2006 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva Sergio Zenato

I remember my dad telling me when I was a kid that Amarone was one of the world's great wines. Just behind Barolo, in his view. Ever since then, these wines have been a source of endless fascination. In the mid and late 1990s, when Italy's top restaurants still kept well-stocked cellars of older wines, it was possible to find aged Amarone for extremely reasonable prices, making it quite fun and relatively easy to learn about the wines. Sadly, those days are long gone. Still, Amarone remains one of my favorite Italian wines. Like many consumers, I sometimes have a hard time finding the right occasion to open a bottle. When I do, I always wonder why I don't drink Amarone more often. As delicious as Amarone can be when young, the best wines also age exceptionally well. This vertical was fascinating for many reasons. The ability to chart the development of an estate is of course highly educational, but following the arc of these wines over several decades was more than once a truly emotional experience. Zenato is one of Veneto's most storied family-run estates. Sergio Zenato founded the winery in 1960. The first Amarone followed a few years later, in 1967. Sadly, Zenato passed away in 2008. Today Zenato's children Alberto and Nadia are doing terrific work across the entire range of wines. Zenato makes two Amarones, a Classico and a Riserva. Both Amarones are aged predominantly in cask. The Classico spends about three years in oak and also sees some French oak tonneaux, while the Riserva emerges from the estate's older vineyards and spends four full years in Slavonian oak casks. One of the most fascinating aspects of a tasting such as this one is having the ability to follow the evolution of a wine over several decades, which is illuminating, to say the least. Over the years, the Zenato Amarones have become bigger and richer, with higher dry extracts, but there is also a distinct house signature that runs through all the wines.

Zenato is one of the historic names in Valpolicella. The estate makes a wide range of wines, but truly excels with Amarone. A recent vertical tasting of Zenato's Amarone Riserva Sergio Zenato going back to 1980 was eye-opening for many reasons, not the least of which was seeing just how well the wines age.

Zenato is one of the historic names in Valpolicella. The estate makes a wide range of wines, but truly excels with Amarone. A recent vertical tasting of Zenato's Amarone Riserva Sergio Zenato going back to 1980 was eye-opening for many reasons, not the least of which was seeing just how well the wines age. Readers will find notes from that tasting on this site.