Zeni Vigne Alte Amarone della Valpolicella 2017

Cellar for up to 20 years. No need to decant before serving.

The Zeni family have been making wine close to the eastern shore of Lake Garda since the 1870s, but it was only in the 1950s that visionary winemaker Gaetano Zeni decided to move the winery to the hills of Bardolino. Today the estate is run by his children, Fausto, Elena and Federica who look after the family’s 25 hectares as well as sourcing fruit from their local grower partners when required.

Zeni focuses closely on quality at every stage of the grape growing and winemaking process, with each parcel vinified separately to allow them to create complex expressions of Valpolicella’s greatest wines. Their Vigne Alte Amarone is one of their iconic red wines and offers tremendous value for money with a decadent dark fruit core, enticing notes of spice and dried fruit from the lengthy ageing and great ageing potential.

The fruit is all harvested by hand from the family’s hilly vineyards and left to dry out and turn into raisins over the winter. This long process concentrates both the sugars and the flavours in the grapes and is a legal requirement for all Amarone wines. Following vinification the young wine is then matured in 25 hectolitre casks for 2-4 years. This helps to fully integrate the punchy fruit flavours and firm tannins, crafting an intense yet polished red that pairs perfectly with hearty red meat dishes.