Dal Forno Romano Monte Lodoletta Valpolicella Superiore 2011

This wine is a blend of 70 per cent Corvina with 20 per cent Rondinella and just 5 per cent each of Croatina and Oseleta. It’s deep black-red in colour, and is dark and forceful, sombre yet voluptuous in aroma: a harmonious weave of black chocolate, sloe and elderberry, with the years in oak bringing a cedary refinement. On the palate, it’s a vault of a wine: deep, dark and roomy, packed with earthy refinements and black-fruited echoes, both severe yet soft and enticing too. The tannins are ample yet fine-grained, the acidity delicate and sustaining. I wrote about the ‘crocodilian’ character of grand Veneto dried-fruit red wines back in April, but the teeth are polished ivory here. This is horizon-altering ‘Valpolicella’ which would perform outstandingly in any Amarone tasting. Score – 96. (Andrew Jefford, decanter.com, Dec. 15, 2018)