Della Valpolicella Amarone Classico Cantina Negrar

Della Valpolicella Amarone Classico Cantina Negrar

Della Valpolicella Amarone Classico Cantina Negrar has a delicious aroma of ripe berries in the glass, which is repeated in the taste with fullness and notes from barrel ageing. The grapes were harvested by hand, after which all bunches are sorted and left to dry for a good 3 months in small cassettes in a drying room. The special technique makes the sugar content more concentrated, while the grapes simultaneously undergo a natural microbiological process during the drying period.

In February of the following year, the raisin-like grapes are pressed, fermented and macerated for 30 days. The wine is then aged for 1½ years in small barriques of French Allier oak and large 3000 liter casks, before the wine is aged in the bottle for ½ year before release.

About the Vinhuset:

Cantina Sociale Valpolicella (which was the company's original name) was established way back in 1933 by a small handful of committed men who, with the production of the very first Amarone in 1938, have helped to change the wine from Veneto forever. It is said that Amarone was invented when someone had forgotten a cask of Recioto, which had finished fermenting. So that the result was a strong and alcoholic red wine with a bitter taste.

Cantina Valpolicella Negrar is today one of the region's most quality-conscious cooperatives with over 230 winegrowers as members. Together they own more than 700 hectares of vineyards, almost all of which are located in the classico zone. The wine is produced quite classically for a good Amarone by letting the grapes dry. This process, called appassimento”, takes place in the vineyard under temperature-controlled conditions for a period of around 120 days. During that period, approximately 40% of the liquid content in the grapes evaporates, and the sugar is concentrated at the same time as some different aroma components develop than in the completely fresh grapes. In mid-January, the grapes, which are Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara, are pressed and fermented.

The grapes are typically harvested in the last week of September. The harvest is done by hand. The grapes grow in the very heart of the Valpolicella Classico region between the Negrar hills. The subsoil varies greatly from a very calcareous to a more volcanic subsoil.