Allegrini Fieramonte Amarone Classico Riserva 2015

One of two Allegrini wines making their debut on the Place de Bordeaux this year. From an 8ha vineyard at 415m. Richly scented on the nose with a beautiful nuance to the dark fruits, floral scents and sweet spices, all melding together. The texture is so appealing, rich yet smooth and silky, dominating the palate with the flavours of stewed blackcurrants, coffee beans, orange rind, slightly bitter medicinal herbs, juicy balsamic peppery fruit and a beguiling saltiness. It's enveloping in the best way, but still juicy and lively, really leaves a lingering impression on the palate, an absolute lifeforce. Tannins are on the chewy and grippy side, coating the mouth and tongue but the presentation of the flavours is so precise and detailed. This is amazingly good with excellent freshness throughout. 5% Oseleta completes the blend. Ageing 48 months in French oak barriques, 6 months in Slavonian oak. First vintage was 2011 with no 2014 made.

An excellent vintage to mark the first time on the Place for this Amarone, from a 420m altitude site on la Grola hill in Valpolicella. Dried herbs, cloves, sweet spices, and clear savoury mid palate, grilled coffee bean, and a clear bitter edge to the tannins as they build through the palate, giving a savoury finish. Give it a few minutes, and the bitter edge disipates and in its place you get a generous, richly spiced plum and Chinese spices, just so good - a complex layering of flavours to sink into. This is not always an easy style of wine to approach, and certainly it's a niche market, but this is just a stunning wine, and should be sought out by anyone looking to understand why Amarone inspires such fervour. Inevitably the winemaking (long ageing) and the style of grape (dry hanging) mark the flavours, but there is site specific character here also. Ageing in barrel, then 18 months in vat and two years in bottle.

The 2015 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva Fieramonte is totally captivating, with a mentholated bouquet that mixes cedar spice box with cloves, dried blood orange and cinnamon-dusted black cherries. This envelopes the palate, elegant and seamlessly silky, as a core of racy acidity perfectly balances a dense wave of ripe red fruits. It lingers impossibly long, with framing tannins that punctuate the wine nicely without slowing its momentum. The 2015 Fieramonte is gorgeous today but also packed full of potential. What's more, there's no shame in bringing this beautifully sculpted Amarone to the dinner table.

Plush and opulent, with a creamy chocolate edge to the concentrated minty blackberries, dark walnuts, mussels and pine cones. Rich, broad and full-bodied with lots of oak now, but still very fresh and tangy. Lots of fine-grained tannins tuck up the dark fruit and the sweet spices into a lengthy finish. Needs some time for the oak to settle more. Drink from 2024.