2018 Dal Forno Romano ‘Monte Lodoletta’ Amarone della Valpolicella

VIN94-96 Wafting up with lovely floral perfumes, the 2018 Amarone della Valpolicella is impossible to ignore, as a bouquet of dusty rose and lavender complements crushed blackberries and hints of sweet smoke. This is pure energy, seamless and silky with cooling acidity and mineral tones that unlock depths of tart wild berry fruit. A bitter twang of dark chocolate saturates the palate. The 2018 is an understated beauty. While structured, its tannins are dusty and fine, creating a web of youthful restraint as suggestions of mocha and clove slowly fade. This is the first vintage of Amarone that was able to take advantage of Dal Forno’s newest acquisition, just a kilometer from the estate—a site with Pergola-trained vines that average forty years old. The 2018 was bottled in 2021 and will be released into the market in 2025.

JS95 Dark inky color with a restrained nose of cloves, cassis, macerated violets, earth, graphite and a hint of Band-Aid. Full-bodied with a dense palate of black licorice and dark chocolate flavors, refreshing acidity and firm tannins. It’s youthful, chewy and dynamic. Drinkable now, but best from 2028.

WA94 The Dal Forno Romano 2018 Amarone della Valpolicella Monte Lodoletta shows similar intensity and complexity compared to the 2019 vintage, but these remain two very different wines at the end of the day. The 2018 vintage shows extra fruit ripeness and even some jammy flavors with cherry confit and blackberry coulis. The tannins also appear softer (comparatively, although we are still talking about a Dal Forno Amarone—probably the wine with the biggest tannins I taste from Italy). That velvety structural texture gives this wine a more accessible approach, although the wine’s ideal drinking window remains a far way off. The 2018 delivers pretty floral aromas of rose or dried lavender that seem specific to this vintage with a hot summer and cooler harvest conditions. This wine will be released in 2025.