Wines of Veneto

I recently received a phone call from a friend of mine who imports Italian wine in Manhatten. He told me to purchase the 2000 Bertani Amarone. Bertani feels this could be even better than the 1990 Amarone, which was outstanding. You don’t have to tell me twice, I absolutely love Amarone, as a matter of fact, I’ve listed several houses in my top twenty list of wineries, Bertani being one of them, along with Allegrini and Masi. I’ve had the distinct pleasure of visiting all three of them, it’s amazing how each winery has their own special technique and twist on producing their Amarone. Masi and Bertani both tend to use more traditional methods to produce their’s, while Allegrini uses a more modern approach. The end result is the same, all three produce wines that are among the top Amarones available.While all three of these wineries are famous for their Amarone, the reality is these wines tend to be pricey, especially with the exchange rate of the euro. This has brought some of the lesser known wines to the forefront. One particular wine that is affordable for everyday drinking is the Allegrini, Palazzo della Torre IGT Veronese, this is the Veronese version of a Super Tuscan. When making a Valpollicella or a wine like Palazzo, the traditional method would be for the wine to undergo a second fermentation on the skins left over from the Amarone. Allegrini using a more modern approach to winemaking, takes 30% of the grapes and drys them like Amarone and ferments them seperately and then blends them with the rest of the wine. In traditional Amarone, the grapes used are Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara (which is usually about 5% ), Allegrini uses 5% Sangiovese in the Palazzo instead of Molinara, which tends to soften the wine and make it more palatable at a younger age. I remember when I first started drinking Italian wine, it was in a straw bottle and honestly, it wasn’t very good. Today, the wines being produced are world class, and the varieties available are too numerous to count. I think it’s exciting to try new wines, it doesn’t matter what your preference, today Italy is producing the major varietals with great success. So don’t be shy, drink up and enjoy.