2011 Guerrieri Rizzardi Calcarole Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 750 ml

If you ever get a chance to visit Verona, make sure to set aside some time for an afternoon visit to the immaculately manicured 18th-century garden where the famed Guerrieri Rizzardi winery conducts its tastings.

Expect the spread at your table—set amidst lemon trees and mythological statues—to include hunks of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, slices of paper-thin Prosciutto di Parma, and homemade, thick-crust bread drenched in olive oil made fresh from Rizzardi’s olive groves. 

But neither we, nor the high-flying collectors who make the trek to Guerrieri Rizzardi each year, come for the antipasti. We come for the Amarone, the hauntingly beautiful, impossibly concentrated, noble red featuring show-stopping complexity and intensity. 

Those spots in the garden are getting much harder to come by these days, and the bottles are disappearing faster than ever stateside too. That’s because in 2009 a Guerrieri Rizzardi Amarone made history, becoming the first-ever Amarone to secure Best Red Wine of Italy honors from Gambero Rosso. Since then, Guerrieri Rizzardi has not looked back. 

When we first released this wine last year, it sold out in six hours. And this year's 2011 Guerrieri Rizzardi Calcarole is one of the greatest modern Amarones ever produced. 

This richly concentrated red wine, perfumed with tobacco and brandied cherry is hitting the market to equal if not greater levels of acclaim. “This may well be the best young Calcarole I have tasted,” raves Vinous reviewer Ian D’Agata, pinning on 94 points and declaring it a “knockout Amarone.”

Of 169 Amarones sampled by Decanter, they rated this release the #3 best overall. And Gambero Rosso awarded the 2011 its Tre Bicchieri distinction. This wine is only released in the best years, making it a precious commodity among Italian collectors. At $65—46% off—it is a rare prize indeed to add to your cellar.

Amarone is a singular wine, made from a unique process that results in intense, concentrated reds with incredible longevity and an inimitable potpourri of flavors. Unlike most red wines, the grapes behind Amarone don’t go instantly from the fields to the cellar. Instead, they’re painstakingly dried—bunch by bunch—over the course of three months. As the grapes’ water content evaporates, their flavors intensify, transforming simple red berry fruits into flavors and aromatics redolent of cured Amarena cherries, raspberry jam, blueberry compote, espresso, sage, and more. Fermentation takes an entire month, allowing an incredible depth of flavor to develop alongside an abundantly rich texture. The aging that follows is likewise slow, lending Amarone spicy, oak-driven complexity across the palate. 

With every sip of Rizzardi’s Calcarole, you’ll find another inexplicable (but delicious) aroma or flavor, all resulting from the terroir of the three vineyards behind this blend, coupled with this incredible process. Dried cherry, blueberry compote, sage, fennel, and leather are only a handful of the nuances that emerge from the glass after a lengthy decant. 

If you’re new to Amarone, take it from us: There is no better introduction to this Italian classic. If you’re a seasoned veteran, well, you’ve likely placed your order. Enjoy.