Pieropan Vigna Garzon Amarone della Valpolicella 2015

Pieropan is a fourth-generation family estate founded in Soave in 1880, with the family’s winemaking history beginning with Leonildo Pieropan, who purchased the historic Calvarino property in 1901. The family’s move into Valpolicella began in the early 2000s with the acquisition of the Monte Garzon vineyard at Cellore d’Illasi, where they established their red-wine project. Vigna Garzon comes from this south-facing vineyard at around 350–500 metres, planted in 2000 on soils rich in pink limestone, with clay and chalk. The site’s altitude and exposure provide a long growing season, while the limestone-rich soils help retain freshness in the naturally rich Amarone style. The 2015 vintage was a warm, sunny year, but Pieropan deliberately harvested the Amarone grapes relatively early, preserving acidity and obtaining thick skins capable of withstanding the drying process.

Vigna Garzon 2015 is an Amarone della Valpolicella made from a traditional blend of Corvina Veronese, Corvinone, Rondinella and Croatina Veronese. The grapes are hand harvested into small crates and naturally dried for around two months, losing approximately two-thirds of their original weight and concentrating sugars, flavour and acidity. After careful manual selection, the grapes are destemmed and softly crushed before a long fermentation at 23–24°C, with daily pumping over and punching down. The wine is then matured in 500-litre French oak tonneaux for at least 36 months, followed by a year in vitrified concrete and a further year in bottle before release. Deeply coloured and powerful, it combines black cherry, plum and blackberry with dark chocolate, leather, coffee, black pepper, cinnamon and balsamic notes. Despite its richness, the palate has striking freshness, fine tannins and a long, savoury finish. It is particularly suited to game, braised or grilled meats and mature, strongly flavoured cheeses, and has the structure to develop further with bottle age.