Carefully selected grape bunches are hand-harvested in Bertani’s best Valpolicella vineyards in Fumane, Marano and the Novare Valley. Unlike most leading Amarone producers, who buy grapes from outside growers, Bertani’s harvest originates entirely in the firm’s own vineyards. With marly-calcareous soil sheltered by surrounding woodland, these vineyards offer the ideal terroir for nurturing the quality of grapes necessary for producing a world-class Amarone.

Wine maker notes

Harvest begins in early October and extends over a two-week period. After harvest, ripe, unblemished grapes from the uppermost portions of each cluster -- those grapes richest in sugar and extracts -- are painstakingly detached and laid out to dry on cane mats. The mats are stored on raised platforms in airy lofts, sheltered by a roof but otherwise exposed to drying breezes on all sides. During the drying period, grapes are affected by "noble rot,” or botrytis cinerea. By the time they are ready to undergo maceration and fermentation in February, they will have lost up to 60% of their water content. A lengthy maceration period ensues, a factor responsible for Amarone's tremendous body and structure. After a controlled fermentation, the wine is transferred into oak casks for a period of 5-8 years during which it is racked twice annually prior to bottling.