98
James Suckling - Jamessuckling.com
"This is powerful and very rich with blueberries, flowers and hints of spices. Full body with velvety tannins and ripe fruits. Very beautiful and generous but not overdone. Superb. "
97 Monica Larner - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
"I'm not sure how anyone can resist a wine like the 2009 Amarone della Valpolicellla Monte Lodoletta. It would be impossible to exaggerate the enormity of this wine. Romano Dal Forno has his critics, of course: Some people find his wines exaggerated and too big to drink. They have a point, but you can not doubt the sheer quality of winemaking that goes behind this monumental wine. Dal Forno's Amarone is a message of optimism that speaks to the infinite possibilities that can be achieved with a simple fruit like the grape. The decadent and layered bouquet offers slow pulses of black fruit, tar, teriyaki, mesquite and prune. The wine wraps like a thick blanket over the palate. This beautiful bottle should be aged ten more years."
95 Antonio Galloni - Vinous
"The 2009 Amarone della Valpolicella is one of the most sexy, open-knit young Dal Forno Amarones I can remember tasting. An enticing mélange of mocha, black cherry, bittersweet chocolate and leather captivates the senses. Incredibly open today, the 2009 can be enjoyed with minimal cellaring or aged for twenty years, perhaps beyond. Although the 2009 doesn't quite reach the heights of the truly epic vintages here, it comes very close and will provide considerable pleasure sooner than many of those wines. I don't think I have ever tasted a young Dal Forno Amarone with this much allure."
Amarone differs from Valpolicella for two simple reasons.
The first concerns the duration of the drying process, which in the case of Amarone can be prolonged to three months instead of one and a half months.
The second instead refers to the age of the vines. Our company’s philosophy considers that, in order to produce Amarone, only the grapes that are harvested from vines which are older than ten years can be used. The younger vines are therefore only used in the production of Valpolicella.
Not with standing these two differences and other small variations with regards to the percentage of the different grapes used, it can be said that these two wines are almost identical, in the sense that the underlying process of their production and aging are exactly the same.
In saying this, Amarone can be distinguished from its smaller brother by its strength and elegance.
Undoubtedly the complexity of this wine is superior in respect to that of Valpolicella and has its place in the category of wines that are usually defined as “meditation wines”.
Subtle aromatic hints, that range from black cherry, blueberry to chocolate, anticipate the opulent expression of mature fruit that flows into the mouth with inadvertent persistence. Nuances of truffle, tobacco and new leather wrap around the finish.
It is a wine with undiscovered potential, but whose depth leaves one hoping that it has a very long development ahead of it.
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