2011 Valpolicella Superiore

Grape-grower Romano Dal Forno decided to bottle his own wine in 1983. With no experience of winemaking, he learned on the job, with numerous visits to the famous Quintarelli estate. Located outside of the Classico area, in the Illasi Valley, he owns 8ha planted at high density to Corvina, Rondinella, Oseleta and Croatina. The grapes for this wine are dried for one and a half months in computer-controlled drying chambers. Stainless steel, nitrogen and vacuums are used to combat oxygen uptake, other than during barrel ageing (24 months in new French oak for this wine). Andrea Briccarello: A very deep, dark and intense nose. Lots of spices and dark cherries combined with firm tannins and a mocha finish. Michael Garner: Broad, intense and ripe, with smoky-toned black fruit aromas. Ripe, full, and intensely flavoured with spicy red and black fruit flavours. Balanced oak with fine structure and good tannins. Great potential. Andrew Jefford: Wonderfully fine-milled, lifted and complex, with perfume-like flavours over a creamy, plush base. It's just astonishing to stick your nose into the glass and find something so alluring, lustrous and enticing; you couldn't not sip after sniffing this. It's concentrated, dense, poised and assured; such a wholly extraordinary wine that it almost seems to come from a different tasting. But what this proves is just what extraordinary results you can achieve with appassimento, and though there are other wines in this tasting which have similar levels of concentration, and perhaps even more fruit intensity, for texture, precision and absolute stylistic assurance, this is hard to beat. (Part of Top wines of 2018 from Decanter Panel Tastings Blind tasted by Andrea Briccarello, Michael Garner, Andrew Jefford (at Decanter Magazine's May 2018 issue Valpolicella Panel Tasting)

The 2011 Valpolicella Superiore Monte Lodoletta is a darkly concentrated but carefully balanced expression that only the most expert vintner can pull off with success. Consider that the dry extract is a massive 48 grams per liter. In fact, there is some minor precipitation of color matter even at this relatively young age. This wine was aged in new oak for two years (instead of the standard three years) with four years bottle (instead of three). That extra year in glass served to help the wine integrate and to reduce micro-oxygenation. The bouquet is bright and fragrant with floral notes of rose and violet that are rare to find in Valpolicella. There are faint tertiary notes as well that add to the complexity. You will find cured leather and savory spice. The finish offers enough acidity to refresh the palate, following that considerable density and thickness.

Has just been released; this 2011 is the current vintage. Impenetrable crimson. Opulently sweet, dusty oak and dark fruit nose with minty, creamy notes. Skilfully done, but you do have to like oak a lot. Intense and concentrated dark fruit well balanced by acidity and with quite a bit of (oak) tannins, suggesting this could do with much more age. (WS)