The vineyards of Castelforte Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG Riserva 2015, from which the prized grapes are obtained, are located in three different valleys situated to the East of Verona, precisely the valley of Mezzane, Marcellise e Tregnago/Illasi, very different from each other in terms of exposure, altitude, and type of soil. It is precisely from this diversity that different varietal profiles arise, capable of making the wine rich, complex, and at the same time harmonious.
The selection of the vineyards, with an average age of about 30 years, mostly cultivated as pergola but also as guyot, is closely followed by agronomists in all seasons to bring the bunch to harvest healthy and abundant. Picked by hand with extreme care, the bunches rest in “fruttai” (large rooms with controlled temperature and humidity) for about two months, before being crushed for perfect drying and undergoing a long and slow fermentation in stainless steel vats, with continuous and delicate remontages on the skins to extract only the noblest components.
The aging takes place in large wooden barrels of French and Eastern European origin, preferred over barriques as they enhance the fruitiness more than the tannin. After the two years of aging required by the production regulations, the wine is at its peak expression, and it is here that the winemaker has the opportunity to express himself by skillfully blending different varieties and origins to obtain the maximum expressiveness of the wine itself. Then another two years of maturation in wooden barrels will pass before it is bottled.
Representing the excellence of the production of Amarone cultivated over a wide area, there are only 15,000 bottles, numbered progressively on the back label, of Amarone Riserva Docg 2015 Castelforte destined for European and overseas markets, a great vintage rewarded by a climate that created the most favorable conditions for grape cultivation and ripening.
Castelforte Amarone Riserva is a full-bodied wine that expresses great elegance and finesse, with prominent aromas of ripe red fruits such as sour cherry and morello cherry in spirit, plum jam combined with spicy notes of cinnamon. On the palate, hints of licorice and bitter cocoa are accompanied by an extremely pleasant tannin that caresses the palate.
“Castelforte Amarone Riserva is the flagship of our production, – comments the General Manager of Cantine Riondo Gianfranco Gambesi – we are proud to present the best interpretation of Castelforte Amarone, the result of our constant pursuit of elegance, fidelity to the varietal profile, and enhancement of the natural expression of the fruit in this great wine.”
CANTINE RIONDO SPA
Wholly owned by the cooperative Collis Veneto Wine Group, Cantine Riondo was founded in 2008 as a company dedicated to the marketing of wines produced by Collis, with grapes supplied by Cantine dei Colli Berici and Cantina di Colognola ai Colli, first-level cooperatives. The organizational model proved immediately successful and led the company to reach important milestones within a few years. It distributes through ho.re.ca and GDO channels in Italy and worldwide with six brands that identify different varietal lines of the best Venetian Doc and IGT production.
