Winemaker Matt Thompson
70% Corvina Veronese, 25% Rondinella & 5% Cabernet Sauvignon
This wine is rich and modern, with an attractive fresh perfume. Aromas of ripe black cherry, plum and hints of fruit cake. On the palate it is full bodied and rich, with cherry, vanillin and coffee flavours. It has well balanced tannins and finishes long. You do not get better value Amarone than this!
Alpha Zeta was started in 1999 when David Gleave MW, working with leading New Zealand winemaker, Matt Thomson, set out to produce a range of modern, fruit driven wines from the hills outside Verona. Their aim was to work with growers (rather than buy bulk wine, which is standard among most wines from Verona at this price) to obtain ripe grapes (by reducing yields and picking later) and then, using Matt's expertise, preserve these flavours in the finished wines. The result is a realisation of the potential inherent in Veronese viniculture.
The vineyards can be found on the hills outside Verona. Gleave & Thomson selected several vineyards in excellent sites where the growers had reduced the crop quite significantly. The soil is a mixture of clay and limestone with good drainage. The vineyards are south-facing, which makes them warmer than other parts of Valpolicella.
Selected grapes are picked in mid September and left to dry in specially ventilated rooms until the end of January. During this process the grapes lose about 40% of their natural weight. The grapes were destemmed and crushed at the end of January. Fermentation temperature was between 18°-22°C with daily periodic pumping over, while the length of maceration was 20 days. This Amarone was matured in oak (a mixture of large ‘botti’ and French oak barriques) for 18 months, lightly fined with egg-whites and then bottled.
Decanter Silver Medal, IWC Bronze