Masi "Campolongo di Torbe" Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 2011

95 Points Wine & Spirits

Campolongo di Torbe sits at about 1,200 feet above sea level in Valpolicella’s Negrar commune, where the vines benefit from cooling breezes; this was especially so in the warm 2011 vintage, when Masi harvested about three weeks ear- lier than average. This wine, made from dried grapes, aged for three years in Slavonian botti and 600-liter casks, developing a voluptuous texture and rich flavors of spiced black plum and cherry. It layers notes of fresh tobacco, licorice and roasted coffee with velvety tan- nins, the wine remarkably integrated for a young Amarone. Delicious now, it has the structure and complexity to improve for more than a decade.