2011 Masi Campolongo di Torbe, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico DOCG

There is so much richness in the tar and dark fruit notes of the 2011 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Campolongo di Torbe that it is almost a meal in itself. There is plenty of ripeness from the hot vintage, but this 16% alcohol wine is just a bomb, with such a big payload of jammy blackberry that it comes close to being too much of a good thing. The blend is 70% Corvina, 25% Rondinella and 5% Molinara. This dark and brooding wine washes over the palate with thick waves of black fruit and mesquite spice intensity. Nothing goes unnoticed here: The power, the intensity and the opulence of the wine are taken to extremes in this dry vintage. Like the Mazzano, the Campo ages in large oak barrels for three years, while this fruit from the Capolongo di Torbe vineyard is grown at a slightly higher altitude than Mazzano, at 375 to 400 meters above sea level in Negrar, with red, limestone-rich soils. Some 15,600 bottles were made. Review Date: September 2019