Amarone Wine Guide: Why This Valpolicella Red Is Worth the Price

Amarone is the wine that changes people’s minds about what a dry red can taste like. It looks deep and almost sweet in the glass, smells of dried fruit and chocolate, and then arrives on the palate completely dry, full-bodied and warming with alcohol. First-time tasters are usually surprised at least once during the glass.

A quick note before we get into it: in Edinburgh, Amarone is also the name of a well-known Italian restaurant group. This guide is about the wine itself, not the restaurant, and specifically about where to enjoy a proper glass of it here at Divino.

What Is Amarone della Valpolicella?

Amarone della Valpolicella is a DOCG red wine from the hills around Verona in Italy’s Veneto region, made primarily from Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella grapes, the same varieties used for lighter Valpolicella wines from the same area. What separates Amarone from its lighter siblings is entirely down to what happens after the grapes are picked, not where they are grown.

The Appassimento Method: Why Amarone Is Different and Uses Dried Grapes

After harvest, the best bunches are laid out on straw mats or hung in ventilated lofts for three to four months, where they slowly dry and lose water while the sugars, acids and flavour compounds inside concentrate. Only once the grapes have shrivelled to something closer to raisins are they pressed and fermented. This process, called appassimento, means Amarone is produced from dried grapes using grape drying, which concentrates flavour and helps explain its intensity, its unusually high alcohol (often 15% or more) and its raisined, almost sweet aromatics, despite the finished wine being bone dry.

A Sweet Cousin: Recioto

If the fermentation is stopped early, before all the sugar converts to alcohol, the same dried grapes produce Recioto della Valpolicella instead, a genuinely sweet dessert wine. Amarone is the dry, fully fermented version of the same idea, which is worth knowing if a wine list ever has both.

Is Amarone Sweet? Understanding Amarone Taste

No, and this is the most common misunderstanding about it. The nose promises dried cherry, fig, raisin and chocolate, with layered aromas that read as sweetness before you have taken a sip. On the palate, the Amarone taste is fully dry, full-bodied, and high in alcohol, with black cherries, dried fruit, chocolate, and spice shaped by firm tannins and balancing high acidity, closer in weight to a bold Cabernet or Syrah than to anything actually sweet. The fruit is ripe and concentrated, not sugary.

What to Eat with Amarone

Amarone’s weight and alcohol need food with equal richness, and its sheer power and complex aromas help it handle rich dishes and desserts. In Veneto itself, the classic pairing is risotto all’Amarone, made by cooking the risotto in the wine itself, which is worth asking about if it ever appears on a seasonal menu. Beyond that, the wine works with anything slow-cooked, rich or aged.

•   Savory roasts and stewed game, including braised meats such as oxtails

•   Rich, meat-based ragù and slow-cooked pasta sauces

•   Creamy cheeses and aged, hard cheeses served on their own

•   Dark chocolate desserts, given the wine’s own chocolate and dried-fruit notes; fruit-based desserts can also work if they are not overly sweet

How Amarone Is Made, Step by Step (Including Oak Barrels)

It helps to walk through the whole process to understand why Amarone tastes the way it does, as winemakers in the production area select fruit from vineyards for drying before pressing. After the grapes are hand-picked, usually a little earlier than grapes destined for lighter wines, the best bunches are selected and laid out on bamboo racks or plastic crates in a dry, ventilated loft called a fruttaio. Amarone is primarily made from Corvina, Corvinone, and Rondinella; corvina grapes usually make up 45% to 95% of the blend. Molinara is less commonly used today, while other grapes such as Oseleta and Negrara are also permitted. There they sit for anywhere from three to as long as five months, depending on the producer and the vintage, losing around a third of their original weight in water while the sugars and flavour compounds inside concentrate.

Once the grapes have shrivelled sufficiently, the fermentation process begins as the dried grapes are pressed for juice before a long fermentation that takes considerably longer than a standard red wine because of the high sugar concentration. As yeast turns sugar into alcohol, it also releases carbon dioxide, so fermentation can run for weeks rather than days. The result is a wine with a naturally high alcohol content, usually between 15% and 16.5%, and a depth of flavour that a wine made from freshly picked grapes simply cannot reach. It is then aged in large Slavonian oak barrels or other wooden barrels in more traditional styles, while some modern producers use new oak barrels before release.

