SUPERIOR WINE ALERT:

Today’s selection is a delicious example of one of they most unique wines of Italy, which also happens to be Agent White’s most favorite styles. If you haven’t had a chance to explore the great wine that is Amarone, today’s selection is a perfect introduction.

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Mission Codename: Amo Amarone

Operative: Agent White

Objective: Return to our friends at Nicolis and acquire their next great Amarone vintage.

Mission Status: Accomplished!

Current Winery: Agricola Nicolis Angelo e Figli

Wine Subject: Amarone della Valpolicella Classico D.O.C.

Winemaker: Giuseppe Nicolis

Backgrounder:

Amarone della Valpolicella is one of the most unique wines in all of Italy. Made in Italy’s northeast Veneto region and specifically in the Valpolicella DOC (near Verona), Amarone is made with grapes that are dried for several months on straw mats in the lofts above the farm houses or barns at the winery before being pressed and fermented. The dried fruit has a higher residual sugar which is mostly fermented away. This results in a dry wine of tremendous depth and intensity; in addition to a generally higher alcohol content.

Amarone is usually a blend of Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara. On occasion, other varietals are blended into the mix. Amarone is aged for two years in oak barriques before being aged further in the bottle. These wines have a long life, with most Amarone showing its best character many years after their release. Flavors and aromas of complex dried fruit, chocolate and spice linger and meld with its distinct texture.

Wine Spies Tasting Profile:

Look – Beautiful deep purple with ruby and violet reflections through its clear but dense core. Deep ruby along the edges and when swirled clusters of medium-thick color laden legs sink to the wine below.

Smell – Bold and rich with complex aromas of sweet red and black cherry, blackberry and a touch of dried plum. As you spend time with this immensely complex wine layers of sweet tobacco, soft oak, dark chocolate along with sweet spice and hints of licorice emerge.

Feel – This sturdily structured full-bodied wine is smooth dry and warm on the palate with an expansive and sublime texture that lasts long into the finish. Finely grained tannins and vibrant acidity holds everything together as the dark powdered minerality lingers on the palate.

Taste – Rich flavors of dark red and black cherry along with blackberry and spiced dried plum mingle with bittersweet dark chocolate and sweet spices. Notes of sweet cigar tobacco, toasted oak, hints of hot spice, and a roast nut component also make an appearance.

Finish – This wines texture lingers on the palate for several minutes as the red and black cherry fruit fades softly leaving behind soft notes of spice, toasted oak and this wines other complex flavors, drying the tongue and inviting another sip.

Conclusion – The 2005 Nicolis Amarone della Valpolicella Classico D.O.C. is a remarkable wine, comparable in character and quality to the 2004 vintage but with a fresher and riper fruit profile. Great complexity and a smooth and warm feel that lasts and lasts (until you’ve polished off the entire bottle) so take your time with this beauty (let breathe for at least one hour or decant) and you’ll be handsomely rewarded. I’d say pair this wine with rich game meats, but we contemplatively enjoyed this wine all by itself

Mission Report:

WINEMAKER INTEL BRIEFING INTERVIEW

SUBJECT: Giuseppe Nicolis

AGENT WHITE: Greetings, Giuseppe. We are thrilled to be showing your Amarone Classico 2005 today – we loved your 2004 vintage and this one is very impressive as well. Thanks so much for taking some time to answer questions for our Operatives today.

GIUSEPPE: My pleasure – this Amarone is a great wine to be featured on your site

WHITE: Was there a specific experience in your life that inspired your love of wine?

GIUSEPPE: My family has always being producing wine and since 1951 we started it as a business. So actually I grew up in the vines and in the wine cellar together with my brothers, and in our region it is quite common to grow up with a great love to land, to our area and for the typical and indigenous tastes, passed on from fathers to sons.

WHITE: What wine or winemaker has most influenced your winemaking style?

