2017 Amarone Classico, Scarnocchio, Riserva, Monte del Frà, Veneto, Italy

Another strike for elegance, despite the massive power and thrust and body that Amarone delivers. This cherry-liqueur-scented wine with its lusciously lavish rococo curls of toasted coconut cream and dark chocolate and bourbon-like spices and maple-syrup smokiness should be, to all intents and purposes, thick and hot and heavy and hard – as so many Amarone are. 

Instead, it comes with staggering fragrance and balance, every component beautifully harmonious and melded. Panther-like in its supple, fluid, sinuous grace. The sweetness-and-oak complexity of a port with the finesse of burgundy. I don't know of any other Amarone producer who is achieving this. 

The freshness that classic blood-orange note – cool, citrus-lifted, raspberry sharp, zested sweet-bitterness) that seems to define all these Monte del Frà reds persists, even in a 15.5% wine with plenty of oak.

Drink 2022 - 2032

This has a raisiny nose, with aromas of dried cherries, dark plums, chocolate and dry earth. Hints of spices, hibiscus and dried herbs, too. Medium-to full-bodied with firm tannins and vivid acidity. Tight and muscular. Intense flavors and a lingering finish. Better to give it a year or two, to integrate the oak and soften the tannins.

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