Speri Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Monte Sant'Urbano DOCG 2018
(Veneto, Italy) - [VM 94] [JS 94]
Regular price $100.00 Sale price $89.97 Save $10.03
6-PACK PRICE = $85.97 per item (add 6+ quantity to your basket)
12-PACK PRICE = $79.97 per item (add 12+ quantity to your basket)
About the Winery:
"There's an exotic flair to the 2018 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Sant'Urbano as foreign spices, dusty dried roses, red currants and blood orange hints form its bouquet. This is supple and enveloping with stimulating acidity that adds an energetic feel, as tart cherry and raspberry fruits drench the palate. Its minerality comes through in the finish, almost salty in character as grippy tannins saturate, yet the wine remains amazingly fresh. The 2018 is wonderfully balanced and potent, a total success for the vintage." - Eric Guido (Mar 2023)
94 Points - James Suckling:
"Dark cherries, blackberries, mussels, licorice, figs and some finely ground black chocolate, following through to a medium-to full-bodied palate with elegant berries and a bittersweet black-chocolate note. A refined, textbook Amarone that shows great poise and modern drinkability. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold." (Jul 2022)
The Speri family has been making wine in the Valpolicella Classico appellation since the early nineteenth century, deeply focusing on preserving the local heritage and highlighting the unique terroir, cultivating only native Valpolicella clones and epitomizing the most authentic expression of the appellation. Every one of the Speri vineyards is in the Classico area and total 60 hectares (148 acres), in the finest districts: Fumane, Negrar, and San Pietro in Cariano. And the estate-owned vineyards themselves are divided into distinct crus: La Roverina, SantUrbano and La Roggia.
About this Wine:
Speri Amarone is made from Corvina, Rondinella, and Corvinone, grown in the estates most prestigious cru, a single hillside vineyard called SantUrbano. This vineyard features calcareous-cretaceous soil of volcanic origin that retains humidity, protecting it from drought. The whole vineyard extends 19 hectares.
The grapes are hand-picked and then re-sorted to find only the best bunches in late September. They then dry for about 100-120 days under ideal conditions in terms of temperature, humidity and ventilation. They lose about 41% of their initial weight, enhancing concentration and sugar levels. In mid-January, the grapes are soft-pressed and de-stemmed. This is followed by about thirty-six days of maceration on the skins with periodic pumping over and dlestage. The wine completes fermentation in large oak barrels and then ages twenty-four months in oak, eighteen months in Slavonian oak barrels and twelve months in bottle.
Very deep and intense bouquet with spicy, aromatic and jammy notes combining power and finesse; a prelude to a palate that is rich, sensuous, highly structured and complex, lingering on and on. Especially cellar-worthy.
Food Pairing:
Can be enjoyed as a meditation wine, but is excellent when paired with red meat, game, and aged cheeses
About this Wine:
Speri Amarone is made from Corvina, Rondinella, and Corvinone, grown in the estates most prestigious cru, a single hillside vineyard called SantUrbano. This vineyard features calcareous-cretaceous soil of volcanic origin that retains humidity, protecting it from drought. The whole vineyard extends 19 hectares.
The grapes are hand-picked and then re-sorted to find only the best bunches in late September. They then dry for about 100-120 days under ideal conditions in terms of temperature, humidity and ventilation. They lose about 41% of their initial weight, enhancing concentration and sugar levels. In mid-January, the grapes are soft-pressed and de-stemmed. This is followed by about thirty-six days of maceration on the skins with periodic pumping over and dlestage. The wine completes fermentation in large oak barrels and then ages twenty-four months in oak, eighteen months in Slavonian oak barrels and twelve months in bottle.
Very deep and intense bouquet with spicy, aromatic and jammy notes combining power and finesse; a prelude to a palate that is rich, sensuous, highly structured and complex, lingering on and on. Especially cellar-worthy.
Tasting Notes
Rich red color and very intense bouquet with spicy, aromatic and jammy notes combining power and finesse; a prelude to a palate that is rich, sensuous, highly structured and complex, with a lingering finish.Food Pairing:
Can be enjoyed as a meditation wine, but is excellent when paired with red meat, game, and aged cheeses
Ratings & Reviews
94 Points - Vinous Media:"There's an exotic flair to the 2018 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Sant'Urbano as foreign spices, dusty dried roses, red currants and blood orange hints form its bouquet. This is supple and enveloping with stimulating acidity that adds an energetic feel, as tart cherry and raspberry fruits drench the palate. Its minerality comes through in the finish, almost salty in character as grippy tannins saturate, yet the wine remains amazingly fresh. The 2018 is wonderfully balanced and potent, a total success for the vintage." - Eric Guido (Mar 2023)
94 Points - James Suckling:
"Dark cherries, blackberries, mussels, licorice, figs and some finely ground black chocolate, following through to a medium-to full-bodied palate with elegant berries and a bittersweet black-chocolate note. A refined, textbook Amarone that shows great poise and modern drinkability. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold." (Jul 2022)