Amarone Wines

Amarone Wines

There are wines made from fresh grapes, and then there are Amarone wines - a category unto themselves. The Appassimento process involves laying harvested Corvina, Corvinone, and Rondinella grapes on bamboo racks or wooden crates in well-ventilated lofts called fruttai, where they slowly dehydrate over three to four months. By the time fermentation begins, the fruit has lost up to 40% of its water content. What remains is an extraordinary concentration of sugars, tannins, and flavour compounds that no other winemaking method can replicate.

Amarone Wines and the Art of Appassimento

Amarone wines are among Italy's most awe-inspiring reds - and we've sought them out with the same obsessive care we apply to every bottle on our shelves. Born from dried grapes and patient craftsmanship in the Valpolicella hills, these are wines that stop you mid-conversation. If you've never opened an Amarone, consider this your introduction. If you already love them, you're in very good company.

The result is a wine of remarkable depth - dried cherry, dark plum, bitter chocolate, tobacco, leather, and a characteristic bitter-almond finish that gives Amarone its name (from amaro, meaning bitter). This is not a wine that whispers. Amarone della Valpolicella speaks in a full-bodied, resonant voice, with alcohol levels typically ranging from 15% to 17% and tannins structured enough to support decades of cellaring. We taste each producer's offering carefully before it earns a place on our shelves, because this is exactly the kind of wine that rewards that level of scrutiny.

What Makes Amarone Red Wine Different From Ripasso and Valpolicella

It's a question we're asked often, and it's a genuinely important one. Standard Valpolicella is a lighter, earlier-drinking red - bright, approachable, and wonderful with everyday food. Valpolicella Ripasso steps things up by re-fermenting the wine on the leftover grape skins from Amarone production, gaining body, richness, and complexity in the process. Amarone wine, however, is made entirely from dried grapes from the outset. It is categorically more intense, more concentrated, and more demanding - of the winemaker's time, of the cellar's resources, and of the drinker's attention.

For those exploring the full spectrum of Valpolicella's hierarchy, we'd suggest starting with our broader Italian Red Wines collection before committing to the summit that Amarone represents. And if you already know you want something with that dried-fruit intensity but at a slightly lower commitment level, Italian Wines more broadly may offer useful context alongside your Amarone exploration.

Amarone Wine Italy - Pairing It at the Table

Amarone is sometimes described as a meditation wine - something to be sipped slowly with nothing more than good company and a warm evening. That's not wrong, but it does the wine a slight disservice at the dinner table, where it can be genuinely transformative alongside the right food. The key is matching intensity with intensity; Amarone wine, Italy, needs dishes with enough richness, fat, or umami depth to stand alongside it.

• Braised beef short ribs or osso buco: the slow-cooked collagen and rendered fat in these dishes mirrors Amarone's own weight and structure, making the pairing feel almost inevitable. The wine's acidity cuts through richness without dominating it.
• Aged hard cheeses - Parmigiano Reggiano, aged Pecorino, or a mature Comté: the crystalline texture and concentrated umami of aged cheese draw out Amarone's fruit and soften its tannins, creating a combination that feels extravagant without being fussy.
• Dark chocolate (70%+) or bitter chocolate desserts: Amarone's own bitter-cocoa undercurrent makes it a natural companion to intensely dark chocolate - though we'd recommend finishing the wine first and the chocolate second, not simultaneously, to let each shine.
• Wild mushroom risotto or truffle pasta: the earthy, autumnal quality of these dishes echoes Amarone's forest-floor character. This is particularly effective with older vintages where the fruit has deepened into something more tertiary and complex.

Amarone Wine as a Gift - and Which Vintages to Choose

Few wines make a more impressive gift than a well-chosen Amarone. The bottle itself signals that you've thought carefully - this is not a supermarket impulse purchase. It's a wine with a story, a production process that takes years, and an ageing trajectory that can outlast most other bottles in a cellar. For those buying Amarone wine gift options for a significant birthday, anniversary, or milestone, Amarone rewards the recipient with something they might not buy for themselves but will always be glad someone did.

