Amarone Tasting

Last night we attended an amarone tasting at Les Zygomates, a French restaurant/wine bar in Boston. We tasted four different amarones, along with delicious duck, steak, and veal appetizers and a very impressive wild mushroom and cheese bruschetta. Amarone is a very full-bodied, high-alcohol, Italian wine, in which the grapes go through a drying process for five months, creating a sweet raisin, before they are pressed.

2001 Santi, Amarone della Valpolicella
This wine was the lightest of the amarones we tried. It wasn't as smooth, but especially when paired with the food it was still very enjoyable. Bright, fruity tastes of cherry and plum and spices (cinnamon and cloves), with a toasted almond finish.
(Retail: ~$25-40)

1998 Tomassi, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico
This was our favorite wine of the evening. Bursts of fruit flavor and some chocolate notes, and it was the smoothest of the four. This amarone was also a few years older, so the tannens weren't as prevalent. As our sommalier explained, 1998 was a great year from amarone, especially in the Classico region.
(Retail: ~$45-55)

2000 Luigi Righetti, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico
This amarone was not as fruity as the Tomassi and not as enjoyable. It was a bit more chocolatey and smelled like chicory, and it went well with the food pairing, but overall it did not blow us away like the Tomassi.
(Retail: ~$25)

2000 Tenute Galtarossa, Amarone della Valpolicella
This was our second favorite. It had a nice complexity with a pronounced tobacco flavor. It was very lovely, but in a different way than our first choice, the Tomassi. It might be hard to find. (Retail: ~$35-40)