“La Mattonara” Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva DOC 2011

Az. Agr. Zýmē di Celestino Gaspari | Veneto
Az. Agr. Zýmē di Celestino Gaspari s.a.s. | Via Cà del Pipa, 1 | IT 37029 S. Pietro in Cariano

03372611 · 0,75 l · 532,00 €/l · Price (DE) incl. VAT, excl. Shipping< 24 units available
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The Cantina Zýmē was built into a 15th century sandstone grotto – the tunnel where the mattoni were once quarried, which gave Verona's churches and villas their walls. Celestino Gaspari has dedicated his best wine to this place: La Mattonara. The label shows a vine leaf whose veins have been replaced by the lines of a fingerprint. The inscription reads: "massima espressione di identità." The maximum expression of the self. Speaking of wine – and of a person at the same time. La Mattonara is only created in exceptional years.

The grapes – corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella, Oseleta and Croatina – come from the estate's oldest vineyards. Harvested at the end of September, the appassimento begins: three months of natural drying in the sandstone cave, without dehumidifiers or forced ventilation. Only the natural draught of the cave, the season and the time. Pressing in January. Then vinification rigorously according to the old method: fermentation in cement vats on the skins, with indigenous yeasts, at natural temperatures, for at least two months. The first racking is followed by nine years of ageing in large and medium-sized Slavonian oak barrels – the wine is bottled in its tenth year. The long ageing process further reduces the residual sugar and brings that dry depth that makes Amarone what it can be in its highest form.

2011 was an exceptional year for Valpolicella Classico – warm, clean, with a phenolic ripeness that only a few vintages achieve. Intense ruby-garnet colour, bright and deep. On the nose, dried cherry, marasca, slightly cooked plum, balsamic, pepper, spices – broad and complex, with the characteristic sweetness of Appassimento, which is not sugar but concentration. Enveloping and powerful on the palate, with a silky-textured tannin that carries rather than demands, a freshness that disciplines the alcohol, and a final that stretches and stretches. Not a wine for an evening. A wine for a night. SUPERIORE.DE