Review #84: Arran Amarone

Arran Amarone

Amarone is a red wine from Italy. It is known for requiring twice as many grapes as normal wine do to drying the grapes, a slow fermentation time, and aging at the winery. Good luck getting your hands on a bottle for less than $50.

Islay - NAS - NCF - NCA- Sample ($60 at the local) - 50%

Color - Tawny

Nose - Bright red fruit, cherry, vanilla, poached apples and some sweetness

Taste - Strawberry, tartness, vanilla, chocolate, earth, toffee

Finish - Medium Long - Cherries, chocolate, smoke - not peat, maybe barrel char

Overall - 7.5 - This is a very solid dram. The wine marries nicely with whisky that keeps up start to finish. Not the most complex but it hits all the right notes and is very satisfying. Often, I feel like red wine finishes are so hit and miss because either they marry well, or they don't. It looks like Arran is having trouble sourcing Amarone barrels at the moment, but hopefully they will keep up the good work once they resume.

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Rating system is price influenced as it is based on my shopping decisions when buying a bottle.

10 Best in Show

9 Great Dram for Special Occasions

8 Worthy of consistent spot in my collection

7 Worth picking up a bottle if in the mood

6 I would buy a bottle if it went on sale

5 I would drink it happily if offered

4 I would drink it if offered on the rocks

3 Maybe some soda will make this potable

2 I'll Pass

1 Toilet cleaner

Inclusive Ratings

Overall 6.1

Standard Deviation 0.93

Skew 0.66

Kurtosis -0.55