Tender New Amarone: Italian Blend Inimitable and Supreme.

It is said that the second biggest mistake (second only to the origin of Champagne) in wine production occurred when winemakers in Valpolicella tried to make sweet wine from dried grapes and ended up with Amarone. It turns out they left the wine to ferment too long and all the sugar was consumed by the yeast, resulting in a dry red wine with an unusually high alcohol content.

Of course, everything happens today at Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG for a reason. Two recent developments that clearly required a lot of planning and labor are the release of Bertani's new 2012 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico and the fact that the winemaker who made it, Andrea Lonardi, just passed the difficult Master of Wine exam and became the second Italian to receive this prestigious title.

Hailing from Valpolicella, Lonardi joined Bertani in 2012 as chief winemaker and executive director. Today, the winery is part of Angeli Wines & Estates, and Lonardi retains his title at all six wineries. Shortly after joining, he took part in the creation of 2012, and although in between he traveled the world presenting new and archival releases from Bertani, this year was the first time Lonardi was able to serve a bottle he had a hand in creating. These two events give Italian wine lovers two reasons to celebrate; the simultaneous release of several archival wines adds even more excitement for oenophiles.

Let's start with the released 2012 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico from Bertani

This is a blend of Corvina Veronese and Rondinella, it has aromas of dried plums and cherries, hazelnuts and a hint of cinnamon. Ripe flavors of blackberry, black cherry, cassis, star anise and clove are coated with a layer of firm but velvety tannins. Notes of chocolate and nutmeg linger in the lingering, satisfying aftertaste. Lonardi says 2012 "was a warm year, and that affected the wine, giving it a fuller body and more concentrated flavors, but the wine still has high, bright acidity." The grapes were dried in a single layer on bamboo racks for 120 days to concentrate their flavor and sugar, then they were macerated and fermented for 40 days before spending seven years in wood, mostly Slavonian oak. While the 2012 is drinking great right now, Lonardi believes it will look even better in the next three to five years and will be in great condition for consumption through 2033. He recommends keeping it for 20 years, explaining, "This is a very fruity year and it will take more than 10 years to start enjoying the tertiary development of the wine. In a way, 2012 reminds me of 1967, and so we can expect a wine that can be stored for 40-50 years and retain its aromatic expression. "

Brothers Gaetano and Giovan Battista Bertani

founded their winery in 1857, and in 1870 they made an effort to publicize the high quality of the Valpolicella Valpentana area. In the late 1950s, they introduced a new dry style of wine that is now known as luxurious dry Amarone, and in honor of this, the winery is introducing to the market a series of archival releases spanning six decades since 1958, including outstanding years such as 1967, 1975 and 1988. To make Amarone, the grapes are first dried on bamboo racks.

Among recent releases, Lonardi favors two years in particular. "I really like the 2008! It's Bertani's 'Barolo'," he says.

"It combines a fresh, amaro character with intense aromas of chinotto and blood orange combined with a smoky character associated with the volcanic soil of the Tenuta Novare vineyards. This is a very calm wine with a lovely balance between acidity and a silky and very long salty aftertaste." And he likes 1964, too. "It has an incredible ruby-bright color that never showed the age of this wine," he says. "On the nose it is very modern; fresh with a pronounced iodine character. It has firm Bordeaux-style tannins with characteristic juiciness. "

Besides being proud of Bertani 2012 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico, Lonardi feels great satisfaction and joy at his new title of Master of Wine. A highly valued and well-deserved qualification awarded by the Institute of Masters of Wine in the UK, it is generally regarded as the highest standard of professional expertise in the wine industry. It is said to be the toughest exam in the world. This exam was first administered 70 years ago, and today there are only 414 Masters of Wine in the world. Although the institute is keeping its mouth shut about the pass/fail rate of the three-stage exam, Master Vina, who spoke to Robb Report on condition of anonymity, told us, "About 50 percent pass the first level. Of those who repeat and pass on the second attempt, only 20 percent pass the second level, theory, and then, depending on the year, only about five to 10 percent pass." Two new members, including Lonardi, joined their ranks this year. Compare that to the National Medical Board's national exam in the United States: 24,317 people took it in 2022, and 91 percent passed. Also in 2021, 39,873 people took the bar exam in the United States. Lonardi is the second Italian to win the title of Master of Wine. The first was Gabriele Gorelli, strategic consultant, speaker and brand ambassador, who became Master of Wine in February 2021. He and Lonardi met in 2014 when they attended an Introduction to Master of Wine course together, and as Gorelli says, they became "inseparable friends." "When I learned of his accomplishment, the joy was equal to winning the title again," Gorelli said. "We shared a mission for many years to add those little letters after our names. It is now our common task to spread the good news of Italian wine at the highest level.".