Quintarelli Amarone? Clue me up please.

It has been an illuminating discussion. I'm going to proceed with caution as the consensus seems to be that it is only suitable at the end of a meal or after a meal - when I rarely feel like drinking wine. I've decided to source a couple of bottles of a less costly Amarone and a few bottles of the Qunintarelli Valpolicella which are within my meagre budget :-). I have rarely ventured into Italian wines historically, for reasons that are not clear to me now. Stick in the muddyness I suspect. The production technique is intriguing.
 
I've only tried the Quintarelli Valpol once, but it is no way typical of Valpolicella as a whole. If you want to get a feel of these wines, you could buy a few Valpol Classicos and a couple of Amarones from good producers for the price of a bottle of the Quintarelli (amazing as it is).
 
Mark Temple said:
I've only tried the Quintarelli Valpol once, but it is no way typical of Valpolicella as a whole. If you want to get a feel of these wines, you could buy a few Valpol Classicos and a couple of Amarones from good producers for the price of a bottle of the Quintarelli (amazing as it is).
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There are a few other dried grape wines around if you are interested in the technique. Vallone in Puglia make one (from Negroamaro) that is sold by TWS. I think there are a few in Greece too.
 
I love Quintarelli wines, for me they are head and shoulders above the next-best producers in Veneto. The feat they manage better than the others I’ve tried is making dried-grape wines with energy, lift & vitality. They make powerful flavour-packed wines, of course - that’s the dried-grape way - but they seem able to build-in balance, even delicacy and charm, in a unique way.

The whole range is worth a look. As others have mentioned, the Valpolicella Superiore is a good glimpse of the house style - it is atypical for the appellation, using maybe 50% dried grapes in the mix.

A slightly better value way to look at their Amarone is the Rosso del Bepi. This is essentially declassified Amarone released in the years when they decide the wine doesn’t quite live-up to the standard to be bottled as Quintarelli Amarone. The 2005 and 2008 of this are magnificent wines at the moment, with a rich future ahead.

I’d drink either of these with rich hearty food and save a little for post-meal contemplation.
 
I am down to my last bottle of the 1991 Quintarelli Amarone, which I bought for £44 a bottle 25 years ago in Bibendum's sale (having previously bought Quintarelli from Oddbins in the 80s, without knowing it was supposed to be so special).
Perhaps it's time I opened it, but as someone who nowadays mainly drinks Mosel Riesling, the 15% abv is scary, and indeed in my note on the last bottle I opened a couple of decades ago, I wondered if 15% wasn't understating it.
 
We served Quintarelli’s Primofiore at our wedding. It was the wine of the night! I’m embarrassed to say that I can’t remember the vintage off the top of my head. Back then, it cost rather less.
 
Mark Temple said:
"A slightly better value way to look at their Amarone is the Rosso del Bepi."

Yep, a snip at only 200 euros the bottle :-)
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But available at a sensible (or at least more sensible) price in Germany via family trade connections so I got my wife to order a case of 6 yesterday, but won't be receiving it for a few weeks until the in-laws come over.
 
2012 Valpolicella, was a strange one last night. It’s been some time since my last bottle.
This seamed a little bit stewed and not so tannic.was loathe to open another bottle to compare.
 
For some unknown reason, I own mags of the 08 dal forno amarone monte lodoletta. Based on the discussion so far, I’m somewhat at a loss as to when or how (ie with what) I should serve them!
 
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