What you actually taste in the glass
On the nose, a classic Amarone is intense, almost opulent: morello cherry in spirit, ripe plum, cocoa, tobacco, sometimes a thread of espresso or black pepper. It is not a delicate perfume. It is a firm handshake that tells you immediately this is not an ordinary glass of red.
On the palate things get more interesting. The alcohol is high - the production rules do not allow an Amarone below 14 degrees, and 15 or 16 is common in bottle - but it does not burn, because a serious tannic structure and a surprisingly lively acidity hold it in check. That bitter edge, which gives the wine its name (from the Greek amaros, bitter), is the signature: it cleans the palate and pulls you back for another sip.
The finish is long. Not ten seconds: a good Amarone stays with you for thirty or forty seconds, sometimes longer. That persistence is what separates it from a wine that is merely powerful. If you want a concrete sense of how it sits alongside its more accessible neighbour, our comparison of Amarone vs Ripasso makes the price difference easy to understand.
One thing we notice whenever we open a bottle with people who are new to it: Amarone divides opinion at the first sip. Those who love it find it enveloping, almost meditative. Those not used to wines of this weight find it heavy. Both reactions are fair. Knowing when and how to drink it makes all the difference.
How Amarone is made: appassimento is the whole story
Amarone is the product of a technique that has few real parallels anywhere: appassimento, the controlled drying of harvested grapes. The varieties used - mainly Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella - are picked at the end of September, then laid out on bamboo racks or ventilated crates in purpose-built drying lofts.
They stay there for roughly three to four months, through January or February, losing between 30 and 40 percent of their weight in water. What remains is an extraordinary concentration of sugars and aromatics. When these dried grapes are pressed, the must is so sugar-rich that fermentation becomes a technical challenge: the yeast struggles to convert everything, and the result is a wine with high alcohol but also a small residue of unfermented sugar - the sweetness you sense beneath the bitterness.
The real risk during drying is Botrytis cinerea, grey mould. Producers fight it with constant airflow and obsessive humidity control. This is not something you improvise: it takes years of experience and the right infrastructure, which is one reason Amarone comes almost exclusively from estates with a serious track record.
After fermentation, the ageing is long. The production code requires a minimum of two years in wood, but many producers run to four, five or six years between large oak casks and bottle ageing. It is a wine that demands patience, and the price reflects that.
Three zones, three characters: not all Amarone tastes the same
The Valpolicella is a hilly area west of Verona, between Lake Garda and the city. It is not uniform territory: the different valleys produce wines with distinct personalities, and those differences show up in the glass.
Valpolicella Classica is the historic heart - the valleys of Negrar, Marano, Fumane, Sant'Ambrogio and San Pietro in Cariano. Soils are mainly limestone and clay; many vineyards are terraced at between 200 and 500 metres. Amarone from this zone tends toward elegance and finesse, with sharper acidity and more refined tannins. Allegrini, Quintarelli and Bertani all come from here. If you want to understand one of the most representative producers in depth, our Allegrini review is a good place to start.
Valpolicella Est, covering Illasi and Mezzane, is a more recent addition but a worthwhile one. Volcanic soils give the wines a different kind of mineral quality, and they are often fresher despite the structural weight. Tedeschi and Tommasi work here with consistently strong results.
The Valpantena, the valley closest to Verona, produces wines that are generally more approachable and less austere. There are quality producers, but the style is noticeably different from the Classica.
Learning to read these differences is one of the practical pleasures that comes with exploring the wines of Veneto: every label starts to tell you something specific about where it came from.
When to open a bottle: timing is not a small thing
A young Amarone - say, within five years of the vintage - is often closed and almost sullen. The tannins are tight, the fruit is under pressure, the alcohol reads more aggressively. It is not necessarily bad wine, but you are not drinking it at its best. It is like listening to a symphony from backstage while the orchestra warms up.
For most Amarone, the sweet spot is somewhere between eight and fifteen years from the vintage. In that window the wine opens up: tannins soften, the fruit shifts toward tertiary notes of leather, tobacco, dried mushroom and warm spice. The alcohol integrates and the finish stretches out further. When we taste Amarone that has just come to market, we often tell people to wait another three or four years before opening it.
If you need to open a bottle early - a gift, an occasion that will not wait - use a decanter. Not for five minutes: at least two hours. The aeration genuinely helps, and you will see the wine change in the glass over the course of the evening. Try a sip straight after pouring and then again an hour later; they taste almost like different wines.
The great vintages - covered in the next section - hold for twenty years or more. If you have a bottle from an exceptional year in the 1990s or early 2000s sitting in your cellar, you may be holding something worth waiting for. Before you pull the cork, check how that vintage is tracking on a specialist platform: it will tell you whether the wine is already at its peak or can still wait.
Vintages worth knowing: the harvest makes all the difference
Vintage matters more in Amarone than in most other wines. Appassimento amplifies everything, including the year-to-year variation in the fruit. A wet summer or a harvest plagued by disease can compromise the grapes before they ever reach the drying lofts.
Among the most celebrated years of the past two decades, 2015 is the one cited most often: a warm but not punishing summer, excellent ripeness, acidity intact. The 2015 Amarone is widely considered among the best of the last twenty years. The 2012 is another reference point, producing wines of serious concentration and structure. The 2011 is more divisive: very warm, very alcoholic, loved by those who want power, less so by those who prefer precision.
The 2016 and 2017 are more recent releases that are still reaching the market. Early assessments of 2016 are very encouraging. The 2017 suffered extreme drought, and the results are uneven.
