Le Ragose Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva DOCG

Le Ragose Amarone only comes out of the cellar when the wine is 10 years old.

We have Amarone Riserva from Le Ragose in our assortment for wine lovers who truly want something special. These are wines you really need to sit down and savor. What power and complexity this wine possesses!

Fantastic Amarone Riserva with 4 years of wood aging!

De Grote Hamersma on this red wine: “Amarone with quite a few years under its belt. They can handle good things well. This is one of them. Amarone. Blockbuster wine for gourmets. Connoisseurs who enjoy a bit of a rough-and-tumble. Late-harvested grapes are laid out on mats to dry until the end of March. Eventually, a wine can be made from them with more concentration, power, and – watch out for open flames – alcohol. 16 percent this year. In short, an Italian grape powerhouse fueled by a delicious biomass of corvina, corvinone and rondinella.

Lots of aroma and flavor. Often you have to spoon them down. But that is not the case here. Think of sweet cherries, milk chocolate, nuts, liqueur, currants, sautéed mushrooms, a hint of tobacco, figs, and raisins. Plus surprisingly light-footed acidity that makes it a refined presence. An Amarone with high drinkability. You don't come across that often.

Le Ragose Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva DOCG – one of the best Amarone wines!

This Le Ragose Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva DOCG is a top wine from the Valpolicella region in VenetoA wonderful wine region near Verona. What makes it special is that the grapes are dried before being pressed. This results in very concentrated wines with a beautifully complex flavor. Amarone wines that are also very accessible and soft in taste. Only the best grapes from the vineyard are used for this wine.

Concentrated aromas of roses, cherry, raspberries, and licorice. A fantastically intense flavor and beautifully aged. Ready to drink now, but can age for many more years. Received an impressive 93 points from the Wine Enthusiast.

The Amarone wines are very special, but unfortunately not the cheapest. You can read why below:

The location of the Amarone houses

The Valpolicella region, where Amarone originates, covers only about 6,000 hectares, with more than 2,400 hectares dedicated to 1,200 grape varieties specific to Amarone. By comparison, Bordeaux in France covers more than 100,000 hectares. Demand is high on the world market, and scarcity therefore drives up the price.

A very intensive vinification process

For Amarone wines, the best grape bunches from the oldest vines are selected. These are also harvested somewhat later, normally around mid-October, to ensure they are ripe enough. Subsequently, the grapes are dried throughout the winter on mats or in crates until only small raisins remain. Sometimes the grape bunches are hung to dry on small racks. This method is called Appassimento.

During this period, ranging from 60 to 120 days, the grapes lose 30 to 40% of their weight. This results in intensely concentrated grapes with a very high sugar content, which ensures that after vinification, the alcohol percentage is often more than 15%.

Long fermentation and maturation

To make a bottle of Amarone, you need at least twice as many grapes as for a regular bottle of red wine. In addition, the entire harvest must be laid out to dry in large barns for months. But that is not the end of it. After pressing, a fermentation of 1 to 2 months follows, and an aging period of about 3 to 6 years in oak barrels. Slovenian oak barrels of 35 hectoliters are often used. The Amarone then usually ages in the bottle for at least another year before being sold.

Le Ragose Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG with the meal

This wine is delicious with lamb and game. Find your moment to meditatively enjoy this precious and complex wine treasure.