On the nose primarily coffee, cacao and cherry. Some vegetable notes are also clearly detectable and they accompany you in the mouth till the end, with a rough feel that I personally find a bit disturbing, but could also be peculiar to this unique wine.
The tannins are probably still in a ripening process and will improve with some more ageing. Hopefully, with time the slight bitterness that is perceived towards the finish will also disappear.
Contrary to expectations, given the fact that exclusively slightly raisined grapes are used, the wine doesn’t present itself as overly fruity, which to me is a pleasant surprise.
Although still young, the wine is well balanced. High quality is certainly there, but at this stage for me a real enjoyment is missing. I have another bottle and will consider drinking it only in a few years.
I have been posting about various wines that are Corvina grape based: Bardolino, Ripasso, Amarone. Along Bardolino, the basic Valpolicella is among the simplest and cheapest DOC wines in Italy. The Superiore version, like this one, is more expensive, but at 80 CHF (at Globus) this Valpolicella Superiore DOC produced by Dal Forno sells for 5-7 times the price of a regular good quality Valpolicella Superiore DOC.
I always wondered how such a big difference in price of a specific label above the crowd is possible. After thinking about it for a while, I conclude that it is mainly due to three elements: Quality, Name, Scarcity.
Quality: to produce this Valpolicella slightly raisined corvina and corvinone (70% of the blend), rondinella (20%), croatina (5%) and oseleta (5%) grapes are used. The production method is therefore closer to the expensive Amarone than to the cheap Valpolicella. Although not located in the Valpolicella Classico area, the vineyards are cultivated on prime land. A strict selection in the vineyard is enforced. An outstanding job, in the winery first and in the cellar later, guarantee a wine produced following the highest standards.
Name: Dal Forno is together with Quintarelli a reference name for Amarone and among the most expensive wines in Italy. In 1979 a 22 years old Romano dal Forno decided that a better wine could be produced with the grapes grown by his family and went to Giuseppe Quintarelli for guidelines. From “Bepi”, 30 years his senior, Romano learned a new way to grow the vine and to produce the wine, based on strict quality, instead of generous quantity.
Scarcity: It complements Quality and Name, more than being an element on its own. Once quality and name is given and the demand correspondingly high, it is a basic economic law that scarcity drives prices high.
Country: Italy
Region: Veneto
Grapes: Corvina, Corvinone, Croatina, Oseleta, Rondinella
Type: Red
Vintage: 2010
Producer: Dal Forno Romano
Price range: Extra (50-100 US$)
Pascal’s Enjoyment Index: 3/5