Monte dei Ragni, Amarone della Valpolicella 2015

Zeno Zignoli's Monte dei Ragni Amarone is a cult bottling among Valpolicella's purists, made from hand-dried grapes on precipitous hillside terraces with almost monastic patience. The warm 2015 vintage yields a wine of grand, traditional scale, one of the most singular and uncompromising Amarones in the Veneto.

Dense, dark garnet. The nose is layered and meditative: dried black cherry, fig, raisin, cocoa, cured tobacco, leather and a wild balsamic note. The palate is enormous yet dry and composed, raisined fruit and dark spice anchored by grippy tannins and a thread of saving acidity. Bitter chocolate and dried herb lengthen it. The finish is immense, savoury and astonishingly persistent.