Tasting note:
Montresor Amarone della Valpolicella. Hints of mocha on the nose with ripe, sweet plummy fruit. Black cherry on the palate with a touch of damson and notes of dark chocolate. Rich and warming, well-balanced, with supple tannins and appealing freshness on the finish.
Food Match:
Excellent with red meats, game or hard cheeses, especially Parmesan.
Producer/Region:
One of Verona’s historic houses, founded by Giacomo Montresor in 1892, with a reputation built on high quality, affordable Valpolicella and Amarone. In recent years, the range has grown steadily with vineyards being developed in Friuli and northern Veneto, around Conegliano. Their portfolio also includes impressive Prosecco wines.
The winery was family-owned until 2018 when Montresor was acquired by Cevico, a co-operative group based in Emilia Romagna, with two highly regarded Veneto co-ops as co-investors. Since then, a major investment programme has transformed the company – with modern production facilities and a new winemaking team rejuvenating quality across the board, while access to high quality grapes from the Veneto co-owners has enabled some excellent new wines to be developed.
Vineyard/Vinification:
Made from a blend of Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara grapes cultivated in Montresor’s vineyards in the Valpolicella Classico zone (north-west of Verona). The grapes are hand harvested at the end of October. The late harvested grapes are dried out for four months (until February of the following year) and then crushed. The must is fermented in stainless steel for four months. The wine is aged in Slavonian oak casks and small French barrique for two years.
In 2021 Montresor launched its new organic project, a range of ‘Montresor Bio’ wines. Some of its wines are already bottled in a lighter weight glass bottle (less than 420g) to reduce carbon dioxide emissions during transport, with the added benefit of reducing the amount of glass to be manufactured.
Solar panels are being installed at the winery to provide some of the electricity required in the production process. Plus a water purification system to recover and recycle the water used at the winery.
For more information about the producer: https://www.vinimontresor.com/
