Buglioni, Il Lussurioso, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico, Italy 2019

“A balanced, medium- to full-bodied version, with chewy tannins framing flavors of dried cherry, cured tobacco, mineral and cocoa powder. Spiced finish. Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella, Croatina and Oseleta. Drink now through 2029.”-91WS

Valpolicella Classico is part of the larger Veneto wine region in northeastern Italy. It was the original Valpolicella region until it was given DOC status in 1968. Valpolicella Classico is located east of Lake Garda, and bordered to the north by the Monti Lessini foothills; because of this, some of the region’s vineyards are at elevations ranging from 150 to 700 meters (500 to 2,300 feet); other vineyards in the region are located on fertile plains. Valpolicella Classico’s climate is generally mild and temperate.

Today, Buglioni own 36 hectares (89 acres) of vines planted to the traditional indigenous varieties of Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella, Molinara, Oseleta, Croatina and Garganega. The 14 hectares (34.6 acres) of vineyards planted near the winery are trained using the double pergola system, while the remaining vineyards in Sant’Ambrogio and San Pietro in Cariano are trained using the guyot system. The lightly textured, gravelly, dark alluvial soil, meticulous vine pruning, and scrupulous control techniques Buglioni employs ensure the production of high-quality grapes.

All grapes are hand-harvested late September into early October and only 40 percent of the harvested grapes are used to produce Buglioni’s wines. A portion of the grapes are carefully selected and left to dry until late January in a winery in San Pietro in Cariano; these grapes are used to produce the most full-bodied and intense wines in the Buglioni portfolio — L’Amarone, Il Bugiardo and Il Recioto. The remaining grapes are brought immediately to the winery in Corrubbio di San Pietro in Cariano for vinification. The cellar is divided into two areas:  the first is where grapes are received, stocked, processed and the wine is bottled. The second room — quiet and protected — is where the wines are aged in small barrels and then left to mature slowly in bottle.

According to winemaker Diego Bertoni, wine needs time to fully express itself; for this reason, Buglioni  prefers that its wines are aged for a longer period of time in oak barrels or barriques, according to the potential of the grape — the oak cannot be intrusive, but is present to add complexity to the wine.