2009 Garbole Hatteso, Amarone della Valpolicella Riserva

Three bottles available. Tiny, numbered production.

Hatteso is Garbole's Amarone, and it is made with the same disregard for the middle of the road as everything else the Finetto brothers do: a long appassimento, years in new oak barriques rather than the large casks most of the zone uses, and a release only when they think it is ready.

Where Garbole comes from

Tregnago, in the Val d'Illasi, in the eastern hills above Verona. It is cooler and drier there than in the Classico zone near Lake Garda, which lengthens the growing season and suits the drying process. Ettore and Filippo Finetto founded the estate in 1994 with no family winemaking behind them, fermented their first vintage in their grandmother's shed, and did not release a bottle commercially until 2001.

In the glass

Dense and dark. Dried cherry and plum preserve, almond, cocoa and coffee from the barrel, with the balsamic, mint-edged lift that good Amarone keeps underneath all that weight. Full-bodied and warm, with the sweetness of dried fruit rather than of sugar.

The details

• Producer: Garbole, Tregnago, Val d'Illasi, Verona
• Appellation: Amarone della Valpolicella, Riserva
• Vintage: 2009
• Grapes: Corvina Veronese and other native Veronese varieties. The producer does not publish the percentages.
• Ageing: extended appassimento, then multiple years in new oak barriques, far beyond the appellation minimum
• Format: 750ml
• Drinking window: drinking well now, with years ahead

Serving and pairing

Decant two hours ahead and serve at 64°F. Braised beef, game, risotto all'Amarone, aged Monte Veronese or Parmigiano. Amarone at this concentration also stands on its own after dinner.

Common questions

What makes this different from a supermarket Amarone?
Scale and time. Large commercial Amarone is dried for around 100 days and aged in big casks to a schedule. Garbole makes a few thousand bottles, dries far longer, and uses new barriques, which is expensive and unusual in the zone.

Is there a critic score for the 2009?
Not one we can verify. James Suckling's 94 points belongs to the 2008, not to this bottle. Buy it on the producer and the method.

We have three bottles. Cold-packed, shipped from our Florida cellar, signature required. Browse more from the Veneto.