Monte del Drago combines white clay with “tufo,” a type of gritty, porous limestone; Il Perlar has iron-rich, red clay soils; and Palazzina offers red clay and tufo. AGE OF VINES: 20-60 years WINEMAKING: Hand-harvested. A selection of the healthiest grapes are dried (appassimento) on platforms in a naturally ventilated loft for three-four months. Grapes are crushed; then fermented on indigenous yeasts at low temperatures in tank. Aged in French oak casks, from 700L to 2HL, for 12 months; then eight months in bottle.