Amarone (1990)

About this wine

This Amarone is made primarily from Corvina with Rondinella and Corvinone in the blend, the grapes are dried using the traditional appassimento method to concentrate flavor. On the nose expect ripe black cherry, dried plum, and dried flower notes with hints of dark spice and cocoa. The palate is full bodied and dense, the texture is rich and velvety while tannins remain firm and structured. Reports from the producer and retailers note the wine is typically aged for around 18 months in a mix of small oak barrels and larger neutral casks before bottling. Alcohol content is in the mid to high teens which supports the wine's concentration and long finish. With bottle age the fruit driven core tends to gain tertiary notes of leather, tobacco and dried fig while the tannins soften and the finish becomes more persistent.

About the grape

Corvina Veronese is the traditional backbone of Valpolicella and Amarone, a native of the Veneto whose long history in the Verona hills made it prized for high natural acidity and the firm skins that concentrate well during the appassimento drying used for Amarone. Rondinella developed locally as a reliable, disease resistant companion vine that provides generous yields and excellent drying ability, so in this bottling it is used to support Corvina and help ensure consistent raisining in the lofts. Corvinone was long mistaken for a large berry form of Corvina but was recognized as a distinct variety in the late 20th century, and growers increasingly plant it for its looser, larger clusters that dry evenly and add color and structural depth to Amarone blends. In Valpolicella production like La Sorte the three varieties are cultivated on the local hillside soils, often trained and picked to optimize drying, with Corvina leading the blend and Rondinella and Corvinone chosen for their complementary ripening and suitability for the appassimento process.

Quick facts

• 🍀 La Sorte translates from Italian as fortune or the lot, giving the bottle a name that hints at serendipity in the vineyard
• 🌄 The phrase Vigneti di Jaco on the label points to a named vineyard parcel, so this Amarone celebrates a specific hillside site called Jaco
• ⏳ Bottled from the 1990 vintage, this Amarone is built for long evolution, showing how appassimento wines can develop enticing tertiary notes over decades
• 🍇 The wine is made from the local Corvina family and Rondinella grapes, a traditional Amarone blend that concentrates flavors through grape drying
• 🔥 Typical of Amarone this bottling carries a high alcohol level around 15 percent, which adds a plush, warm texture to the wine

Palate profile

Producer

La Sorte is a distinguished winery located in the Valpolicella region of Italy, renowned for producing traditional wines such as Amarone della Valpolicella. The winery operates under Cantina Valpolicella Negrar, a cooperative established in 1933 that played a pivotal role in the development of Amarone wine. Valpolicella's winemaking heritage dates back to ancient times, with the region's name possibly deriving from the Latin 'Vallis Polis Cellae,' meaning 'valley of many cellars.' The area's unique microclimate, influenced by nearby Lake Garda, and its diverse soils contribute to the distinctive characteristics of its wines.