When it comes to vintages, the Veneto's warm climate means that most years produce genuinely good Amarone, but exceptional years - particularly those with warm, dry autumns allowing full, even Appassimento - produce wines with extraordinary longevity. A bottle from a great vintage can cellar comfortably for 20 to 30 years. If you're buying to drink now, look for something with at least five years of age from release; wine Amarone is almost always better with time than without it. Our listings include tasting notes that help guide these decisions, so you never have to guess.

For pairing an Amarone gift with the right glassware, our Wine Glasses collection includes generously-bowled red glasses that allow Amarone's aromatics to fully open - an important consideration given how much is happening in the glass. And if you're building a broader gift around a special occasion, our gifts for wine lovers and Fine Wines pages offer complementary options across different styles.

Among the wines we've tasted for this collection, the Biscardo Neropasso Veneto Rosso 2023 offers an accessible window into the Appassimento style without the full weight of a classic Amarone - a useful introduction for those stepping into this world for the first time. For those wanting the real thing at full intensity, we also carry bottles that represent the Classico heartland, selected because they demonstrate exactly what the DOCG designation should mean. Alongside these, Fine Red Wines from across our broader range provide useful context for where Amarone sits in the world of serious reds.

Serving amarone wine taste at its best means decanting - ideally for two to three hours before serving if the wine is young (under ten years old), or at least one hour if older. The wine benefits enormously from air contact, softening its tannins and coaxing out the layers of dried fruit, spice, and mineral character that make it so compelling. Serve at 18°C, not warmer, in a wide-bowled glass that allows the aromatics room to develop. This is a wine that reveals itself slowly, and the experience of watching it open over an evening is part of the pleasure entirely.

Owning an Amarone - whether for a dinner party, a long-overdue celebration, or a quiet evening that deserves something exceptional - is one of those experiences that makes the effort of seeking out the right bottle feel completely worthwhile. We have done the tasting, asked the questions, and chosen only wines we'd open ourselves. Browse our selection and discover why buy amarone wine uk searches so often end here.

Amarone Wines Buyer FAQs

How are Amarone Wines made - what is Appassimento and why does it matter?

Appassimento is the process of drying harvested grapes - primarily Corvina, Corvinone, and Rondinella - on wooden or bamboo racks in ventilated lofts for three to four months before fermentation. During this time, the grapes lose up to 40% of their water content, concentrating sugars, tannins, and flavour compounds to an extraordinary degree. It's a labour-intensive process that cannot be rushed or replicated by any other method, which is why Amarone wines carry the weight, depth, and longevity they do. The technique also creates that characteristic bitter-almond finish - the quality that gives Amarone its name.

Should I decant Amarone Wines, and for how long?

Yes - decanting is strongly recommended for almost all Amarone. Younger bottles (under ten years from harvest) benefit from two to three hours of aeration, which softens the dense tannins and allows the layers of dried cherry, chocolate, tobacco, and spice to fully emerge. Older vintages need less time - around one hour - since prolonged air exposure can cause more fragile tertiary aromas to fade. Pour slowly, and if you see any sediment in the base of the bottle, stand it upright for an hour before decanting. The difference between opening an Amarone straight from the bottle and giving it proper time to breathe is genuinely significant.

What food pairs with Amarone Wines - braised meat, aged cheese, dark chocolate?

All three, though with some nuance. Braised or slow-roasted meats - short ribs, oxtail, lamb shoulder - are the most natural companions, as the wine's weight and structure match the richness of slow cooking. Aged hard cheeses work beautifully because their crystalline texture and umami depth draw out Amarone's fruit while softening its tannins. Dark chocolate (70%+) pairs well with the wine's own bitter-cocoa character, though we'd suggest finishing the wine first rather than drinking the two simultaneously. Wild mushroom dishes and truffle-based pastas also shine alongside older vintages, where tertiary earthiness in the wine mirrors the earthiness on the plate.

What's the difference between Amarone Wines and Valpolicella Ripasso?

Ripasso - sometimes called "baby Amarone" - is made by re-fermenting standard Valpolicella wine on the leftover dried grape skins from Amarone production. This gives the wine extra body, richness, and some of the dried-fruit complexity associated with Amarone, but at a lower intensity and typically a lower price point. Amarone della Valpolicella, by contrast, is made entirely from dried grapes from the start - a fundamentally different and far more resource-intensive process. Ripasso is an excellent entry point into the Appassimento style; Amarone is the destination it points toward.