How is your Latin? How about your Greek? Yeah, ours is a little rusty, too, unless you’re talking wine lingo. Here’s a wine language lesson for you. In Latin, “val” means “valley.” In Greek “poly” means “many.” In Latin, “cellar” means an enclosed room, like a cellar. Put them together and Valpolicella can be translated into Valley of Many Cellars. What an apt name. In Italy, only the regions of Chianti and Montepulciano d’Abruzzo produce more red wine than Valpolicella, where four styles of wine are produced—including coveted Amarone.
The 2016 Bertani Tenuta Novare Bertani Signature Amarone della Valpolicella Classico is from one of the region’s top Amarone producers, and it’s a stunning example of why this wine is so desirable. It’s intense and full-flavored yet elegant.
To Amarone lovers, Bertani is almost synonymous with the wine itself. Founded in the mid-1880s by brothers Giovan Battista and Gaetano Bertani, the brothers were early adopters of exporting wine from the region and so they were one of the first wineries in Valpolicella to bottle wine.
Their first vintage of Amarone was 1958, and Bertani was one of the first to start producing a dry style, a pioneer in the change from its sweet origins. For over 150 years, Bertani has been an innovative winery, and its history is dotted with groundbreaking initiatives and royal accreditation. Yet, it's still respectful of the winery’s—and the region’s—traditions and reputation for uncompromising quality.
2016 was a stellar year for the Valpolicella region, a 95-point beauty according to Vinous. This is what their experts there have to say about it: “The 2016s come across as some of the most classic wines to emerge from the Veneto in some time. The 2016s are balanced, elegant, fresh, and with the structure for many years of cellaring, and with time, they will be recognized as modern-day classics."
This wine comes from that vintage and from the Tenuta Novare vineyards at Arbizzano di Negrar planted in calcareous-marl soils that contain significant quantities of iron that result in spicy mineral flavors in the grapes. This vineyard in the heart of the Valpolicella Classico area is devoted exclusively to the production of Amarone. After the grapes are dried and pressed, the wine sees minimal intervention in the cellar to better capture the pure expression of the fruit.
The result is iconic Amarone, marked by notes of plums and cherries, tea leaves, licorice, and spices on the nose. The perfectly balanced wine drinks beautifully with overtones of red fruit and velvety vanilla.
Valpolicella is the valley of many cellars, and this wine from the cellar of Bertani is one you don’t want to pass up. With BHW’s price of over 40% off making this classic Amarone under $40—and an amazing deal for an Amarone of this quality—you won’t need to!
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