2011 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Vigneto Monte Sant’Urbano

The Speri family owns 60 hectares (148 acres) all in the Valpolicella Classica area, a rarity as most Amarone producers also own land outside of the Classico area. At Speri, they have planted mainly Corvina, Corvinone (of which they are not huge fans so they are looking to reduce its presence), Rondinella, and Molinara; the latter is viewed (quite rightly, in my opinion) as being of fundamental importance by Speri. Gianpaolo Speri likes Molinara because of its ability to give mineral, perfumed, light-bodied wines, an all-important item in the making of easier to drink, more politely-styled Amarone wines. At Speri, only five wines are made, and they’d actually like to reduce that number further in the future, with the goal to avoid confusing their customers with a bevy of different wines and names.