We're going back in time here to try this wine from more than a decade ago. Aged in barrique, this comes from a fresher and cooler vintage, and that helps Amarone, resulting in more focused and sharp fruit nuances. The 2007 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva is beautiful, very open and expressive. It takes over the whole mouth in a very full and generous way. Tobacco and cured meat fill out the rich close. It's ready to be opened now with a braised pot roast, although it still has a few years left.

A well-spiced red, with a subtle mesh of black raspberry preserves, grilled plum, salted licorice and aromatic smoke notes, backed by refined, lightly grippy tannins. Not a powerhouse, but shows excellent balance and length. Drink now through 2027. 222 cases made.

Dark cherry, plums, rosemary, new leather, tobacco and menthol jump from the glass in Buglioni's 2007 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva. The presence of slightly oxidative notes suggests the 2007 won't be especially long-lived, but there is enough intensity and voluptuousness in the fruit to support at least a few years of good drinking.

This opens with aromas of raisin, tobacco leaf, underbrush, grilled porcini mushroom and leather. The extracted palate delivers black pepper, clove, dried sage, prune and licorice supported by teeth-coating tannins. The heat of searing alcohol on the finish throws the wine off balance.