GIUSEPPE: Not in particular, we always try to give back in the wine the maximum that our indigenous grape varieties can give as expression of the Terroir. Anyway all experiences I had with different winemakers, you learn something of, and they are all important.

WHITE: Who do you make wine for?

GIUSEPPE: Basically myself: first of all I have to be satisfied with the quality, otherwise, if the harvest was not so good, I prefer to skip the vintage and not come out with a product I am not satisfied of (we skipped the 1999 and the 2002 harvest). Of course if other people would not like our wines, me and my family would have a hard time, so of course you always produce as well hoping that the consumers will appreciate it. Don’t forget, I am myself a consumer!

WHITE: Please tell me a little bit about the wine we are featuring today.

GIUSEPPE: First of all, you don’t have to forget that Amarone is one of the few red-wines in the world where there is a real reason for its price, which is not the marketing. Too often people don’t know or forget, that we are in front of a wine produced with dried grapes and the juice coming out from there is really a lot less than if you produce with fresh grapes.

2005 was a great Vintage, but for Amarone not only the harvest is important, but as well the autumn- and winter time, when the grapes are put for natural drying for at least 3 month, it is important that the climate is dry and even best if we have a good temperature excursion between day and night. All conditions that in 2005 where favourable. So the Amarone Classico Nicolis 2005, was produced with very good and healthy natural withered grapes, which gave to the wine an extraordinary structure and poliphenols.

I especially like the balance between the powerful structure and at the same time the elegance in this Amarone, which keeps its great fruit and freshness, perfectly in accordance with the body.

WHITE: What is your favorite pairing with today’s wine?

GIUSEPPE: No doubts, if I am alone, I love staying hours and hours smelling the different evolution of flavours coming out of the glass. You can leave it very long and you’ll always get different impressions as the time goes by. But even nicer is if you share it with friends and then I would serve some strong meat dishes, or game. Or after dinner as dessert with some long seasoned cheese, to close the day in perfect harmony.

WHITE: In your opinion, what makes the VALPOLICELLA so special?

GIUSEPPE: Valpolicella has its indigenous grape varieties, which have no equals. Only here Corvina, Rondinella, Molinara, Croatina… grow in this way and give this results to the wine. If you would plant them just 15 km away from this area, you’ll get out something completely different. That is the great reason why I prefer the use of big oak barrels as i did on the Amarone Classico Nicolis 2004, 30 month ageing only in big oak barrels (7-15-20 hl ), which keep the fruit and the typically of those wines. I find no reason in overloading those wines with the use of small “barrique”, which would give a stronger oaky touch and probably cover the typical and unique taste of Valpolicella. As you may know, we are not completely against Barrique, as we use it partially in our other Amarone : AMBROSAN, which has more structure and alcohol and can support the little bit more oak and spicy.

WHITE: What is occupying your time at the winery these days?

GIUSEPPE: Right now I am “taking care of my babies” I am checking that the wines that are actually in the oak barrels are “growing” ageing as I expect them to, and then slowly we all will get ready for harvest.

WHITE: How would you recommend people approach your wines and wine in general?

GIUSEPPE: You should not get scared from some “big words” used in speaking of wine, if you drink wine from serious quality producers, which you can as well find with a very good price-quality ratio, you’ll see that you can enjoy them even for everyday lunch. Take our simple Valpolicella for example, as well in summer time when it is hot, you’ll enjoy it served a bit chilled, to spaghetti or pizza. Just use always your own senses, your taste is unique and subjective, but only you can decide if you like this or that wine. The only way you can get experience in knowing wines, is to taste them.

WHITE: Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?

GIUSEPPE: I think I have already said everything answering the previous question. All there is to do now is enjoy this great wine!

WHITE: Thank you so much for your time. We learned a lot about you and your wine. Keep up the great work, we are big fans!

Wine Spies Vineyard Check:

 
The approximate location of the Agricola Nicolis Angelo e Figli can be seen in this satellite photo.