Amarone in Cooking, Not Just in the Glass

Amarone earns a place in the kitchen as well as the glass. Risotto all’Amarone, made by toasting the rice and then slowly adding the wine alongside stock, turns the risotto a deep purple-red and gives it a rich, slightly bitter edge that plain risotto never achieves; it is a genuine speciality of the Verona area and worth ordering if you ever see it on a seasonal menu. Beef braised for hours in Amarone, similar in principle to the Barolo-braised beef of Piedmont, is another classic use, the long cooking time softening the wine’s tannin and alcohol into something rounder that coats slow-cooked meat beautifully. If you are cooking at home, a bottle that is good enough to drink is also good enough to cook with; there is little point saving a lesser bottle for the pan and a better one for the glass when both benefit from the same quality.

Amarone vs Barolo: Two Different Kings

Amarone and Barolo occupy a similar price point on most wine lists and are often mentioned together, but they are built on completely different ideas. Barolo, from Nebbiolo grapes in Piedmont, gets its power from tannin, acidity and age. Amarone gets its power from concentration and alcohol, thanks to the dried-grape method. If you want the full picture on the other king of Italian reds, we have covered it properly in our Barolo Wine guide.

Amarone at Divino Enoteca

Amarone sits among the serious reds on our wine list, which runs to more than two hundred bottles with up to forty available by the glass through our Enomatic dispenser, in a 25ml taste, a 125ml half glass or a full 175ml pour. If you are not sure whether a full-bodied, high-alcohol red like Amarone is for you, a taste pour is the sensible way to find out before committing to a glass or a bottle.

For a wider introduction to the reds and whites we carry, including how the different Italian regions compare, see our Italian regional wines guide, and if you want a guided introduction rather than working it out on your own, our themed Sunday wine tasting evenings run monthly; check our wine tasting events page for what is coming up.

Buying Amarone: What’s Worth Knowing Before You Choose a Bottle

Not every Amarone on a shelf or a list is built the same way. “Amarone della Valpolicella Classico” comes from the original Valpolicella Classica zone at the heart of the Valpolicella hills, including historic classico municipalities such as San Pietro in Cariano, and is generally considered the most traditional style. “Riserva” indicates extra ageing beyond the standard minimum, usually resulting in a rounder, more settled wine that has had longer to integrate its high alcohol and tannin. Amarone producers also vary between traditional and modern styles when producing wines. Producers vary considerably in how long they dry their grapes and how much new versus old oak they use; traditional Amarone emphasizes vineyard expression and balance, while more modern examples, including dal Forno, are often bolder on release, which is why two bottles of Amarone at a similar price can taste noticeably different. If in doubt, ask; a good wine list should have someone who can steer you towards the style that suits what you are eating, how big a wine you actually want that evening, and the winery you choose.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Amarone a sweet or dry wine?

Dry. The aroma is deceptively rich and fruity thanks to the dried-grape production method, but the finished wine ferments fully and finishes bone dry, with high alcohol rather than sweetness.

What food goes with Amarone?

Rich, slow-cooked dishes stand up best: braised red meat and game, hearty ragù, aged cheeses, and risotto cooked in the wine itself where it is on the menu.

Why is Amarone so expensive?

The appassimento drying process takes three to four months and reduces the grapes’ weight considerably before pressing, meaning far more fruit is needed per bottle than for a standard red, on top of the usual ageing and production costs.

Is Amarone the same as the Edinburgh restaurant of the same name?

No. Amarone is a wine from Valpolicella in Italy’s Veneto region. The Edinburgh restaurant group shares the name, but this guide, and our wine list, refer to the wine itself.

How should Amarone be served?

Slightly below room temperature, around 16 to 18 degrees, ideally decanted for half an hour if the bottle is young, given its full body and high alcohol. In practice, younger wines benefit from decanting, while older wines are best served slightly cooler and handled more gently.

How long can Amarone age?

Amarone wines can age for over 20 years in general; modern Amarone typically lasts 8 to 20 years, traditional Amarone can age for up to 40 years, and some bottles improve for 10 to 15 additional years.

What is the difference between Amarone Classico and standard Amarone?

Classico comes from the original, historic heart of the Valpolicella production zone and is generally seen as the more traditional expression, though both are made using the same dried-grape appassimento method. Amarone Riserva requires at least 4 years of aging.