What actually separates them
Before the individual bottles, it is worth understanding the division. It is not about quality, since all three sit at the top of the denomination. It is about philosophy, and that philosophy is visible in the glass.
Bertani works in the traditional register: long ageing, large old oak, restraint, wines built to be opened decades later. Dal Forno is the modern extreme: tiny yields, new barriques, extraordinary concentration, a wine that announces itself. Masi sits between them and has done more than anyone to make Amarone legible to the rest of the world.
Choosing between them is not choosing the best one. It is deciding which argument you want in your glass.
Bertani: the Amarone that ages better than you do
Opening a young Bertani is a bit like reading the last chapter first. You can, but you miss the point. Their style is built on time: long ageing in large Slavonian oak, no attempt to impress early, and a wine that at ten years is only starting.
The house releases current vintages far later than most, and older vintages remain available directly from the estate, which is unusual and worth knowing.
In the glass, expect dried cherry, tobacco, leather and an almost balsamic edge, with tannins that have long since resolved. It is the least showy of the three and, for a lot of people, the one they end up preferring.
If you want to understand what Amarone is for, buy a Bertani with twenty years on it and give it an evening.
Dal Forno Romano: when Amarone became a cult
There is a point where craft turns into something else, an almost obsessive pursuit of a single idea. Romano Dal Forno built his cellar at Cellore d'Illasi in Valpolicella exactly that way.
Everything is pushed: drying times longer than the norm, yields cut to a fraction of what the rules allow, ageing in new barriques, and a resulting wine of extraordinary density whose alcohol often passes 17 degrees. You feel it, though not as raw heat. It is not subtle and it does not intend to be.
It also costs several times what the other two do, and it is genuinely divisive. Some drinkers consider it the greatest expression of the denomination. Others find it overwhelming and prefer the traditional style at a quarter of the price.
What is not in dispute is the consistency. Dal Forno makes the same statement in every vintage, which given the variability of drying grapes is the hardest thing to do here.
Masi: the face of Amarone abroad
Masi is probably the cellar that has introduced more people to Amarone than any other. That is not hyperbole: their international distribution, the clarity of their communication and their consistency across vintages have done the work of making the category known.
The house also did the research that produced the modern Ripasso method, which shaped an entire tier of Valpolicella wine.
Their Amarone is approachable earlier than Bertani's and far less extreme than Dal Forno's, which makes it the sensible first bottle. Costasera, the widely distributed one, is the wine most readers outside Italy will actually be able to buy locally.
Which to buy for which occasion
The question we hear most is which of the three to buy. Honestly it depends on the evening, your palate and how long you are willing to wait.
A first Amarone, or a dinner where the wine should not dominate the conversation: Masi. It is available, it is consistent, and it shows what the style is without demanding anything of you.
An occasion where the bottle is the point, and you have patience: Bertani, ideally with age on it. It is the one that rewards attention rather than demanding it.
Something to argue about with someone who already knows Valpolicella: Dal Forno. Expect strong opinions in both directions, which is part of the pleasure.
Vintages to look for
Vintage matters with Amarone, arguably more than with other Italian reds, because the drying amplifies everything: a difficult summer becomes an underpowered wine, a perfect one becomes something memorable.
2015 and 2016 are the recent references, with 2016 the more classically balanced and 2015 the riper. 2011 and 2010 are drinking well now. 2007 and 2006 are mature and, from these three houses, still very much alive.
For Bertani specifically, the older the better within reason: their wines from the 1990s are still being sold and still developing, which almost nothing else in the denomination can claim.
Different starting points on the map
One thing that escapes people new to Amarone is that the three do not even begin in the same place, and in Valpolicella where your grapes grow makes a real difference.
Masi works largely in the Classica zone, the historic western valleys, where the wines tend towards elegance and perfume. Dal Forno is in Illasi, well to the east and outside the Classica zone, on soils that give more power. Bertani draws on Valpantena and the wider region, with the estate's own long tradition shaping the selection more than any single site.
None of this makes one zone better. It does explain why three producers of similar ambition arrive at wines that taste so little alike.
How to serve them
A badly served Amarone is a waste, however extraordinary the bottle. The rules are not complicated.
Serve between 16 and 18 degrees. Colder and the wine closes up; warmer and the alcohol, which is high in all of these, takes charge and buries everything else. If the bottle has been in a cellar at 12 degrees, take it out an hour before.
Decant. A young Amarone wants two hours; a mature one wants care rather than time, poured gently off any sediment shortly before drinking.
For food: braised beef, game, aged cheese, anything slow-cooked. It also works as the wine you drink on its own after the meal, in place of a spirit, which is how a lot of people in Valpolicella actually treat it.
Domande frequenti
Which of the three is best?
Wrong question, honestly. They are three different arguments: Bertani traditional and built for age, Dal Forno modern and extreme, Masi consistent and approachable. Pick by the evening you have in mind rather than by ranking.
Can I drink an Amarone as soon as I buy it?
You can, and with Masi it is entirely reasonable. Bertani and Dal Forno both reward waiting: a young bottle of either shows power without the complexity that arrives later. Decanting helps but does not replace years.
Where can I find these three outside Italy?
Masi is the easiest by a distance and is stocked across Europe. Bertani is widely distributed, including older vintages through specialists. Dal Forno is allocated and usually needs a specialist merchant. Note that the shop linked on this page ships to 41 countries, including the whole EU, the UK, Switzerland and Norway, so ordering from outside Italy is straightforward.
Is Dal Forno worth the price?
It depends what you value. You are paying for very low yields, new oak and an uncompromising method, and the wine is unmistakable. If you prefer restraint, an aged Bertani gives more pleasure per euro. Both positions are defensible.
What food goes with Amarone?
Braised beef, game, mature hard cheese, anything slow-cooked and rich. Avoid delicate dishes entirely: the wine will flatten them. It also stands alone after dinner better than most reds.