Full Review

Centenero

Centenero
2019 1908, Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG

Pair this wine with:
Lamb Pork

Category: Veneto Amarone

Date Tasted:
Country: Italy
Alcohol: 15% RS: 1%
94 Points
Gold Medal
Exceptional
$39

Centenero
2019 1908, Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG

Pair this wine with:
Lamb Pork

Category: Veneto Amarone

Date Tasted:
Country: Italy
Alcohol: 15% RS: 1%
Indigo color. Aromas and flavors of baked cherries, blueberry pie, Alpine herbs, and chocolate mocha cream with a round, lively, full body and a warming, complex, very long finish displaying accents of baked cherries, chocolate powder, candied herbs, and fig syrup and pipe tobacco with coating, firm, well-integrated tannins and light oak flavor. A cornucopia of exotic spices and concentrated fruits both dried, ripe and baked make up this benchmark example of Amarone.

Tasting Info

Wine Glass Style: Old World
Aroma Aroma: baked cherries, blueberry pie, Alpine herbs, and chocolate mocha cream
Taste Flavor: Same as aromas with accents of baked cherries, chocolate powder, candied herbs, and fig syrup and pipe tobacco
Sweetness Sweetness: Dryish
Enjoy Enjoy: Now-3 years on its own and with food
Recipes Pairing: Peking Duck, Lamb Tagine, Souvlaki
Bottom Line Bottom Line: A cornucopia of exotic spices and concentrated fruits both dried, ripe and baked make up this benchmark example of Amarone.

The Producer

CIELO E TERRA S.P.A.

The Producer

Veneto Amarone

Wine Glass Zinfandel.jpg
Serve in a Zinfandel Wine Glass
Amarone - or more formally Amarone della Valpolicella - is a powerful red wine from Italy's Veneto region. It is made from the same grapes as Valpolicella: with Corvina and Rondinella as the principal varieties, with other grapes such as Molinara, Corvinone and Dindarella also being used.

Amarone is one of the world's most distinctive red wines because of its production method. It is made using the appassimento process, a technique in which the grapes are not fermented until after they are naturally dried in special rooms for three to four months. This air-drying cause the grapes to shrivel, as they lose about 30% of their water. This intensifies the grapes, with the resulting wines being high in alcohol, at least 15% and sometimes as much as 16%.

These wines are fermented dry; this practice began in the late 1950s; sweeter wines are labeled as Recioto.

An Amarone is full-bodied and very spicy and needs several years before it is drinkable. These wines are capable of aging for a very long time, sometimes as many as thirty-five or forty years.

Amarone must be paired with rich food; they are especially excellent with wild game, roast veal or pork or most red meats and sharp, aged cheeses.