Allegrini Corte Giara La Groletta 2022

La Groletta is a modern-style Amarone della Valpolicella Classico made under Allegrini's Corte Giara range, in the hills of Veneto in north-east Italy. It is built from Corvina and Rondinella, the classic Valpolicella grapes. What makes an Amarone is the appassimento method: after harvest the bunches are laid out to dry for several months, losing water so the sugars, colour and flavour concentrate before pressing. Fermentation then runs to near dryness, leaving a powerful, warming wine at high alcohol. This bottling keeps the style accessible, with five months in stainless steel and a passage through Slavonian oak before a spell in bottle; the steel preserves freshness while the large old casks lend structure without heavy new-wood character. The colour is deep garnet. The nose shows dried cherry and plum, raisin and fig, with earth and a savoury cocoa note. The palate is full and rounded, the dried-grape concentration giving a sweet-edged richness held by ripe tannin and a long, warming finish. Serve at 17 to 18 degrees in a large glass. It suits braised beef, game and hard mountain cheese.