Viviani, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 2018

For their Amarone the grapes are dried in very small amounts (max. 4kg) in tiny cases. This allows for the air in their windy out-building to dry the grapes very efficiently for 3 to 4 months and helps prevent disease. Very labour intensive, their drying house is packed to the rafters with small cases, but the results are clearly worth the effort.

Once the grapes have reached the right concentration, they are crushed using a press with rubber rollers so that the pressing is as soft as possible. After this operation, the crushed grapes enter the fermentation vats, where the maceration begins.

The fermentation usually begins after a few weeks.

The maceration then lasts for about forty days during which the necessary repassing and punching down is carried out. When the maceration is over, the Amarone is removed. After a few days of standing in containers of vitrified cement (a period necessary for the wine to deposit the coarser parts) the wine immediately enters wood.

The wooden barrels are of great importance for the refinement of our wines. We only use french oak barrels, with various sizes. After about thirty-six or forty months Amarone is ready for the bottle.

The Vivianis are an artisanal winemaking couple who are passionate about the wines from their region and partial to the odd fine Burgundy too. From their vineyards in the Mazzano zone of Valpolicella Classico with stunning vistas over the town of Negrar and its valley, they are making some of the most honest, pure and engaging Valpolicella there is. The vines are situated at around 450 metres above sea level. Great attention to detail is paid in the vineyard (pruning, green harvesting and hand selecting at harvest time), whilst in the winery extractions are very gentle and intervention is minimal. It was in 1992 when Claudio Viviani started bottling the produce of the family's 10 ha after decades of his father selling in bulk. How far he has come! Now Viviani is firmly among the leading lights of the appellation.