Among the historic vintages, 2001, 1997 and 1990 are almost mythological for collectors. If you find a bottle from any of these years from a serious producer at a fair price - which is rare - it is almost always worth it. Our regularly updated selection of the best Amarone currently available is on this dedicated page if you want a practical starting point.
What to eat with it: food that can hold its own
Amarone is not an easy wine to match with food, and there is no point pretending otherwise. Its weight needs ingredients with equally strong character - otherwise the wine flattens everything on the plate. When the pairing works, though, it is the kind of meal you remember.
The great classic is game: wild boar braised low and slow, venison, hare. The fat in the meat, the spice in the marinade, the length of flavour - all of it holds against the wine's structure and creates a genuine back-and-forth. A beef braise, particularly one made with Amarone or Ripasso, is equally good.
Aged, assertive cheeses work well too: Parmigiano Reggiano that has been in the cave for 36 months, aged Pecorino di Pienza, Asiago d'allevo. Not fresh cheeses - they disappear. Blue cheeses are a separate chapter: the salt and fat of a Gorgonzola can balance the tannins in a way that surprises people, though it is not for every palate.
A less obvious pairing we have come back to more than once: dark chocolate above 70 percent cacao. Not as dessert, more as contemplation. A square of bitter chocolate and a sip of Amarone: the cocoa notes and the bitter persistence mirror each other almost exactly.
What to avoid: fish, delicate vegetables, cream-based dishes. And risotto alla milanese? Only if it is very rich and deeply flavoured - otherwise the wine simply takes over.
What Amarone costs and how to buy it
Amarone is an expensive wine, and the reasons are specific. Production costs are high: appassimento requires space, energy, constant labour, and the risk of losing the crop to mould is real every single year. Then there are years of ageing that tie up capital before a single bottle leaves the cellar.
A reliable entry-level Amarone from a serious producer starts at around 25 to 35 euro. Mid-range bottles from established names sit between 40 and 70 euro. The top reserves from the historic houses - Quintarelli, Dal Forno Romano, Masi Campolongo - reach 150, 200 euro and beyond.
For online buying, specialist wine platforms often carry older vintages that are already at a good drinking point and make it easy to compare prices across producers. A broad selection with detailed producer notes helps if you are not yet familiar with the names.
One practical suggestion: if you want to explore Amarone without committing a lot of money immediately, look for the Classico label from a serious producer rather than a flashy unknown brand. An Amarone Classico from Allegrini or Zenato at 35 euro will give you more satisfaction than an eye-catching bottle from a dubious source at 50. The zone and the producer's name tell you far more than the label design does.
Producers worth following: where to find the real thing
The Valpolicella has a lot of producers, but the gap between the best and the rest is wide. Here are the names we follow most closely, grouped by style.
For elegance and a traditional hand: Allegrini is a reliable reference point, producing an Amarone that is consistent vintage to vintage and more approachable young than most. Bertani makes an austere wine, almost anachronistic in the best sense - built to last for decades. Masi is probably the most recognised name outside Italy, with wines like Costasera and Campolongo di Torbe that represent the territory clearly.
For concentration and weight: Romano Dal Forno is the name many reach for first - his Amarone wines are massive, almost monumental, and the prices reflect that standing. Quintarelli, now run by the family after the death of Giuseppe, produces cult wines with very long ageing and very limited availability.
For quality at a less publicised price: Tedeschi, Zenato, Brigaldara and Viviani are producers making serious Amarone at prices below the big names, largely because their reputations have not yet attracted the premium that fame brings. When we run vertical tastings, these are often the producers we start with - they make for compelling comparisons, and the results consistently surprise people who do not know them yet.
Domande frequenti
What is the difference between Amarone and Ripasso della Valpolicella?
Ripasso is made by re-fermenting the base Valpolicella wine on the grape skins left over from Amarone production. The wine picks up structure and complexity without going through the full drying process. The result is more accessible, lower in alcohol and less concentrated, but it has real character. Amarone, by contrast, starts entirely from dried grapes: a completely different process, longer, costlier, and the wine it produces is in a different category for structure and ageing potential.
How long can you keep a bottle of Amarone?
A good Amarone from a solid producer and a decent vintage holds comfortably for 15 to 25 years, sometimes longer. The top reserves from producers like Dal Forno or Quintarelli are made to last for decades. Storage matters: a cellar at a constant 12 to 16 degrees, bottles lying horizontal, away from light. In those conditions the wine genuinely improves over time.
Does Amarone need to be decanted?
Almost always, yes. Young wines up to 8 to 10 years old benefit from long decanting - two hours is not excessive. Older bottles need more care: pour gently about an hour before serving, because the more delicate aromas in a very mature wine can dissipate quickly once exposed to air. The practical test: taste a small sip immediately after opening and decide from there how much time it needs.
Can I drink Amarone on its own, without food?
Absolutely - it is one of the settings where it shows best. An Amarone with ten years on it, opened at the end of an evening with a square of dark chocolate or a Tuscan cigar, is a complete experience on its own terms. It does not need food to express itself. It is the kind of wine that asks you to slow down and pay attention.
How do I know whether an Amarone is ready to drink or needs more time?
Start with the vintage. If it was released less than five years ago, it probably wants a few more years in the cellar. Between 6 and 10 years, open one after a long decant and see how it behaves. Tannins still dry and the fruit shut down? Wait. If the tannins have gone silky and the nose has opened onto tertiary notes — leather, tobacco, spice — you are there.