What's the main difference between Valpolicella and Amarone?

Wade E said:

Richard, some of us arent as super sensitive when it comes to taste buds. There are actually people called super tasters whose taste buds are extremely sensitive to stuff like this and it can be a good or a bad thing depending. These people can usually taste all this stuff but some things we like will be extremely nasty to them It is said they usually hate stuff like Broccoli and stuff like that s its very pungent to them. Usually the grapes in an Amarone are sun dried on planks.

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In Puerto Rico right now and just took a tour of the Bacardi Distillary. I tasted the 3 different unflavored drinks, 2years old, >8 yrs old and >16yrs old. They were all as expected, very good and each was different. They also allow you to smell some of the diff. ingredients. My wife found each to be diff. I could smell nothing. So maybe that's why I never smell/taste all that stuff that is supposed to be in wine. But I still love the taste of wine.
BTW They don't leave them in the sun anymore, they do it indoors away from the bugs and under lights

I'm afraid this is still not clear. If we're talking about the same grapes and both use this ripasso process involving drying out the grapes and "repassing" the juice over them to extract more flavor, what permits one to be called Valpolicella ripasso and the other to be called Amarone (and charge 3x more for it)?

dpriver said:

I'm afraid this is still not clear. If we're talking about the same grapes and both use this ripasso process involving drying out the grapes and "repassing" the juice over them to extract more flavor, what permits one to be called Valpolicella ripasso and the other to be called Amarone (and charge 3x more for it)?

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Amarone is pressed from the dried grapes. Usually 3 grapes including corvina. Ripasso is made from valpolicella that is fermented with the dried skins and lees from the Amarone fermentation.

I'm reviving an old thread with a follow up question:

I've been on the forum long enough to learn that Amarone is a favorite among kit makers. So to decide whether to add it to my to-do list, I have tried a few Valpolicella Superiore and Ripasso wines, because splurging on a bottle of Amarone isn't something I'm ready to do yet.

I like to pair my wines with dinner, and based on a couple sites I've found, Amarone pairs with red meats and game, neither of which we eat at home. The Valpolicella styles have a broader range of pairings and include dinners that we make.

So my question: I understand that a kit cannot produce a "true" Amarone, so do the CC Showcase or RJS En Primeur Amarones pair with food like a commercial Amarone or commercial Valpolicella?

I see that RJS has an En Primeur Valpolicella, which I'll probably do if the consensus is that the Amarone kits pair like their commercial counterparts.

lilvixen said:

I'm reviving an old thread with a follow up question:

I've been on the forum long enough to learn that Amarone is a favorite among kit makers. So to decide whether to add it to my to-do list, I have tried a few Valpolicella Superiore and Ripasso wines, because splurging on a bottle of Amarone isn't something I'm ready to do yet.

I like to pair my wines with dinner, and based on a couple sites I've found, Amarone pairs with red meats and game, neither of which we eat at home. The Valpolicella styles have a broader range of pairings and include dinners that we make.

So my question: I understand that a kit cannot produce a "true" Amarone, so do the CC Showcase or RJS En Primeur Amarones pair with food like a commercial Amarone or commercial Valpolicella?

I see that RJS has an En Primeur Valpolicella, which I'll probably do if the consensus is that the Amarone kits pair like their commercial counterparts.

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Kit Amarones tend toward "Amarone Lite" when compared to commercial Amarone. Being significantly lighter, they pair well with a wider variety of foods than commercial Amarone does.

I agree with Brian.

Well Cat, I'm going to be the dissenting view. As it just so happens, I opened a taster bottle of my WE Amerone last night. Its got about a year from the date of pitching on it, but my guess is, that it needs another year (or so). It is good, and has loads of potential, but it needs a lot of maturation. It is very bold! Almost chewy. Close to a port. If you aren't big meat eaters, I'd stick with Valpola.

After tasting my juvenile Amerone, my wife and I both only came up with a couple of food "pairings" that immediately came to mind. All meat based. The first is slow smoked beef brisket, with an herby, spicy rub. It is slow cooked in a Kamado-style grill (generic Green Egg). It is really excellent with a charred crust, but needs a bold wine to stand up to it. The other, though it took some thought, is duck. Specifically, Magret de Canard. So, I'll let my Amerone sleep for another year, while we continue to think of what to have with it. It may last for a decade or so waiting for the appropriate meals to come up. 'Glad I used the long corks.

I've never splurged enough to taste a quality, commercial Amerone, so I can't compare, but mine is plenty stout. I'm really not sure what I'd pair with it that isn't meat-based. Perhaps free range, Angus eggplant parmesan!

Greg

Thanks, Greg. I don't care for port, so that's valuable information.

We had a Valpolicella Ripasso with chicken parmesan tonight, and hubby and I thought it went nicely, and we both enjoyed it. It's 14% alcohol, and though it's listed as medium-bodied on the description, it's intense.

So I'm thinking that we should stick with a lighter style than the Amarone. The obvious answer is do the Valpola style kit and call it good. Or - I may be naive and/or crazy for this thought - the Amarone kits do chaptalization to get to 15+% alcohol, right? Could I do a CC Showcase Amarone without the chaptalization part and have it potentially result in something closer to a Valpola style? I'm hesitant to ask this, lest I be flogged, but inquiring minds want to know.

ETA: In poking around manufacturer websites, Vineco reports the CC Showcase Amarone is 14% alcohol, but I remember seeing the Amarones made on this forum being in the 15% range. Is the CC Amarone "lighter" than the WE Amarone? The available info is so confusing sometimes!

WE adds a 900 g pack of dextrose, whereas CC does not chaptalize.

I have a WE open right now. In addition to their prescribed chaptalization, I added ~1 lb of sugar via some Zante currants. I also added some tannins. It is a big wine, for sure, but not overpowering. But this seems bigger than I gather you are interested in.

Personally, I would not compare these to a port. Most ports you would have come in contact with are sweetened (and, of course, fortified), and Amarones are not at all sweet.

Thanks, sour_grapes, that's helpful too.

Short story long, I don't know what I'm expecting, and as a planner, that's a tough thing for me. I've made a Super Tuscan already, and that seems like a medium-bodied wine to me. I enjoy a bold Cab with pepperoni pizza, so maybe I'm over thinking this and intimidated by the awe surrounding Amarone. I have a couple kits on deck, so I'll mull it over, but I'll probably make an Amarone just because I need to know what the awe is about. Silly reason, I know, but I was allergic to alcohol until about a decade ago, so me making wine now is entirely silly too. I'm par for the course!

I splurged on my first commercial bottle of Amorone this winter. I won't do it again, I'm afraid I'd get addicted. I am getting a couple of juice buckets of that this fall.