Allegrini Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 2019

Amarone is one of Italy's most dramatic wines. The grapes are picked and then dried on straw mats for months — sometimes into winter — concentrating sugars, flavors, and intensity before fermentation even begins. The result is unlike anything else in the wine world. Allegrini does it with more finesse than most. Dried figs, plums, currants on the nose. Rich desiccated fruit on the palate but — and this is the key — vibrant acidity keeps it from becoming cloying. The tannins are polished and integrated from extensive barrel aging. Yes, it is 16% alcohol. No, you do not taste it. It is managed. This is the wine for steak night in January. Big, bold, unapologetically rich. If your cellar does not have an Amarone in it, it has a gap. Allegrini is the one that fills it without requiring a sommelier certification to appreciate.