2015 Guerrieri Rizzardi Calcarole Riserva Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 750 ml

Every wine has its moment. 

The 2015 Guerrieri Rizzardi Calcarole Riserva’s is right now.

A hauntingly beautiful, incredibly concentrated Amarone that’s produced in tiny quantities only in the finest vintages, this wine is in a perfect place for drinking this winter. 

“This is opulent and rich, like crushed velvet on the palate,” raved Ian D’Agata of Vinous. Perfumed with candied violets and jammy plum, displaying showstopping complexity and intensity, it’s the most recent edition of the first-ever Amarone to secure Best Red Wine of Italy honors from Gambero Rosso.

This wine showcases the estate’s terraced Calcarole Vineyard, which sits 230 meters above sea level in the prestigious Negrar area of Valpolicella Classico. Harvested by hand from mature, low-yielding vines, the grapes are dried and pressed, then the wine spends an incredible four years in barrel before bottling. 

Amarone is a singular wine, made from a unique process that results in intense, concentrated reds with incredible longevity and an inimitable potpourri of flavors. Unlike most red wines, the grapes behind Amarone don’t go instantly from the fields to the cellar: Instead, they’re painstakingly dried—bunch by bunch—over the course of three months. 

As the grapes’ water content evaporates, simple red-berry fruits get transformed into intricate—but delicious—aromas and flavors. Fermentation takes an entire month, allowing an incredible depth of flavor to develop alongside an abundantly rich texture. The aging that follows is likewise slow, lending Amarone spicy, oak-driven complexity across the palate. 

Now, seven years after harvest, we can't think of anything better to have with braised meat or beside a crackling fire than this rich, noble red. It’s a special bottle for serious connoisseurs.