wine review: Tenuta Santa Maria Valverde Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG 2019 (barrel sample) – another highlight of Anteprima Amarone

Verona, Italy

February 2024

Discovering new wines that excite you is a wonderful feeling. Here’s one of those wines I discovered at Anteprima Amarone in Verona earlier this year. Take note and mark your calendars for a few years from now when the 2019 vintage hits the shelves.

Matt’s review: Tenuta Santa Maria Valverde Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG 2019 (barrel sample, expected market release in 2029) – this small boutique winery produces 4000 individually numbered bottles of Amarone each vintage. Grapes are sourced from their high-altitude vineyards in the Classico region, at 500m elevation making them some of the highest in all of Valpolicella. Ruby with a garnet hue, this is an exceptionally expressive and well structured wine. The nose shows dried dark fruit, spice, balsamic and herbal notes. The palate reveals layers of dark fruit, savoury and meaty characteristics, it’s fresh and textured with youthful albeit integrated tannins which the winemaker envisions all reaching the right level of integration in 5 years for a 2029 planned release. A stunning expression of Cru Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG, structured for long-term bottle aging. Enjoy 2029-2050+. Tasted February 2024. 95+ Matt Steeves – http://www.quercusvino.ca