1990 Amarone della Valpolicella

Zenato's 1990 Amarone is a heavy, winter-weight wine. The color is a dark murky garnet/ruby/purple. The wine possesses copious quantities of spicy, earthy fruit, as well as aromas and flavors of prunes, raisins, and truffles. Full-bodied, with super concentration, excellent purity, and a mouthfilling, chewy, muscular personality, this dry, smoky, earthy wine should drink well for 15+ years. Most knowledgeable observers of the Italian wine scene claim the next revolution in Italian winemaking, similar to what took place in Tuscany and Piedmont in the eighties, will be in Veneto, the lovely area tucked in the northeast corner of Italy, not far from the borders of Austria and Croatia. Zenato's wines certainly seem to be on the rebound. A Leonardo Lo Cascio Selection, Winebow, Hohokus, NJ; tel. (201) 445-0620