Begali Amarone 2021

Begali Amarone 2021

From Parker, “If you can name but two producers in Valpolicella (I’m betting they are Dal Forno and Quintarelli), it’s now time to add a third: Lorenzo Begali.”

This Amarone flipped my lid. Exquisitely opulent with massive concentration but with balance, poise and grace. This superb Amarone come from the Begali Winery, a third generation family run house, in the town of Cengia located in the heart of the Valpolicella Classica in San Pietro in Cariano, halfway between the city of Verona and Garda Lake. Parker’s WA commented, “If you can name but two producers in Valpolicella (I’m betting they are Dal Forno and Quintarelli), it’s now time to add a third: Lorenzo Begali.” These guys make killer Amarone, high elevation calcareous soils, they hand pick specific grape bunches to be wind dried in open wooden boxes. They then again hand select after drying which bunches will used.  We have just received the 2021 Begali Amarone, the finest I have tasted. The 2021 vintage is exceptional all over Italy, including the Veneto, Parker’s WA Score equals the highest score they have ever given a Veneto vintage in the last thirty years, 94 pts. Critics are comparing it to the great years of 2016 and 1988 making it a highly sought-after vintage with strong potential for complexity and longevity. This is what great Amarone is all about, huge richness, yet retains in elegance, spectacular concentrated fruit, perfect amount of oak. This wine is released 4 years after vintage and is just starting to hit its stride. Quintarelli and Dal Forno Amarone sell for hundreds of dollars a bottle. The wines of Begali are exceptional and this Amarone is a great opportunity to experience the greatness of the wine at a fraction of the price of others.