Alpha Zeta 'A' Amarone

Deep, rich garnet colour. Intense aromas of dried figs and raisins overlaid with warm Christmas spices. This is a big wine beautifully structured. Warm concentrated flavours with chocolate and treacle. Weighty mouthfeel with lovely sweetness of fruit. The wine is rich and modern, with an attractive fresh perfume. Aromas of ripe black cherry, plum and hints of fruit cake. On the palate it is full bodied and rich, with cherry, vanillin and coffee flavours. It has well balanced tannins and finishes long.

PRODUCER

Alpha Zeta was started in 1999 with leading New Zealand winemaker, Matt Thomson, set out to produce a range of modern, fruit driven wines from the hills outside Verona. The aim was to work with growers (rather than buy bulk wine, which is standard among most wines from Verona at this price) to obtain ripe grapes (by reducing yields and picking later) and then, using Matt's expertise, preserve these flavours in the finished wines. The result is a realisation of the potential inherent in Veronese viniculture.

VINEYARDS

The hills outside Verona. We selected several vineyards in excellent sites where the growers had reduced the crop quite significantly. The soil is a mixture of clay and limestone with good drainage. The vineyards are south-facing, which makes them warmer than other parts of Valpolicella.

VINIFICATION

Selected grapes were picked in mid September and left to dry in specially ventilated rooms until the end of January. During this process the grapes lost about 40% of their natural weight. The grapes were destemmed and crushed at the end of January.

Fermentation temperature was between 18°-22°C with daily periodic pumping over, while the length of maceration was 20 days. This Amarone was matured in oak (a mixture of large ‘botti’ and French oak barriques) for 18 months, lightly fined with egg-whites and then bottled.