Corte Sant'Alda Amarone della Valpolicella Selection Schwander

Typical intense Amarone scent of sweet dried plums, cherries, some toasted wood, herbs and notes of licorice and dark chocolate. Really interesting indeed. And on the palate it delivers. Broad bodied, intensely aromatic and definitely a bit alcoholic with the rum-pickled fruits. But holds its shape with good acidity, so while not exactly a refreshing wine it’s nicely balanced nonetheless. And it finishes really long on these dried fruit.

Note, this is from the Vinopolis closeout lot. This wine is totally reduced throughout, with a nasty rotting plum flavor that permeates the whole thing. There's no wonder the distributor was closing these out at half price... I wondered why they had this older vintage just sitting in their warehouse while they had been selling through the newer vintages. There were two totally different wines offered like this one close out, from two totally different regions, and they taste nearly …

This wine is still quite hard. Drank over several days and it mellowed out over time. No rush to drink.

Interesting color; very purplish but also quite light and clear. Tight nose at first, yielding a little cranberry. Slowly the wine opens up with slightly more expressive notes of anise, some mineraliry and deeper cranberry flavors. Nicely balanced fresh fruit, acid and tannins. Very smooth on the attack but grip on the finish.