The Italian Wine That Takes Two Years to Make — and Why Italians Won’t Rush It

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Every bottle of Amarone begins with a decision. After harvest, the best grapes are set aside, carried up to the loft, and left there — sometimes for four months. Nobody rushes. Nobody should.

The Wine That Breaks Its Own Rules

Amarone della Valpolicella is unlike any other Italian wine. Most wines move from vineyard to barrel as quickly as possible. Amarone deliberately does the opposite.

After the October harvest, Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella grapes are laid on bamboo racks in loft rooms called fruttai. There they stay — through November, December, January — slowly losing moisture. By the time they are pressed, each grape has shrunk to roughly a quarter of its original weight, its sugars and flavours concentrated to an extraordinary degree.

The result is a wine of staggering depth. Deep garnet, almost black. Scents of dried figs, dark cherries, tobacco and spice. Alcohol between 15% and 17%. A wine that demands your full attention.

Where Amarone Comes From

The Valpolicella zone lies northwest of Verona, tucked into three narrow valleys — Negrar, Marano and Fumane. These hills have grown grapes since Roman times. The terraced vineyards, stone farmhouses and family cantinas have changed very little since then.

Corvina is the heart of every Amarone — typically 45 to 95% of the blend. It is a grape unique to this corner of Veneto, rarely grown anywhere else. Corvinone and Rondinella fill in around it, adding structure and colour.

The finest Amarone — labelled Classico — comes from the original historic zone within Valpolicella. These wines must age for at least four years before release. Most serious producers age far longer.

The Accident That Changed Italian Wine

The story of Amarone begins with its sweeter older sibling. For centuries, Valpolicella winemakers made Recioto — a luscious sweet wine produced by stopping fermentation early, while sugar remained in the must. People adored it.

Then, according to legend, a cellar worker in the mid-twentieth century forgot about a barrel of Recioto. When he found it weeks later, fermentation had continued far past the point where sweet wines are usually stopped. Every last gram of sugar had been consumed.

He tasted it. Expecting ruin, he found something else entirely: a dry, powerful, complex wine unlike anything made in the region before. The word amaro means bitter in Italian. They named the new wine Amarone — the big bitter one.

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Two Years at Minimum — Often Far Longer

Making Amarone is slow work at every stage. The drying phase takes 90 to 120 days. Fermentation follows — a slow process lasting up to 50 days at low temperatures. Then oak ageing begins: a minimum of two years for standard Amarone, four years for Classico.

Top producers often age their wine for six, eight, even ten years before release. A bottle purchased today might contain grapes from four or five harvests ago. The wine then continues to develop in the bottle for decades.

Wine lovers routinely cellar the finest examples for twenty years or more. Open a great Amarone too young and you miss what it was trying to become.

How to Taste Amarone Properly

If you open a bottle, give it time. Serve it at room temperature — around 16 to 18°C. Pour it into a wide-bowled glass and let it breathe for at least 30 minutes before the first sip. Amarone opens slowly, like a conversation with a patient person.

It pairs beautifully with rich, braised meats: osso buco, slow-cooked beef, wild boar. Aged hard cheeses — Parmigiano Reggiano, Pecorino Stravecchio — work wonderfully alongside it. Dark chocolate with high cocoa content is a classic pairing too. And if you come across the grape harvest season in Valpolicella, the local restaurants will pair it instinctively.

Never chill it. Never rush it. The wine does not respond well to either.

Visiting the Valpolicella Wine Country

The hills of Valpolicella are just 15 minutes by car from Verona’s city centre. The winding roads through the valleys pass terraced vineyards, ancient stone churches and family estates with hand-painted signs inviting visitors in to taste.

September and October are magical: the vendemmia is under way, the air smells of fermenting grapes and the locals are at their most generous. But the region welcomes visitors year-round.

Many estates offer guided cellar tours and tastings. Seek out the small family producers rather than the large cooperatives — they tend to have more time for visitors and far more passion for the details. For a broader tour of Italy’s wine villages, the north of the country rewards the curious traveller at every turn.

Frequently Asked Questions About Amarone Wine

What is Amarone wine?

Amarone della Valpolicella is a powerful dry Italian red wine from the Veneto region near Verona. It is made using the appassimento method, where harvested grapes are dried for 90 to 120 days before fermentation. This concentrates the sugars and flavours, producing a wine with 15–17% alcohol and an intensely rich character.

Where in Italy is Amarone produced?

Amarone is produced exclusively in the Valpolicella DOC zone, northwest of Verona in the Veneto region of northeast Italy. The three core valleys — Negrar, Marano and Fumane — produce the most prized examples, sold under the Amarone della Valpolicella Classico designation.

How long does it take to make Amarone?

From harvest to bottle, Amarone takes a minimum of two to three years — and often much longer. Grapes dry for 90–120 days, fermentation lasts up to 50 days, and oak ageing requires at least two years for standard Amarone and four years for Classico. Many top producers release wines aged six years or more.

What food pairs best with Amarone wine?

Amarone pairs best with rich, hearty dishes such as braised beef, osso buco, venison and wild boar. Aged cheeses like Parmigiano Reggiano and Pecorino Stravecchio also complement it beautifully, as does high-quality dark chocolate with 70% or more cocoa content.

In the hills above Verona, there are cellars where barrels of Amarone have been ageing longer than some visitors have been alive. The winemakers who filled them will not rush the process. They never have.

That patience is what makes Amarone different — not just from other wines, but from most things made in the modern world. Visit the Valpolicella valleys, walk into a small family cantina, and let someone pour you a glass of something they started making three years ago. It will be the most Italian thing you drink.

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