Bertani Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico '99 750

Grape varieties: 70% Corvina Veronese; 25% Rondinella; 5% Molinara

Vinification: After harvest, ripe, unblemished grapes from the uppermost portions of each cluster -- those grapes richest in sugar and extracts -- are painstakingly detached and laid out to dry on cane mats. The mats are stored on raised platforms in airy lofts, sheltered by a roof but otherwise exposed to drying breezes on all sides. By the time they are ready to undergo maceration and fermentation, they will have lost up to 60% of their water content. A lengthy maceration period ensues, a factor responsible for Amarone's tremendous body and structure. After a controlled fermentation, the wine is transferred into oak casks for a period of 5-8 years during which it is racked twice annually prior to bottling.