1995 Romano Dal Forno Amarone della Valpolicella Vigneto di Monte Lodoletta

Community Tasting Notes (8) Avg Score: 90.1 points

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  9/22/2022 - forceberry wrote: 86 Points

  Typically a blend of Corvina (60%), Rondinella (20%), Croatina (10%) and Oseleta (10%) from the Monte Lodoletta vineyard. The grapes are dried in a ventilated room for 3 months following the harvest. After the grapes have been raisinated, they are crushed and the wine is fermented and macerated with the skins in stainless steel for 15-17 days. After 2 to 2,5 weeks of maceration, the wine is pressed off the skins and moved to age in barriques, where the wine continues to slowly ferment over the following months - up to 18 months. The wine is aged in new oak barriques for 36 months, after which the wine is filtered and bottled. The wine is not released before aging in bottles for a minimum of three years. This vintage packs a ridiculous 17,5% alcohol. Tasted blind.
  
  There's a ton of sediment in the bottle - a careful decant is necessary. If the wine is decanted with a steady hand, it should look quite evolved and somewhat translucent dark reddish-colored with a developed maroon-brownish hue. The nose is ridiculously over-the-top with bold, sweet aromas of dried dark fruits, tons of ethery VA and huge smack of boozy alcohol. There are powerful notes of cherry jam and Sun-Maid raisins, some dried figs, a little bit of Play-Doh, light toasty notes of sweet oak spice and coffee liqueur, a hint of dried dates and a touch of Christmas spices. The wine feels dense, noticeably hot and very extracted on the palate with a ridiculously massive body. I mean, really. I've had some outlandishly huge Riserva Amarones, but they just dwarf in comparison. Even at 27 years of age, this wine has the density of a black hole. The overall feel is surprisingly sweetish, more or less half-dry, with so very powerful flavors of dried dates and raisins, grape jelly, some wizened figs, a little bit of balsamic VA, light volatile notes of medicinal ether, a toasty hint of milk chocolate and an almost syrupy touch of coffee liqueur. The voluptuous body doesn't get much support from the quite modest acidity and relatively ample tannins that are very ripe and resolved, contributing mainly to the satiny texture rather than to the structure. The finish is dense, very hot and off-dry with quite firm tannic grip and massively concentrated flavors of dried dates, some peppery spice, a little bit of savory wood spice, light raisiny tones, sweet lifted hints of ethery VA and balsamico and a touch of mocha oak.
  
  This is by far the most massive wine I've tasted so far. I've had some very yuuuuge blockbusters, but the level of concentration, extraction and - well - everything here is at another level. But is it good? Well, not really. It's definitely a memorable experience to have those immensely powerful flavors thrown at you all at once, but then again, so is getting hit by a bus. This is definitely a good wine if you equate power, concentration and extraction with quality, but to me, this feels more like red wine reduction that is so unbalanced at so many levels. First of all, the fruit, body and concentration are not at all balanced with the structure - the wine is just a gloopy mess with a very, very powerful taste. Secondly, 17,5% alcohol? Really? That makes the wine feel excessively hot and porty - and not in a good way, as I do like Port wine. Thirdly, even if the wine is clocking in at 17,5% ABV, it still feels like there's some unfermented sugar there, boosting the already sweet-toned, overripe flavors even more. Sure, it is definitely possible that the wine is fermented dry and the raisiny notes give an illusion of sweetness, but then again, this wine tasted noticeably more sweeter than the 1995 Dal Forno Valpolicella that was tasted at the same time - and which seemed more or less fermented to complete dryness. Finally, the wine is just excessively volatile. I could live with the balsamic tones, but the fumey acetate notes reminiscent of medicinal ether are just way too much. They even jump at you if you try to pair the wine with something, like cheeses. So all in all, this was an impressive wine, but only from an academic point of view. I liked this wine a lot more than most other people in the tasting - and I didn't really enjoy the wine. I can see the Dal Forno Valpolicellas turn actually quite good with enough time, but this wine feels like it has been quite unbalanced from the beginning and it is only going to get worse with further aging. I remain rather unimpressed.

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  6/4/2021 - jhngo Likes this wine: 88 Points

  Tons of va so alcoholic. Blew off after and hour. Big ripe wine. Not very dense but has long raisiny finish.

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  8/20/2020 - Genovillas Likes this wine: 94 Points

  Textbook Amarone, however, not worth the significant premium vs other high quality Amarone producers

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  1/18/2020 - Tony Ling Likes this wine: 94 Points

  Decanted into another bottle (“Flower” day): Pale ruby with slight bricking rims and fine deposits.
  
  Dried herbs and floral in the best ways. Black cherry fruits.
  
  Medium sweet and great acidity.
  
  94 points.

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  5/27/2017 - Papies wrote: 93 Points

  The Athens Wine Event to put all the others to shame (Paleo Reastaurant, Piraeus): Tasted blind and guessed Amarone with quite a bit of age late 90s or early 2000s. Very much a textbook amarone, violets, dark rich fruit. Good acidity and the tannin albeit very much there is fully silky. A touch heavy at times as amarone can be. Light port elements. Lots of depth here. An experience even for non amarone lovers like us. 92-94

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