1998 Tedeschi Amarone della Valpolicella

[wondersofwine]

Produced and bottled by Tedeschi, Piedmont-Verona, Italy .375ml bottle
15% alcohol
(For an amarone the riper grapes are selected and dried over the winter before a long, slow fermentation and several years' aging in oak barrels).
Label says deep red color but it appeared more purple to my eye. Some viscosity forming "legs" on sides of glass. Nose of dark fruits--dark berries.

I liked the way it matched with Cheshire cheese from England (like a sharp Cheddar). Although the wine is dry and has a bitter taste, when sipped between nibbles of cheese, it tasted less bitter and more silky. On the third night some nose and flavors of chocolate raisins emerged.

Question: Do you normally decant Amarones?

[sedhed]

I usually drink amarone at least 10 years or older and they need decanting. Maybe the newer style amarones are filtered more and you can drink them younger without decanting.

[Thomas]

Around ten years for consumption. I am selling a 1995 at the store.

I find pouring off a couple of glasses, letting them sit for twenty minutes, and then start sipping replaces the need for decanting--but I do not fully trust decanting, for a variety of technical reasons I will not bore everyone with here.

[sedhed]

Can't bore me . I'm always willing to learn.

[Thomas]

Well sedhed, you made a good point about decanting young Amarone. A younger wine likely benefits from the oxygen of decanting. But why take an older wine and give it a lot of exposure?

I believe older wines, if they are opened at their expected peak, should be handled gently--too much oxygen can make them lose a lot of their power. I like a gentle pouring into the glass and a sniff; if it needs a little more time, I wait twenty or thirty minutes (of course, I sip something else while I wait...).

I admit to having no scientific evidence on this one, but I get a gut feeling about the level and violence of oxygen introduced when decanting. When I produced wine, I was always amazed at how easy it was to subdue a wine with oxygen (and to bring one out too).

[sedhed]

Thanks. I'll try that on my next wine. I'm going to have a 1993 CdP Beaucastel this week end.
The only problem I see is that every time I have a "heavy weight" Rhone it takes about three hours air time to my taste to hit it's peak. I noticed that with the above producer and a 1990
Guigal Hermitage we have had three times over the last two and a half years. We only have two left and it's our favorite Rhone so far.
I have heard others say that you could spoil an aged wine by decanting it because of the over exposure to oxygen. Maybe the big Rhones are the exceptions to the rule?

[Thomas]

It always depends on the individual product--so experiment is the right word. Yet I cling to the notion that I'd rather err on the side of caution then to discover that decanting had hurt a respectable wine.

As I said, have that sipping wine nearby to help endure the wait...

[sedhed]

your method can't hurt.