Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico DOCG «Selezione Antonio Castegnedi» - 2016

The Tenuta Sant'Antonio, located in the Valpolicella region of Veneto, a short distance from Verona, is one of the flagship properties for the production of Amarone. Between the mild climate of Lake Garda and the exposure of the Illasi and Mezzane Hills, whose pleasant slopes allow ideal and very regular sunshine, the vineyards of Tenuta Sant'Antonio are today renowned worldwide for their wines: Amarone, Valpolicella and Soave.

In 1989, Antonio Castagnedi bought land on Monti Garbi and decided to plant vines there. This far-sighted and innovative initiative was the beginning of the great family adventure. Today, Antonio's four sons, Armando, Tiziano, Paolo and Massimo, manage the estate of over one hundred hectares. The vineyard has been renamed in honour of their father, but also in honour of a small chapel discovered on the land, recalling the powerful faith of the local people in Saint Anthony.

Over the last twenty years or so, the Tenuta Sant'Antonio has opted for an increasingly natural planting and winemaking policy. The environment of the plants has become total grassing, from which any chemical fertilizer or weed killer is banned in exchange for plant compost. Weeds are mowed manually, and insect control is done using ancestral techniques such as sexual confusion while reducing the use of sulphur or copper to a minimum. Later, during the winemaking process, the technique known as "batonnage" (stirring) is used.

The Amarone della Valpolicella Selection Antonio Castagnedi de la Tenuta Sant'Antonio is a DOCG appellation (Denominazione di Origine Controlatta è Garantita) and is one of the most renowned wines of the Veneto region. The grape varieties are 70% Corvina (and Corvinone), 20% Rondinella, with the remaining 10% divided between Croatina and Oseleta. The vines are between 20 and 25 years old. The technique for the production of Amarone is the drying of the grapes after they are harvested in mid-September (as well as an extremely rigorous selection of the bunches) in a location equipped with strong ventilation. This dehydration of the grapes for three months results in a high sugar concentration. Then the wines are placed in stainless steel barrels for 25 days at a temperature of 30 degrees maximum. They are then aged for 24 months in French oak barrels.

The Amarone Selection Antonio Castagnedi de la Tenuta Sant'Antonio is an ultra-structured wine whose potential reaches its peak after about fifteen years.

It has a very dark, limpid purple, almost black colour. On the nose, it is so complex that one must succeed in isolating the first notes of ripe fruit, such as plum, fig, blackcurrant, and spices. On the palate, the first impressions are sweet and enveloping. This is followed by roundness and elegance. The powerful tannins suggest a wine that will be made for long cellaring. The palate is nourished by aromas of pepper and dark chocolate, as well as tobacco and liquorice. The Amarone de la Tenuta Sant'Antonio is, in the words of one Italian critic, "deliciously vicious...".