2013 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico

Full bottle 1,402 g. Swig's website says, 'Formerly an assistant to the legendary Valpolicella producer Giuseppe Quintarelli, Nicola Ferrari and his wife Laura now make their wines from 4 ha of organically farmed vines in Fumane. Production is between 25000 – 30000 bottles per year, so this is a very discreet operation, and the wines are nothing short of sensational. Each of these red wines is made from approximately 70% Corvina and Corvinone and then 30% of Rondinella and Molinara with Sangiovese, Merlot and Cabernet Franc making an appearance in Santoccio Rosso.' 'Jam' tends to be thought of as a negative tasting note, but if you've ever put your nose (and finger) into a freshly made, cooling, jar of cherry jam, then you'll know that what I'm saying is that this wine is beautiful. You want to stick your nose (and finger) into it again and again. There is a slip of tobacco leaf, as if, in that kitchen where the cherry jam is cooling, someone snipped the end off a particularly fine, unlit Cuban cigar, and you picked it up and put it to your nose. There is a feather-brush of spice, falling soft as late-autumn sunlight on the end. There is the faintest earth-note smudge of chanterelles, just under the luminous purity and precision of the fruit; a yin yang. Woodland violets. Dappled shade. Quite possibly one of the most beautiful amarones I have been lucky enough to taste. (TC)