Amarone della Valpolicella "La Stropa"

2012
Italy
Veneto

50% Corvina/20% Corvinone/20% Rondinella/10% Molinara & Dindarella. While DOCG law allows the use up to half of a harvest for the vaunted Amarone appellation, Monte dall'Ora keeps it to 15-20% at most. The fruit for the Amarone comes from the home vineyard--the same, terraced, certified-biodynamic vines that produce their Saseti and Saustò wines--but from the oldest vines, which are around 50 years old and actually harvested earlier than those for the other wines (grape health and acidity are crucial for the best final result).

The bunches are laid out in single layers in small, slatted, wooden boxes that are stacked in the open-sided fruttaio next to the house/cellar. The drying process lasts around 4 months in this well-ventilated, cool space. The fruit is then destemmed, gently crushed and dropped by gravity into low-sided, open-topped oak vats. Fermentation is entirely spontaneous and takes 30 to 40 days with daily foot-treading; it goes to near-total dryness (1-2 grams maximum of residual sugar). The wine is aged in a 25-hectoliter botte for 3 years, followed by 2.5 more years in bottle. It is named for the stropa or "switch" from the native weeping willow, used historically in Valpolicella and by Monte dall'Ora to tie vines to their pergolas; each wax-capped bottle is adorned with an actual stropa as well. 

96 points
"The 2012 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Stropa is dark and imposing in the glass, smoldering up with a mix of cherry and plum sauces, cloves, dried roses and ashen stone. It impresses further, with fleshy, enveloping textures that usher in masses of red and black berries, dark chocolate and a contrasting twang of sour citrus, all under an air of sweet tobacco. With one of the most vivid nuances of mocha that I’ve ever experienced in a wine, this lingers on, mixing with brown spice and hints of blood orange. The 2012 is so layered and deep, full of character and savory to the core; in fact, this is only one-two grams of residual sugar per liter. Fans of the more serious styles of Amarone will absolutely love this wine; I know I do."
Eric Guido,
Vinous Media
January 2022

SKU/Code: 
DB1012-12
Product Line: 
Wine
Red
Varietal: 
Corvina blend
Farming Type: 
Biodynamic