Description
MASI Amarone Costasera Riserva
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Area: Veneto
Cocoa, baked plum, toast, culinary spice and leather aromas shape the nose. Full bodied and elegant, the smooth, dense palate doles out fleshy black cherry, blackberry jam, licorice and clove while velvety tannins provide structure. It closes on an espresso note. Drink through 2027. KERIN O’KEEFE
Grape Varieties: 70% Corvina, 15% Rondinella, 10% Oseleta, 5% Molinara
Amarone is the product of a wine-making method the Ancient Romans knew called “appassimento” and involving grape drying. At the end of September or the beginning of October, the best clusters of grapes from hillside vineyards are picked and laid out on bamboo racks in special lofts equipped with the NASA “natural appassimento” control system. By the end of January the grapes had lost 35% of their original weight and have highly concentrated sugars. This time only the Corvina grapes were naturally attacked by noble rot. The processes that follow are: soft pressing; partial destalking; 45 days fermentation in large Slavonian oak barrels or stainless steel vats at low, natural temperatures; transfer into barrels of 30-40 hl where the alcoholic fermentation continues for 35 days in the presence of selected alcohol resistant yeasts; and malolactic fermentation.
Deep, opaque ruby red with purple, almost violet, tinged edges. Intense bouquet of baked fruit preserved in spirit with balsamic touches to the nose. Firm structure on the palate with soft and elegant tannins in evidence and a good dose of acidity. The intense aromas of ripe fruit already seen on the nose come back to give an attractive smoothness to the long finish. Majestic, complex and elegant wine, with great ageing potential.
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