Masi - Costasera Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 2018 (750ml)
Very dark ruby red. On the nose baked fruit, plums and cherries. Fruity tastes, with hints of coffee and cocoa. Very well balanced. Excellent as an after-dinner wine, or to go with red meat, game, quails and richly-flavoured dishes. Very good with well-aged cheeses, such as parmesan, pecorino and gorgonzola.
Vinous: 93 Points
The 2018 Amarone Classico Costasera impresses with a dusty blend of dried roses and cherries, complicated by hints of cedar and clove. This is cool-toned and lifted in style, with a silken wave of dark red fruits and a bitter tinge of savory spice. A bump of residual acidity keeps the mouth watering as a coating of fine tannin pinches at the cheeks. Resonant sour orange tones linger under an air of inner florals. Masi did a fantastic job with the 2018 Costasera.
James Suckling: 93 Points
The flagship: 70% corvina, 25% rondinella and a smidgeon of the oft-forgotten molinara for welcome freshness. Only south-west facing hillside fruit is used for the Amarones here, promoting a longer and slower appassimento process. Often the grapes are still on the vine come November, with extended appassimento on traditional bamboo racks. The formidable level of dry extract is consummate across a spread of bitter cherry, amaro bitters and dried herbs, strewn across the long, impressive finish. I like this. A wine for drinking rather than for the mantle. A very good opening act. Drink now.
Wine Enthusiast: 92 Points
Opens with aromas of fig, black-cherry compote and spiced prunes that give way to wild herbs, allspice and fresh earth. The palate is rich, yet in balance with vibrant acidity that keeps the lush blackberry preserve note in balance. The wine finishes with roast coffee, bitter chocolate and subtle cigar box notes.
Wine Spectator: 91 Points
A fresh red, with well-knit tannins and savory notes of cured tobacco and smoke, transitioning to reveal ripe cherry and black plum fruit. Offers iron and mineral accents on the finish. Corvina, Molinara and Rondinella.